The supernatural drama Lost Girl , produced by Prodigy Pictures, Shaw Media, and Showcase, was originally launched in Canada in September 2010. The premiere drew more than500,000 viewers, which was a record for Showcase (5). After its clear success, it was picked up for a second season and simultaneously partnered with the Syfy channel to air the show in Australia and the United Kingdom in 2011. Finally, Syfy revealed Lost Girl on January 17th at 10 PM in the United States grabbing 1.47 million viewers - 801,000 adults 25-54 and 694,000 adults 18-49. It premiered alongside new seasons of Syfy hit shows Face Off, Ghost Hunters, Being Human, and Merlin, making up what the channel calls "powerful mondays (Gorman)." Lost Girl's spot before Merlin increased the show's number of adult viewers by 25% (10). By February, the Syfy channel had double digit gains in viewers, " (+12%), Adults 18-49 (+11%) and Adults 25-54 (+11%) " compared to the previous year (S. Kondolojy). Lost Girl kept itsMonday 10 PM time slot for season 2, and by June 2012 was renewed for a third season beginning the following January. By season 3 it was averaging 1.64 million viewers total and was moved to Fridays at 10 PM. It was labeled the number one cable drama among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 in its time period (L. Kondolojy). It was renewed for a fourth season which is currently airing (L. Kondolojy).

 

The show was produced by Jay Firestone and written by Michelle Lovretta. Lovretta was approached by Prodigy Pictures to make a series with a bisexual heroine and Firestone agreed to produce it with her because it is a series that "takes risks with unconventional storylines and provocative character development (Hinman)." Because of its controversial nature with a bisexual lead female character and a sex-positive message, Showcase was thrilled to team upwith Syfy to debut the show in America (S. Kondolojy). Syfy is a network of NBC Universal and reaches 99 million homes. It has been a top 10 network for 17 consecutive years and has a diverse audience of 56% males and 44% females (Adweek). Syfy's specific target consumer iscalled an "Igniter" which is a person that is "the first to find and try new things and share thosethings with others (Adweek)." Syfy's affinity for unconventional shows and establishedpopularity made it the perfect medium to introduce Lost Girl to American television consumers.

 

Syfy doesn't stop at targeting "Igniters" through its unconventional show content becauseit recognizes that the power of Igniters to influence other consumers is often established through "social media" and "portability" (Hernandez). It offers multiple means of social media interaction with a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, GetGlue, Tumblr, Pinterest, andZeebox. The Syfy website alone had over 30 million views in 2011. It has over 6.3 millionFacebook fans and 3.6 million Twitter followers (Adweek). Chris Engler, the Vice President ofSyfy Digital commented on Syfy's unique handling of social aspects of the brand by saying:

"I think what sets us apart is that we don't look at social as just one thing the brand does, we look at it as integral to the brand itself. For instance, we hold bi-weekly meetings that includemembers of every department at the network, including the TV development team, where talkabout new and existing social efforts. I don't know of any other network that handles social this way. And likewise, social ideas can and do come from everyone at the network regardless of what their job title is or what department they're in. We don't look at social as something we do, we look at it as a part of who we are (Hernandez)."

 

The actors personal use of social media is incorporated into the company's existing sites.For example, Lost Girl cast members are "retweeted" by the Lost Girl Twitter page when they refer to episodes, post behind the scenes set pictures, or respond to fans (Lost Girl Twitter Page). The Syfy company feels the need to be "authentic" in their social experience because "Igniters have incredibly high standards" and "if it feels like we're faking it, the audiences will know right away." (Hernandez) The company works together to make their social media interactions legitimate to fans.

 

In addition to the use of social media to reach the modern viewer, Syfy provides other mediums for fan interaction. Lost Girl created a video webisode comic series of Lost Girl to go along with the first episode and later released a six chapter series of print comic books that were revealed at Comic-con in San Francisco at an interview with the show's start right before it premiered in the United States (Lavoie). This increased hype and opened up opportunities for fan fiction boards to start even before the show was aired. After the show was eventually released in the United States, Syfy created an interactive game where viewers could create their own Fae, or magical creature, and further explore the world of Bo and her friends (Slice of Scifi). The first two seasons became available on Netflix (2013), all three seasons have been released on DVD, and four webisodes are on the Syfy website that help bridge the gap between the end of season three and the start of season four. They also opened a branch in their company called Syfy Digital to make the show's website and episodes easy to access from mobile devices. They successfully made the show interactive and available for tech-savvy, ahead of the crowd "Igniters" to watch and, more importantly, share with others.

 

 

Hernandez, Brian A. "How Syfy Turns TV Shows Into Social Phenomenons." Mashable. Mashable Inc., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/syfy/>.

Adweek. "Syfy Igniting Imagination." Adweek. Adweek, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://www.adweek.com/sa-article/syfy-139601>.

 

Kondolojy, Amanda. "'Lost Girl' Renewed by SyFy." TvbytheNumebrs. TvbytheNumbers, 5 June 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/02/29/syfy-posts-double-digit-gains-in-total-viewers-in-key-demographics-during-february/122495/>.

 

---. "Syfy Posts Double Digit Gains In Total Viewers in Key Demographics During February." TvbytheNumebrs. TvbytheNumbers, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/02/29/syfy-posts-double-digit-gains-in-total-viewers-in-key-demographics-during-february/122495/>.

 

Lavoie, Jim. "Excuse Me While I Touch The Syfy & NBFC E-News Reigns Supreme | Bulldog Publicity." Bulldog Publicity. Bulldog Publicity, 4 Aug. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://bulldogpublicity.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/excuse-me-while-i-touch-the-syfy-nbfc-e-news-reigns-supreme/>.

 

Gorman, Bill. "'Being Human' Rises 14% In Adults 25-54 & 8% Among Adults 18-49 vs. Season One Premiere; 'Lost Girl' Grabs Nearly 1.5 Million Total Viewers." TVbytheNumbers. TVbytheNumbers, 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/01/17/being-human-rises-14-in-adults-25-54-lost-girl-grabs-nearly-1-5-million-total-viewers/116769/>.

 

Slice of SciFi. "“Lost Girl: The Game” Is Syfy’s First Mobile Game." Slice of SciFi. Erthbound Entertainment, 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2013/04/22/lost-girl-the-game-is-syfys-first-mobile-game/>.