CBC tinkers with the notion of a social platform

By Michael Hatamoto | Published April 28, 2008, 3:53 PM

How much should a TV network be experimenting with social networking in its effort to establish its brand presence on the Web? While US networks build up their video content, Canada's national broadcaster is experimenting with this question.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is working with social media site Pluck to add more personally interactive features in a Web site normally devoted to the mundane task of show promotion. CBC users will be able to participate in voting contests, forum discussions, photo sharing and commentary exclusive to certain shows.

The two companies began their partnership in 2007 after a SiteLife Forums launched specifically for CBC's Dragon's Den reality TV show. The show features several contestants who have a business idea or invention but lack serious funding for the project, and the online forums allowed viewers to discuss the show and pitch their own business ideas.

"CBC is interested in enhancing its ability to interact with its various audiences," CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay told BetaNews. "CBC.ca is the country's most popular news Web site and as the country's national public broadcaster, we feel it is important to facilitate two-way communications with Canadians. This technology helps us to do that."

According to CBC and Pluck, the SiteLife Forum helped double the amount of page views for the Dragon's Den web site. Keay said specific metrics on traffic have not been released publicly, but "interactivity has been enthusiastically embraced" by CBC's visitors.

CBC has launched similar social networking initiatives with several of its other shows, including CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and Coronation Street.

When asked how CBC will further integrate Pluck technology into future Web ventures, Keay said, "We're in the process of doing that now and this will continue. We have a website that is both broad and deep, so we realize this won't happen overnight. But improving the site and its interactivity is an ongoing process for us."

Pluck created the SiteLife Social Media Suite to help companies drive traffic to a customer's Web site to increase user loyalty, create new monetization opportunities, and enhance the site's content while relying on user feedback. Sites endowed with SiteLife typically deploy a comments and rating section, videos, photos, blogs, and forums section, with other features that can be deployed at a later date.

Pluck's low-risk deployment plans reportedly can be completed in as few as four weeks, as it works with its client to help train its IT force, and to serve as a consultant during feature upgrades and malfunctions. This process has already been deployed at The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and the Washington Post, among others.