Logo TV, the Viacom network focused on LGBT content, has today released its first app – available free in the iTunes store. The app will be video-centric, and will contain a library of LGBT-focused films, authenticated access to Logo TV programming, and second screen experiences that will synch with linear telecasts.
To help boost app download numbers and to build buzz for its most-watched show, Logo TV will be premiere the first episode of Season Six of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ exclusively in the app on February 17, a week before the February 24 TV premiere.
A number of Viacom networks have already enjoyed great success releasing premieres of episodes in-app before the TV premiere. MTV pre-released the full season of ‘Wait Till Next Year’ in this manner, resulting in both a 47% week-over-week lift in app streaming numbers and a larger TV audience.
The Season 5 premiere of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ was the highest rated premiere in Logo TV’s history. If the lure of watching the premiere a week early results in more app downloads and the Season 6 TV premiere is even more watched than last year’s, then Viacom will likely continue the pre-release trend.
To entice those streaming ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ via the app to watch it on TV the following week, Logo TV will not include the elimination segment in the version available in the app; it will only be part of the TV premier. Live elimination shows rife with commercials are already a painful exercise in delayed gratification for viewers. By withholding the elimination element until the TV premiere, Logo TV is likely hoping that in the week leading up to the show viewers watching the premiere in-app will turn to social media to discuss who they think will be eliminated.