After testing a real-time experience with Psych and Burn Notice over the last few months, USA Network has rolled out its “Chatter” viewing companion for nine of its TV series. Viewers can connect with other viewers — and in some cases, actors and producers from the show — while the show is airing.
The Chatter experience lives on USANetwork.com (above), and for its popular show WWE Tough Enough, also as a Facebook app and an iPad app.
The web and Facebook app experiences allow viewers to switch between three different views — what viewers are saying, a curated feed of official accounts or all of the above. If a user shares a YouTube clip, for example, the clip embeds neatly inside the stream. You can authenticate via Facebook or Twitter, and post to either or both accounts — or just keep it inside the Chatter experience. Viewers can also check-in to the show via GetGlue.
USA Network told Inside Facebook that the Chatter has reached a peak of 25,000 concurrent users on 250,000 unique users, with around 20% of users posting content. Next month, USA will roll out the Facebook app for all its shows.