Video Edge magazine — October/November 2013
Innovation Invasion: How ‘The Walking Dead’ Extends Across Audiences and Screens

AMC ramped up for season four of The Walking Dead with the launch of “The Oath,” a three-part web series directed by Walking Dead executive producer and special effects makeup wizard Greg Nicotero. The webisodes consist of short stories (7 to 10 minutes) that follow minor characters from the broadcast show and are set in other parts of the Walking Dead universe.

The strategy has paid off in a big way for AMC. The third season finale drew the show’s highest ratings to date, with an audience of 12.4 million. By comparison, Breaking Bad’s series finale drew 10.3 million viewers.

But AMC doesn’t stop there. In an era of shrinking real-time audiences, the cable net also bolsters the number of broadcast viewers with what it calls “Story Sync,” mobile content developed to complement the series that is deployed simultaneously with the broadcast.

“We’re serving up 16-30 pieces of content for one hour of television, timed to specific moments in the show,” notes Mac McKean, AMC’s SVP of Digital Media, who has been with the company since 2006.

The content for AMC’s Story Sync, nominated for a Creative Emmy earlier this year, ranges from character profiles and kill stats to trivia questions and opinion polls, and is available via a free mobile app that users can access during and after the show.  (Read full story…)