Television networks don't want viewers to switch channels, but they do want them to switch back and forth between viewing platforms. Mary Kathleen Flynn, Senior Editor at TheDeal.com, described methods networks are using to deepen audience engagement online. MTV Neworks formed a distribution partnership with DailyMotion to help its content reach a wider audience, and the station 13/WNET New York is publishing user-generated micro-documentaries on its Web site to give its audience a sense of ownership over the brand. More time spent with a brand online will eventually translate to digital advertising revenue, Flynn said. Digital monetization is clearly a keystone concern for network executives in today's Web environment, but it's not clear that deepened engagement online will cause viewers to travel seamlessly back and forth between television and the web.The Gossip Girl experiment, which TelevisionWeek editor Greg Bauman explained in a recent interview, proved that it's not easy to dictate where consumers view media. When CW didn't post the last five episodes of Season One online, the online audience didn't watch the content on television and the network didn't get a boost in its traditional ratings. The creative partnerships between television and online video might merely expand the audience that is already online, or perhaps older generations will be more willing to go back and forth between platforms than the younger Gossip Girl set, who seem to have a strong online preference. But it is also possible that the flexibility of online video could lure television viewers onto the Web, especially as technology to transfer media from the computer to the big screen becomes more mainstream. This probably won't happen in large enough numbers yet to significantly affect traditional ratings, but all the same, let's home that brand engagement results in digital monetization sooner rather than later. --Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer
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