--Bravo's Interactive Talk Show, "Watch What Happens Live," Returns Next Week
The Country Music Association (CMA) said Monday that it will host its second "Tweet N' Greet" Twitter-driven live social TV experience on ABC.com during ABC's Wednesday night (8:00-11:00PM Eastern) broadcast of its "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" three-hour concert event.
According to the CMA, viewers will be able to log on to ABC.com to view tweets from such artists as Julianne Hough (@JulianneHough), Lady Antebellum (@ladyantebellum), Reba McEntire (@Reba), Tim McGraw (@TimMcGrawArtist), Blake Shelton (@BlakeShelton), Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) and the Zac Brown Band (@ZacBrownBand). In addition, the organization says, viewers will be able to visit CMAfest.com to follow along with the show, using their Facebook account. The tweeting artists are expected to share their observations about the CMA Music Festival, along with behind-the-scenes "tidbits," anecdotes about other artists' performances, and memories from past CMA Music Festivals.
The CMA is billing the "Tweet N' Greet" as enabling an "interactive feed" between viewers and the festival's featured artists, in that viewers will also be able to use Twitter to ask questions of the artists. The organization has also set up a dedicated Twitter account (@CountryMusic) which it will use to provide viewers with information on featured artists' upcoming album releases, tour dates and appearances. In addition, the CMA says, viewers who use the festival's official Twitter hashtag (#cmatv) will be entered to win prizes during the show. "As an event, CMA Music Festival is about these unique interaction opportunities between the artist community and the fans," Ben Bennett, the CMA's digital marketing manager, said in a prepared statement. "The 'Tweet 'N' Greet' is a fun, inventive way of translating that artist/fan connection to the ABC broadcast. The artists and fans get to communicate while they share the common experience of watching the television show."
The CMA hosted its first "Tweet N' Greet" during last year's broadcast of the festival. According to the organization, the festival was a top-10 trending topic on Twitter for the entire broadcast.
In related news: Bravo said Monday that the new season of its late night interactive talk show, "Watch What Happens Live," will premiere at 10:00PM Eastern/Pacific on September 9th (note: the following Thursday, it will return to its regular 11:00PM slot). The show, which features guests from the world of entertainment and pop culture and which is hosted by Andy Cohen, invites viewers to submit questions via email, Facebook or Twitter (@BravoAndy).
