Spike Promotes TV Using P2P
Viacom-owned cable network Spike is determined to be one step ahead of its competitors in its endeavor to gain more users. Besides the fact that it’s releasing the first episode of the new series "Factory" earlier on its website and via downloadable video stores, the network thought Limewire along with other file-sharing networks could be just the right medium to help it spread its content – apparently, DRM free.
Spike teamed up with Jun Group, a company whose field of activity is promoting media via peer-to-peer networks. The difference between other TV programmers that employed p2p technology for shows distribution (for instance, NBC's collaboration with Pando Networks) and Spike is pointed out by Mitchell Reichgut, a principal in Jun Group; according to him those distributions "have taken place in enclosed, rights-protected `fish bowls", while "Spike is swimming in the `ocean' – open P2P networks – where Spike's viewers regularly seek out the latest and greatest new content." So we take it from here that compared to other such solutions Spike is employing p2p technology not to reduce distribution costs but to reach a wider range of viewers.
As Todd Ames, a marketing vice president at Spike put it, this strategy is perfect for Factory: "There is no better marketing tool for the show than the show itself, but you’ve got to be seen," he stated in an interview. "I’m dealing with something that has no real celebrity, and has never been seen before…. We’re trying for a bit of a ubiquity here, to go where the people are."
Naturally, if there was 100% assurance that Spike will suck in a million new views of "Factory" using p2p, it would only be expected that the network will distribute the entire series using this method (relying on commercials, of course).
"Factory," which was put online starting with Tuesday, has its premiere June 29.
