Fans Get Control of MTV's 'Teen Wolf'

Related: It’s No Secret What the Cool Kids Watch

Fans of MTV’s Teen Wolf will be able to do a lot more than howl at the moon while watching the show when it returns for season two in June. Using social media connections, viewers will be able to interact with the series and potentially affect its story line in future seasons.

With MTV’s young, Millennial audience, social media and other forms of engagement are crucial to the network. Interactivity is one example of MTV’s Storytelling Without Borders initiative, which the net will be touting during its upfront presentation this week.

For Teen Wolf, MTV has created an online game that allows fans to interact with the series’ characters and potentially have touch points in the linear show. “What’s really exciting about the future is, how do you weave in elements and story lines that make the audience feel like they’ve got a much deeper relationship to the show, because then you can imagine what passionate advocates they become for the shows,” says MTV president Steven Friedman.

For both Teen Wolf and another second year series, Awkward, MTV is arranging for viewers to have social media connections with characters in the shows, as opposed to the actors playing those characters. “What we’re going to be unveiling is a way where the super fans are going to be able to get clues on Facebook or on Tumblr, all different outlets, that then will pay off in the show,” Friedman says. “Only those people that have followed are going to have that.”

MTV is seeking a sponsor for its Teen Wolf game.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.