A host of Viacom properties – MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, and Logo – have recently had great success premiering new shows within its apps. MTV today announced that its newest scripted series, ‘Faking It,’ will be available exclusively via the MTV app on iOS and Android, and on Xbox Live (for those with Xbox 360s) for 48 hours. The new romantic comedy about two best friends who become popular only after being mistakenly outed as lesbians is set to premiere on April 22 at 10:30 P.M. EST.
In late 2013 we covered MTV’s in-app release of the documentary ‘Generation Cyro’ a week before the linear premiere. “We’ve been actively experimenting with introducing new shows on the app to help build awareness and buzz leading to the premiere on television,” Robyn DeMarco, Executive Vice President of Programming and Content Strategy for MTV, said at the time. “Our audiences are living on these devices and these platforms provide new opportunities to super serve exclusive content to our fans while simultaneously creating new ways to integrate our ad partners.”
One legitimate fear that networks might have releasing a show early in-app is a negative impact on ratings. This concert was partly dispelled by the success MTV had releasing the entire series of ‘Wait Til Next Year’ exclusively in-app a week before the linear premiere. The series premiere drew an 8% uptick in in the 12-17 year-old demo, while episode two ratings in the 12-34 year-old demo grew more than 100 percent. According to MTV, the preview generated a 47 percent increase in app downloads.