A&E Network recently ran rich media ads in TVGuide.com?s mobile applications, helping to drive record ratings for its recently broadcast Bag of Bones miniseries.

The ads for the miniseries, which premiered on Sunday, Dec. 11, consisted of a cross-platform morph overlay and a full-site takeover. This is the first step in TVGuide.com?s strategy to more closely align its Web site with its mobile applications.

?We are very confident that these bold rich media ads will drive tune in via mobile,? said Christy Tanner, executive vice president and general manager of digital for TV Guide.com, New York. ?This is the first phase of synching our capabilities on TVGuide.com with mobile.

?Rich media is an important step in creating true parity between mobile products and the Web site,? she said. ?Combined with the growth and reach that we already have in mobile we think that we have a very strong case for advertising growth and advertising impactfulness and effectiveness across both our mobile and Web products.?

Second screen companion
TVGuide.com, which is a joint venture of Lionsgate and One Equity Partners, has received 5.5 million installations and 1.5 million monthly active users for its iPhone, iPad and Android mobile applications. The apps are intended to make it easy for TV fans to find their favorite shows.

The apps were recently revamped with expanded original content, more interactive capabilities, faster speeds as well as the new rich media ad formats.

?We are a one stop second-screen companion product for entertainment fans,? Ms. Tanner said.

?From what we?ve seen with our first generation apps, the growth curve has been very steep as well as steady,? she said.

The campaign for Bag of Bones was the first cross-platform rich media campaign to take place on the apps. It included an ad overlay on TVGuide.com and in-app ads as well as social features that helped drive record ratings for the program.

The Bag of Bones premiere was the highest rated miniseries event across all of cable since Andromeda Strain on A&E in 2008.

?These ads units are really impactful,? Ms. Tanner said. ?We are able to be a little bit more bold for TV programming promotions because you are coming to our products to find something to watch.?

TVGuide.com started working with Mocean Mobile in September to serve its mobile ads, which is what enabled the company to introduce the new rich media ads.

The next step in TVGuide.com?s mobile strategy will be integrating its new social Watchlist platform into all of the apps. Watchlist is intended help viewers navigate the many different ways they can watch programs these days ? from broadcast TV and on-demand to online and mobile services ? by showing them when and where a program is available.

?We?re very pleased with the level of loyalty and engagement we have with consumers after they have downloaded the apps,? Ms. Tanner said.

?We are also really encouraged because we?ve seen a 40 percent year over year increase in terms of the amount of time spent on the apps,? she said. ?That tells a great story about the business and about the potential for it to grow exponentially.

?Our major goal in the first half of 2012 is to synch up the apps with the experience and user profiles on the sites so we can bring our social Watchlist program into synch.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York