So KateModern just ended and you’re wondering how you’ll avoid the upcoming prime time blitzkrieg of new season premiers. EQAL, the creative minds behind LonelyGirl15 and KateModern are continuing the legacy with a new series that builds on the cult following already built up by the LG15 phenomenon.
The new series is called “LG15: The Resistance” and it will offer much of the same mythology that LG15 ended with. One of the things that made LG15 and KateModern different and successful was its ability to take advantage of the web and its social media-sharing capabilities. From constant renewing of content, EQAL was able to offer something different than what you find on television, in frequency and engagement levels. This resulted in a very loyal following, but with the new series, EQAL is actually taking a few cues from the traditional television sector.
Instead of having daily content added to the ongoing series, new episodes will be released on LG15’s website on a weekly basis. This is in an effort to have a broader and more mainstream appeal so that viewers that don’t have the opportunity to watch episodes on a daily basis can still come back a week or so later and remain caught up with the story line. For those die hard fans, however, EQAL is still offering daily content in the format of blogs and shorter-form video commentary to squelch their insatiable appetites.
Something else that will be different this time around is the distribution format for “LG15 The Resistance,” which essentially becomes a relaunch of the original LG15 site. This reformatting is an effort to make the LG15 site more central to the new show and its community of followers, and this effort is reflected in the new social networking features that are included in the relaunch.
While LG15 had some rudimentary social networking capabilities, the new features will be more robust and allow for a higher level of engagement for users, independent of the engagement features found on EQAL’s distributive profiles on sites like YouTube, MySpace and Meebo. The benefit of shifting its social network headquarters to its own site is that it allows EQAL to have more control over the features, and enables these social networking features to fully revolve around the new series and EQAL content.
That’s not to say that these other sites and communities aren’t important. As I mentioned, the unique growth and penetration of EQAL’s series has been a result of deeper engagement with viewers on a networking basis. So these third-party networks will continue to have an integral part of EQAL’s distribution and engagement, including new partner Hulu. Imeem, Veoh and YouTube have signed on as distribution partners for season one of “LG The Resistance” as well. The new series begins Sept. 20th, but if your in NYC for the New York Television Festival Digital Day on Sept. 16, EQAL founders Miles and Greg will be showing a sneak preview of “LG15: The Resistance” during their keynote at 7 pm.
