Rate, Slate, Debate!
Come Dine With Me Play-Along was Channel 4′s first foray into live Social TV. We worked alongside Channel 4′s Food editorial team to create a simple but fun second-screen experience using an early version of our reac.tv platform.
The cult show is a classic combination of formatted game and voyeuristic reality television. It uses a competitive element as a vehicle to showcase the ‘talents’ of four contestants. In amongst the cooking disasters, diners’ ratings and their critiques, the show exposes hilarious and bizarre moments such as one host’s pet snake relieving itself on the dinner table.
BRIAN: Are they having snake & kidney pie?
The show’s format was replicated in a realtime online game synched to the show. The game was made to feel special, like an official and integral part of the show. It allowed the online audience to rate as if they were a contestant, based on Food, Atmosphere and Hospitality. After the show, people could compare their own results with the official show results. Using the reac.tv comment stream, users could discuss what was happening in the show and the best quotes were picked out by our Host.
Ennoia: A yorkshire salad is chips.
Users could login using their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Tweets could be sent to both the reaction stream on channel4.com and the user’s Twitter account simultaneously. As a result, #cdwm tweets increased by more than 300% during each show (compared with previous shows) – extending the reach of the discussion and brand.
The play-along was promoted on-air and via a timed MPU ad which appeared across channel4.com before the show started.
The on-site survey proved that users really enjoyed the experience and valued the ability to join their like-minded ‘super-fans’. The quality of discussion was high, creating a unique social event around each show. The play-along also boosted overall weekly traffic to the Come Dine With Me website.
