NBC.com, Sprint Team on Multiplatform, Interactive "Heroes" Storyline

NBC.com and Sprint announced last week what they termed a "multiplatform, customized and interactive partnership" with the NBC drama series, "Heroes." Starting on September 28th and continuing for 10 weeks, the companies say, an original "Heroes" story will unfold on "the multiple platforms of NBC.com and Sprint." Each installment of the story's 10-week run will be launched by a 30-second on-air scene, tied directly to a "Heroes" storyline, which will direct viewers to online, mobile and interactive gaming sites. According to the companies, all the multiplatform story's creative content will run parallel to the on-air "Heroes" narrative, and will enable viewers to discover more about the show's characters through their interactions with the multiplatform story's online games, stories, clues and mobile content. "Once again 'Heroes' is breaking new ground in digital entertainment," Vivi Zigler, president of NBC Universal Digital Entertainment, said in a prepared statement. "By taking the great storytelling of 'Heroes' and partnering with a savvy company such as Sprint, we are going to give the fans an amazing multiplatform experience." Added Peter Naylor, NBC Universal's SVP of digital media sales: "We are pleased to continue our partnership with Sprint, now in its third year, and bring fans a unique multi-media experience that seamlessly integrates the Sprint Now Network messaging into the fabric of the 'Heroes' story. This is an excellent example of how to engage fans of a show by leveraging the strength of the digital medium, and it's a model for how we'd like to continue to do business with our advertising partners."

The companies say that the 10-week multiplatform "Heroes" story will revolve around a new element from the fourth season of the broadcast show: a "mysterious traveling carnival populated by a group of people with extraordinary abilities, led by a charismatic and powerful figure." Three members of the show's cast are slated to appear on-air in the new series, as well as in the duration of its integrated storytelling, NBC.com and Sprint say.

According to the companies, the multiplatform NBC.com/Sprint "Heroes" spin-off will include:

• Graphic novels for mobile devices.
• Interactive SMS, synched to broadcast.
• Interactive storylines from which Sprint users will receive clues to unlock a mystery.
• A $25,000 sweepstakes which links the interactive story.
• A "Heroes" survival game.
• One-minute Internet video scenes, tied to the on-air version of the show.
• A microsite for the show's carnival storyline.
• Carnival-themed online games.

(Note: For more on the various multiplatform, interactive enhancements that "Heroes" has offered over the years, see the discussion between the show's creator, Tim Kring, and Brian Seth Hurst, second vice chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, that took place at the TV of Tomorrow Show 2009.)