You don’t need to be a tech mogul to watch “The Audacity,” the new AMC drama that tells the story of a Silicon Valley guru who must navigate his way around a consumer data scandal. But if you want to get people to watch the show, a little experience with platforms, devices and potential customer bases couldn’t hurt.
AMC will tap TikTok, Charter Communications’ Spectrum, Captivate and Samsung TV Plus to help call attention to the series’ debut, and its use of those venues is just the latest sign that so-called TV networks are reaching well beyond their home medium when it comes time to drum up interest in new content offerings.
“We are hyper aware that getting viewers to show up isn’t just a command anymore,” says Kim Granito, chief marketing officer of AMC. “It’s a conversation.” The new series debuts on April 12.
Gone are the days when a TV company could simply run promos on its own air touting the tune-in time for a new show premiere. Many one-time couch potatoes no longer watch TV in such fashion, so the outlets looking for new viewers need to use a broader assortment of media opportunities to drive interest.
In an intriguing ploy, AMC will make 21 three-minute-long segments of the series’ premiere available via TikTok on Sunday, giving users there the chance to watch the entire premiere episode on the short-form video serviced if they view the vignettes in order. “We think it will help us bring in a younger audience,” says Granito.
AMC has made the launch of “The Audacity” a priority, the executive says. The debut represents “our biggest new series launch of the year,” says Granito. “The series is set in Silicon Valley, in the world of technology, and while that’s not a world that everyone is immersed in from day to day, it is one that touches everyone’s’ lives very intimately.”
The company will play off the tech-industry environment of the show by putting ads in elevators in use at the offices of specific technology companies via Captivate, the out-of-home advertising company. The ads will show upon on digital screens in office building elevators, offering up quotes from Duncan Park, a central CEO character on “The Audacity” played by actor Billy Magnussen.
AMC will make a direct play to subscribers on Charter Communications’ Spectrum by running a spot with Magnussen telling them they can watch the show on the AMC+ streaming service at no extra cost. Charter has in several recent negotiations won access to streaming counterparts of its linear networks.
Meanwhile, Samsung TV Plus will exclusively simulcast the series premiere of “The Audacity” on Sunday, April 12 at 9pm eastern only on Samsung TV Network, the service’s flagship channel.
The tech-industry milieu, says Granito, gives AMC “permission to have fun with blurring the lines between the show’s world and the real world.”
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