Described as the most extensive Facebook-linking feature in a Blu-ray Disc so far, the True Blood Live Feed sends updates to Facebook and Twitter as viewers watch the episodes. Each of the 12 episodes has at least eight scenes that can be posted to Facebook, too, direct from the discs.
One of HBO's most popular series, True Blood averaged 5 million viewers per first-run episode. The tale of vampires and other supernatural happenings in the Louisiana bayou has more than 1.5 million friends on Facebook, which now has a countdown to the June 13 third-season premiere.
"For True Blood, we have such engaged and passionate fans that we really wanted to provide them with a way to extend the fiction beyond what they see in the show," says HBO's Sofia Chang, "and share that passion with their friends."
When a customer inserts any of the five discs (the set costs $80) into an Internet-connected Blu-ray player including the Sony PlayStation 3, they get an introduction about the Live Feed and can enable the updates. Viewers choose one of three factions: Vampire, the anti-vampire Fellowship of the Sun or mind-influencing Maenad. They can upload a photo that will be transformed and posted on Facebook as they watch more (a vampire fan will turn pale, with blood on his mouth).
As viewers watch discs, an update such as "(your name) just came out of the coffin to watch Episode 1" would be sent to Facebook and Twitter. Fans also can earn virtual gifts; a viewing marathon might earn a vampire royalty crown.
True Blood's Facebook feature may be the most elaborate foray for Blu-ray, but it isn't the first. (The DVD, also out today, $60, cannot be used to connect to the Net.) Previous releases such as Sherlock Holmes have had special live events with actors or directors. A Watchmen Director's Cut event with director Zack Snyder let viewers chat on Facebook.
Studios hope that such new features will drive upgrades to Blu-ray players — in 11% of U.S. homes, up from 6% in 2009, according to the NPD Group.
Not bloody likely, says Scott Hettrick of tech news site HollywoodInHiDef.com. "In most homes, the Blu-ray player is not in the same room as the computer or Internet modem," he says, so "most people cannot easily connect the Blu-ray player to the Internet."
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