12 October 2016
Alibi launches world's first live streamed escape room
- Viewers challenged to solve a murder mystery via Facebook Live
- Framed launches on Thursday 13 October 2016, 8pm on facebook.com/alibichannel
- The event is launching alongside the brand new series of Crossing Lines on Thursday 13 October 2016, 9pm on Alibi
UKTV's home of crime drama, Alibi, today announces Framed, the world's first interactive Murder Mystery Escape Room to be streamed live on Facebook.
Devised to bring in new viewers to Alibi and reward fans of crime drama, the ground-breaking tech concept will use a mounted camera to allow viewers to see from the perspective of the mystery's main character, in a live streaming first.
The brand partnered with social content agency, Social Life, for the conception, production and staging of Framed, while the webcasting saw a collaboration with online video specialists Groovy Gecko.
UKTV chose to run the event via the Facebook Live platform to attract socially-active crime drama fans to an Alibi-branded environment that encourages them to leave comments, enter live polls and influence the story as it unfolds.
The activity is supported by Facebook media spend and amplified with engagement on Twitter, Instagram, website, e-newsletter and on-air continuity, reaching out to Alibi and UKTV network viewers.
Framed, begins as a security guard patrols the halls on his usual night shift at an exclusive art gallery. Unexpectedly trapped in a room with a dead body, the guard has just 30 minutes to solve the murder mystery before being framed for the crime himself.
As the guard navigates through the Escape Room, viewers are presented with choices at key junctions. Encouraged to discuss, debate and vote for the best course of action in real time, it's up to the viewers whether the guard will solve the mystery, escape or get arrested for murder.
Framed follows the success of Alibi's Twitter play-along murder mystery game, dubbed 'Twurder' in July.
Adrian Wills, General Manager for Alibi at UKTV said,
Framed is an innovative way for Alibi fans to enjoy crime drama. We like to reward our viewers with more of what they love and engage them in more ways. Alibi fans will enjoy the chance to put their own skills of deduction to the test just like their favourite TV detectives.
The launch of Framed is an exciting innovation from Alibi, the only dedicated crime channel in the UK. It is commissioned by Sam Pearson, Social and Digital Marketing Manager at UKTV.
Yolaine Campana, Assistant Producer at Social Life said,
Escape room experiences are usually designed for small groups to take part in-situ at once, so for Framed we had to strike the right balance between the first-person perspective of the main character and the thousands of viewers who will be making the decisions. Allowing this many people to take part at once should produce some really exciting results, and we're looking forward to some heated arguments about the different choices our character can make! And as a world first, we're hoping this show will spark even more innovation in the medium of live streaming.
Actress Emilia Fox, famous for her roles in crime dramas including Silent Witness, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and a fan of Crossing Lines, is acting as a spokesperson for the launch of Framed.
Emilia comments,
I obviously love the crime genre so am delighted to be involved in such an innovative Murder Mystery concept. It's great that so many people will be involved at once, I'm definitely an arm chair detective so will be playing along on the night and tuning in to Crossing Lines afterwards!
Framed is a Facebook Live Escape Room hosted by Alibi to mark the launch of Crossing Lines, which airs Thursday 13 October 9pm on Alibi on.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Framed will be live streamed Thursday 13 October 2016, via Alibi's Facebook page [facebook.com/alibichannel] from 8pm Season 3 of Crossing Lines starts Thursday 13 October, 9pm on Alibi
Groovy Gecko, renowned for delivering complex and technically difficult webcasts, has provided the Facebook Live solution that enables followers of Alibi's Facebook page to interact with the Framed narrative.
About Crossing Lines
International hit drama Crossing Lines is back on UKTV's home of crime drama, Alibi. Starring Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Pillars of the Earth), Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones) and Naomi Battrick (Waterloo Road). Joining the ensemble cast for season three are Goran Visnjic (best known for his leading role in ER) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Emmy-nominated star of Lost).
Crossing Lines taps into the International Criminal Court (ICC) to create a special crime unit functioning as a European FBI. They hunt down criminals and investigate crimes that span across European boarders. Set six months after the heart-stopping conclusion of season two, in which the unit's leader, Louis Daniel, was killed, this unique, global crime drama is set for an explosive third season.
After one of his top prosecutors vanishes, Dorn (Donald Sutherland) must reactivate the ICC team. Marco Constante (Visnjic), Carine Strand (Mitchell), Luke Wilkinson (played by Stuart Martin Game of Thrones) and Ellie Delfont-Bogard (Battrick) are the new ICC team members joining Sebastian Berger (Wlaschiha) and Arabela Seeger (played by Lara Rossi). This reunited team of underdogs must struggle to re-establish their battered identity. With gut-wrenching drama and an emphasis on relevant and contemporary crime, this season promises to be the most ambitious yet.
About Alibi HD
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Alibi is TV's home of crime drama, promising the best selection from the genre, and premieres hit US series like Castle, Body of Proof and Rizzoli & Isles. The channel also features some of British TV's best-known detectives such as Miss Marple and Inspector Lynley, and the crime scene teams of Silent Witness and New Tricks - plus there's murder most foul with the channel's popular co-production, Murdoch Mysteries.
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About UKTV
UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating its 23rd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.
corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press
ABOUT GROOVY GECKO
Groovy Gecko (est. 1999) provides businesses and broadcasters with global webcasting services for live and on-demand streaming to any device from anywhere. Groovy Gecko is renowned for delivering complex and technically difficult webcasts.
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ABOUT SOCIAL LIFE
Social Life is the new breed of social media agency; social media from the ground up, devoted to bringing broadcasters, brands and young audiences together through deluxe, future-facing and audience-led campaigns. As true social media experts Social Life know how to start and maintain engaged conversations effectively, productively and successfully. The agency's clients include Netflix, Apple, Red Bull, ITV, MTV, BBC and Sky. Social Life was founded by Laura-May Coope and Alistair Parrington, award winning ex BBC Radio 1 social media and digital producers, and has a growing squad of social media experts based in Shoreditch.