TV network USA Network has a thriving online business on the web. Today, the network said it has scored good results from a rewards system launched last month and aimed at keeping gamers and video viewers loyal.
Such systems are becoming increasingly common on all web sites, not just game sites (as predicted by game design professor Jesse Schell), and it shows that USA Network is doing what it has to in order to hang on to today’s most precious commodity: loyal fans. USA Network, a division of NBC Universal, is the top free cable network and is available in 98.5 million U.S. homes. The network has around 5 million online fans.
The new program is called Character Rewards, and it allows users to earn points for watching videos, chatting, playing games and reposting content to Twitter and Facebook. Character Rewards will be redeemable for tangible and virtual goods, such as show-branded merchandise and gift cards for retailers.
The program has succeeded expectations and drawn 30,000 new users to register in one section of the site and lfting traffic 30 percent for that section in one month.
The first initiative is launching with USA’s longest running TV show, Psych, a crime drama about a police consultant who has keen powers of observation and is believed to be a psychic. The new Club Psych program will debut this week with the start of the show’s fifth season.
Alexandra Shapiro, senior vice president of brand strategy and digital for USA Network, said that USA wants to turn its fans into “brand ambassadors.” Fans can track their progress and see how they compare with other Club Psych members.
It will be interesting to watch this program, since the necessary element of any rewards program is that it has to be fun for users.