With more than 400 original scripted shows expected to air or stream on American television by the end of 2015, NBC is countering by returning to its heritage with an increased emphasis on live programming.

Following the success of Sound of Music Live! in 2013, NBC has made the musical an annual event with Peter Pan Live! last year and The Wiz Live! arriving December 3. The live suffix isn’t anything new for Saturday Night Live, making waves for its 40th Anniversary Special earlier this year, while The Voice continues to steamroll its competition and America’s Got Talent (AGT) rules the Nielsen’s over the summer. With Red Nose Day and the Golden Globes, not to mention the most important draw of all, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, “live” is at the heart of NBC’s programming.

“Live brings a certain kind of energy that can be exciting and unpredictable; it creates immediacy and an urgency to tune in, which is what we want to do,” said Sharon Allen, NBC’s SVP of marketing strategy.

The forthcoming Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, premiering Tuesday September 15, is at the forefront of this continued shift.

“It’s a great marketing challenge,” Allen said. “We don’t have a show to work with. We don’t have assets; a bunch of marketing involves video and a show to cut with, whether it’s the pilot or not. The lack of assets becomes the challenge with any live show. We’re able to turn it into an opportunity to do something fun, to try to bring that live experience to the viewer.”

Besides, the only asset NBC needs is Tony- and Emmy- award-winning NPH.

“Neil Patrick Harris is the perfect asset. He can do comedy, we’ve seen him on award shows, and magic, and all these things. He’s really the star of the marketing campaign,” said Allen.

Ultimately, it’s no different than any other show. “We’re doing pretty much everything we’re doing for other launches. The fact that it’s live and we don’t have assets and we don’t have a show hasn’t really slowed us down. It’s allowed us to be more creative and Neil has been a great partner, and is hugely involved in the campaign.”

It also helps that Best Time Ever is based on the popular British format Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. “At least we could kind of see what it is based on that, although we’re adapting it and Neil is bringing his own energy,” said Allen.

“The other real asset that we have going for us is we have a great title,” Allen said. “The thrust of the campaign is how can we take the idea of ‘best time ever’ and build off of that to help explain what the show is: best prank ever, best stunt ever, best fill in the blank ever; there’s all these different ways that we’re trying to build equity around the title.”

Conversely, Best Time Ever’s uniqueness also presents marketing difficulties.

“It really is like nothing else on TV, or at least American television. It’s not just your standard variety show. It’s not a game show. It’s so unpredictable, and it does so many different things. This isn’t the right word, but it’s like the un-variety show. It’s a variety show but it’s not like the Carol Burnett variety show. It’s different and fresh. It’s a new experience that we’ve been trying to capture in our campaign materials,” said Allen. “We want to give the right promise to viewers of what to expect. The show will be different, and we want to help people understand that and show the different facets and that Neil is the center piece. We want him to invite the viewer into the party.”

NBC similarly hopes that Best Time Ever’s lead-in, AGT, which also is taped live, will bring people to the party. From there, NBC will focus its energy on social media, with live promos and live-tweeting across the board, buoyed by celebrity guests within the show activating across all social.

NPH will, of course, utilize his estimable social media presence. Allen says, “We’re going to make some announcements via Neil’s social and tease out little elements of what’s ahead.”

But not too much. Part of NBC’s plan is to maintain the surprise of Best Time Ever.

“There are so many surprises. We’re very careful not to spoil that viewer experience. That’s a challenge. We can’t use some of these great pre-taped bits, because it’s so important to maintain the integrity of the show and surprise the audience member and viewing audience,” said Allen.

These pre-taped bits are fashioned after The Tonight Show and SNL’s clips that routinely go viral the morning after, with hopes that they will create more interest throughout the week, drumming up excitement for next week’s episode.

NBC hopes this excitement will keep on building to the next all live season of Undateable, which premieres October 9.

“I think it’s the first time in over 20 years there’s been a live weekly comedy in prime-time. If you were able to see the live one-hour special that aired in the spring, you saw the unpredictability and how the show itself actually took advantage of being live. We want to capitalize on those moments,” said Allen.

“The stars of Undateable are all pretty much stand-up comedians and this allows them to riff, and bring that energy that the studio audience sees when they’re at a taping, to a viewing audience,” Allen said. “Everyone’s the live studio audience at home.”

While The Wiz Live! doesn’t arrive until December, NBC has learned from their previous musicals. “The Wiz is a classic tale, but also a beloved property among the African-American community and we want to make sure people are aware that it’s coming,” said Allen.

With a cast featuring Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier, Ne-Yo and Common, that shouldn’t be a problem. NBC has taken advantage of its casting process by announcing up and comer Shanice Williams’ casting of Dorothy through a video.

“To be able to share her delight and surprise about being selected was amazing, and I think it’s another way to get people interested. People want to experience that moment and share that,” said Allen. “Any time we can create content that’s not necessarily the show itself, because the show hasn’t been produced or it’s live, we look for moments that can bring the experience to life, and get people excited.”

NBC will learn if their live gambit continues to pay off when Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris premieres Tuesday September 15 at 10/9c, Undateable’s live third season arrives October 9 at 8/7 c, and The Wiz Live! joins the party on December 3 at 8/7c.

Tags:


  Save as PDF