VH1 Offers Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan on Your iPad

It debuts a new second screen app for the Critics Choice Movie Awards

If you tune into the Critics Choice Movie Awards on VH1 Thursday night, you will only get part of the action as the network experiments with a new kind of second-screen experience.

Viewers can also watch a four-hour live stream of various social commentators and critics like Slate’s Dana Stevens and New York Magazine’s Will Leitch weighing in on the night’s action, which will include a special award for Martin Scorsese and a musical tribute from Bob Dylan.

“It will be like watching the show with a bunch of friends in your living room, but your friends happen to be very savvy insider folks,” Dan Sacher, VP Digital for VH1, told TheWrap. “This could be a compelling, good way to add a new dimension to the second screen and make it even more social than it has been in the past.

This is the first time that Vh1, looking to further innovate in the social sphere, will integrate video into a second screen experience — one that occurs on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone in addition to the TV.

Also Read: Martin Scorsese to Receive Critics Choice Music+Film Award

It launched a second screen viewing app, Co-Star, in May, which offers features like photos, tweets form cast members and trivia.

Sacher said the network has been looking at the second screen for some time, and that this kind of show is a good way to kick off a year of innovation in that sector.

“This kind of show, and awards show in general, are a unique opportunity to start,” Sacher said. “The pace of the show is different from a narrative show or a scripted show, so there is a lot of space to offer commentary.”

The Critics Choice Movie Awards will be hosted by comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel.

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