Project Challenge
Create a second screen companion product that will engage users and leverage the tremendous social conversation around the broadcast of the Charlie Sheen Roast.
Project Detail
“Sheen Roast” combines broadcast streaming with both passive and active social media visualization and commentary. The live ‘Charlie Cam’ provides a window into Charlie Sheen’s reactions to the roast as it takes place on television. This camera never leaves Charlie and is designed to do what the best second screen experiences excel at - providing content that can’t be delivered via linear TV.
The main interface also provides users with the ability to actively contribute to the conversation directly from Sheen Roast via an integrated Twitter module. The ‘Share the Burn’ feature allows users to navigate along a timeline to the roast moments they love most and then share those moments. Comedy Central selected certain clips to post underneath the timeline in advance for users to share via social media sites.
"The Charlie Sheen Roast is one of our biggest events of the year and we wanted to do something big and cool with it," Steve Grimes, Comedy Central's Senior Vice President of Digital Media. "We looked at how do we create a companion device that will -- from a user's point of view -- allow them to see what is going on, share moments and talk.”
A review of the Sheen Roast environment written by Reuters.com elaborated on the functionality as follows:
“But the real innovation is in the dashboard, which is debuting for this event. In addition to promotions about it on Facebook and Twitter, everyone going to the site will be redirected to the dashboard unless they choose otherwise.”
Reuters continued, “The most complex part of the dashboard is the "Hot on Twitter" section," which facilitates interaction with and about Sheen and his roasters. The face of each person on stage will be displayed, with the size of that person's head indicating his or her popularity. Users can click on a head to see the person's full Twitter feed or see a list of his or her jokes.”
(Reuters.com - Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:52pm EDT).
Mashable described the environment as ‘Comedy Central’s Ambitious Social Media Experiment” and wrote,
“Roasters’ Twitter handles will appear at the bottom of the screen along with the show’s #SheenRoast hashtag, and other ways to get social. In fact, half of the show’s red carpet will only be available online with the second half kicking off the official broadcast.”
