VH1's "The Great Debate" Enables Viewer Interaction via Social Media, Interactive Out-of-Home Screens

VH1, an MTV-owned channel devoted to music and pop culture, and Zoom Media & Marketing, a provider of targeted and digital out-of-home media programs for brand advertisers, announced Tuesday an "interactive initiative" for the new VH1 show, "The Great Debate," that will enable viewer participation via Twitter and Facebook, as well as via Zoom's network of interactive out-of-home screens and Viacom's giant HD screen in New York's Times Square.

"The Great Debate," which premiered Monday at 10:00PM Eastern/Pacific, is billed as offering "irreverent discussions about the classic pop culture arguments of our time," with debates on such topics as "Star Wars" vs. "Star Trek," "Rocky" vs. "Rambo," boxers vs. briefs, and Ginger vs. Mary Ann. According to VH1 and Zoom, viewers can participate in the show's debates via Twitter and Facebook and through real-time text messaging at the Viacom Times Square screen and at over 300 Zoom out-of-home screens located in "nightlife locations" throughout the US. The companies say that the interactive platform that connects "The Great Debate" with the social networks and out-of-home screens is provided by LocaModa, a company that bills itself as "extend[ing] interactive media beyond the Web." "As our audience multi-tasks and timeshifts, we are finding ways to reach and engage them wherever they are," Wendy Weatherford, VH1's VP of consumer and music marketing, said in a prepared statement. "Zoom Media's locations deliver upscale, social young adults who are seeking interactive entertainment and LocaModa's platform enables us to have a multichannel dialogue that was never possible before." Added Dan Levi, Zoom's SVP of digital media and strategic partnerships: "This combination of mobile and social programming across broadcast and out-of-home channels is an industry first. It is a terrific example of integrating multiple media platforms in a way that engages consumers both in and out of their homes, while creating significant awareness and buzz."