Case study: Live Streaming BAFTA 360
At the end of last year, Groovy Gecko live-streamed the Virgin TV BAFTA Television Awards 2017. Interviews from the star-studded red carpet were delivered directly to Virgin Media’s Facebook page, in interactive 360 video. This allowed viewers to look around the red carpet as though they were on it and alter their viewpoint by physically moving their mobile device or using a mouse on a computer/laptop.
“The beauty of a 360 stream is the amount of freedom it gives to the audience,” says Jake Ward. “This makes for a highly interactive and immersive experience, far beyond that of a static, non-live stream. By combining the effect of live video and the 360° feature, viewers had extended access to an exclusive event and got to follow the celebrities as they walked the red carpet.”
After only an hour, Virgin Media’s stream had attracted around one and a half times more viewers than the live stream on the official BAFTA Facebook page, which did not feature 360° interactivity. “This suggests our 360 video was more attractive to viewers than a simple live stream, which would not have afforded the same type of immersion for viewers,” says Ward.
This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of FEED magazine.
