MTV is at it again with unprecedented live streams and epic celebrations. Over the summer Lost Remote joined MTV for their live streamed 24-hour O Music Awards bus tour where the Flaming Lips broke a Guinness record. In honor of the year’s end and 12/12/12, MTV is teaming up with partner T-Mobile for another live stream event involving the most influential pop stars. Here are the details and interviews with Chris Ficarra Viacom’s SVP of Integrated Marketing and Ryan Kroft, the Executive Producer of the event, “The Big & Best of 2012: A Year End Celebration Presented by T-Mobile.”
The Big & Best of 2012 is “an unprecedented, cross-network, eight hour digital livestream event that will highlight the music, personalities and pop culture moments that defined the past year. The livestream will kickoff on 12/12/12 at 12 PM EST here and “will play out across Viacom’s digital properties including MTV.com, VH1.com, CMT.com and ComedyCentral.com.” The star studded event will include:
Taylor Swift (TaylorSwift.MTV.com) and Carly Rae Jepsen (CarlyRaeJepsen.MTV.com) are set to reveal their top five moments of the year, as well as performances from Bruno Mars, Miguel, rocker Grace Potter (GracePotter.VH1.com); Canadian indie rock and new wave band, Metric (Metric.VH1.com); indie-rock band alt-j (AltJ.MTV.com) country duo Thompson Square(ThompsonSquare.CMT.com); folk duo, First Aid Kit (FirstAidKit.CMT.com) and country singer songwriter Dustin Lynch.
The integrations with T-Mobile are extremely impressive and make sense for the type of digital show that’s being produced. “Surprise stunts will showcase the power of T-Mobile’s nationwide 4G network, while the theme of ‘unlimited data’ will be integrated throughout the marathon of programming. A Samsung Galaxy S®III will also create a platform for fans to interact with the show on social. MTV’s ending the year with a major bang, including an impressive nod from Twitter on their new “Pulse of the Planet” 2012 recap.
Lost Remote: How did T-Mobile get involved with the event?
Chris Ficarra: Viacom has a longstanding relationship with T-Mobile. A few months ago, we started to kick around the idea of doing a livestream together as a vehicle that would underscore their “unlimited data” capabilities. Ultimately, we were both attracted to the concept of celebrating the artists, celebrities and pop culture moments that defined the year. Since then, we’ve been actively collaborating on the creative for “Big & Best of 2012.”
LR: Does any of the partnership have a social component?
Ryan Kroft: Yes, it was important to both Viacom and T-Mobile that the entire event be inherently social and that there be ample opportunities for fans to influence the arc of the show. Not only are we having fan armies battle it out, but we’re also awarding prizes based on hitting social milestones. For example, if the show’s hashtag hits a certain number, we’re going to unlock a free music bundle for fans.
LR: Does the 8 hour livestream use any of the tech from the massive O Music Awards live stream?
Kroft: The O Music Awards have served as a testing ground for developing and successfully implementing substantial long form digitally driven tent-pole events. Throughout the event, we’re going to have cast members from MTV2’s Guy Code go on a scavenger hunt through Times Square. To pull that off, we’re certainly leveraging technology and taking cues from the OMA playbook to create and move content in real time.
LR: How will the interactive challenges and other social components work?
Kroft: Our most ambitious interactive challenge is our end of year fan army competition, Last Fans Standing. Right now fans can go to our MTV Facebook page and compete in a series of challenges to support their favorite artists including One Direction, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. Based on those scores, we’ll narrow the pack down and they will compete head-to-head during in a series of social media challenges where one artist will emerge victorious.