Pay-TV broadcaster M-Net has created a ground-breaking online presence for Survivor South Africa: Panama to complement its status as a multi-media phenomenon. Easy to navigate and full of in-depth Survivor South Africa information, www.mnet.co.za/survivor will add to the Survivor South Africa experience with additional material from the most-talked-about local TV spectacle of the year.
Carl Fischer, Head of M-Net Original Productions, believes that the website will feed Survivor fans’ desire for extra information about the show. “The production team generated a lot of excellent footage for Survivor South Africa, but the show can only be 60 minutes long. With that in mind, we’ve decided to make at least an hour of extra, unseen footage available on the website each week,” he says.
The website will house, amongst many other things, a jam-packed video gallery featuring scenes not seen in the show, as well as exclusive interviews with the Survivors before, during and after the game. The broadband site will feature almost an hour’s worth of unseen video each week.
The extensive photo gallery will also feature hundreds of photos from each episode, and viewers will be able to win fabulous prizes from Incredible Connection by creating the wittiest caption for each week’s Freeze Frame caption competition.
The most innovative aspect of the website is iBurst Fantasy Survivor, which lets viewers play along with the show from the comfort of home by picking a team of their favourite Survivors and immersing themselves in the triumphs and tragedies each one faces. Playing Fantasy Survivor puts players in line for giant giveaways, including four Hyundai cars, Tissot watches and wireless broadband connectivity from iBurst.
Points are earned depending on how one’s chosen Survivors fare and answering weekly questions about the show – but choosing well and hanging tough are not the only ways to win: just by registering one stands the chance of grabbing fantastic prizes.
Visitors to the Survivor South Africa website can also play in other ways, like an online game loosely based on the arcade classic, Frogger or by sparring with fellow fans in the forums.
Blogging is the latest online phenomenon and the Survivor South Africa website does not disappoint, with daily and weekly insights from professional psychologists, astrologists, crew, media and even presenter Mark Bayly himself.
Head of M-Net New Media, Jason Probert, says that M-Net is breaking new ground with the levels of interactivity offered by the website. “Survivor South Africa is set to be the television event of the year, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add value by offering viewers the chance to follow the show on their computers, or even their cellphones, as well,” he says.
If you think you can Survive, visit www.mnet.co.za/survivor.
