Sony, Yahoo Partner for Seinfeld Promotion
Top Shows to Air on Syndication in November
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/18/2007 3:01:00 AM
Fans of Sony’s Seinfeld can go online at tv.yahoo.com and vote for their favorite episode out of 35 offered -- whether that’s the one about the Soup Nazi, mastering one’s domain or that crazy puffy shirt -- from now until Nov. 5.
Yahoo will count the votes, then the top 10 will air in syndication Nov. 12-26. Viewers who watch the shows on TV will be able to play a watch-and-win game during the episodes.
Voters also will have a chance to win a drawing. Top prize is a $4,500 shopping spree at Overstock.com. Other winners will receive a Seinfeld fan package including the complete ninth season of the “show about nothing” on DVD, hat, t-shirt and mug, a prize worth more than $200. The contest can be entered once a day from now until Nov. 5.
TV station affiliates that carry Seinfeld also are participating in the promotion, with Yahoo giving all 197 of them access to a Seinfeld video player featuring clips from the show.
“Viewers get to vote on and watch their favorite episodes in November, and the viewer engagement will drive ratings at the local level,” says John Weiser, president of distribution for Sony Pictures Television.
Meanwhile, the show’s star and creator, Jerry Seinfeld, has been all over the media promoting his new animated film, Bee Movie. He has made guest appearances on shows such as NBC’s 30 Rock and Oprah, and NBC is airing Bee Movie interstitials, starring Seinfeld, during primetime. Bee Movie premieres in theatres on Nov. 2.
Seinfeld was one of NBC’s highest-rated shows from 1989-98, going off the air with huge fanfare. The show is in its third syndication cycle on broadcast stations and in its second cycle on cable.
