WWW.SPIKETV.COM
Spike TV, the first-ever “network for men,” wanted a website that offered more than just schedules and information—they wanted it to have entertainment value of its own. “Forward-thinking TV executives, like our clients at Spike TV, ask that their websites go beyond simply promoting their television properties. Spike challenged us to create an experience that could both drive traffic to their slate of testosterone-fused TV shows and stand alone as a viable channel of its own,” says Tim Barber of odopod, the design firm that developed the site.

“Making the site work as pure entertainment meant incorporating a lot more video. The site’s persistent video player—offering literally hours of content—is programmed to play automatically as users move through it. And in keeping with our vision of making the website a sister to the TV channel, the experience is synchronized with on-air content,” says Barber.

He says, the process was fairly complex. “Spike TV is part of Viacom, along with MTV Networks. In creating the Spike site we worked closely with the team at MTVi to design and build the site within their new, all-Flash framework that was in development for MTV.com. This new system was ambitious, but very powerful.”

The principal challenges revolved around creating a site that featured persistent video along with a rich, animated Flash experience. “Always moving and expressed in our client’s strictly-or-dudes attitude, the site does no less than introduce a new entertainment property to Spike TV’s fans,” Barber adds. Now Spike TV delivers—as promised—“something for every man” on the tele and on the web.
Melea Britt Alexander

odopod
INTERACTIVE CREATIVES: Tim Barber, David Bliss, Jacquie Moss
COPYWRITER: Josh Lowman
ART DIRECTORS: Toke Nygaard, Damon Nelson
DESIGNERS: Kris Griffith, Heather Ann Halpert
PROGRAMMERS: Ammon Haggerty, Adam Glazier, Josh On, Bliss
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Bliss
PRODUCERS: Griffith, Rebecca Hill, Michael Rivo
CLIENT: Spike TV
CONTACT: www.odopod.com