In a continuation of the recent shakeup at the network, HLN announced on Wednesday that it had five new shows in the works aimed at a younger audience and emphasizing itself as “the first U.S. TV home for the social media generation.”
Also read: HLN Rebrands as Cable News Network for Millennials of the Social Media Age
The new shows in development include a game show called “Keywords“ — a “search and tag trivia game for internet addicts.” Using “five keyword clues” participants find out trivia about celebrities, song lyrics and gifs (yes — gifs! Though it will be interesting to see if they pronounce it with a hard G, the BuzzFeed way).
“I Can Haz NewsToons” — Apparently inspired by the meme blog “I Can Has Cheezburger?”, which spotlights “social media’s best satire cartoons.” Created by the Adventure Time’s Fred Siebert.
“One.Click.Away“ –– HLN describes this as “The untold stories behind the online classifieds…the world’s biggest yard sale.” This program sounds like a cross between a TV adaptation of “Craigslist Joe” and HGTV’s reality shows, focusing on the backstories of internet sellers and people who put up weird Craigslist roommate ads.
“Vacation Hunters“— A game show where Twitter users suggest vacations to two teams and they have to compete against each other on a budget.
“Videocracy“—Essentially aTotal Request Live-type show with “VJs” focused on viral video content.
Also read: HLN Cancels ‘Showbiz Tonight,’ But Host AJ Hammer to Remain Part of Entertainment Coverage
“HLN is driving a development slate with a key goal in mind: debunk the myth that the world of social media is only about videos of cats riding skateboards,” said HLN executive vice president Albie Hecht. “News that is shared can inspire a wide spectrum of programming and HLN’s ripped from the social media headlines approach will mirror what consumers are really doing digitally.”
Whether this new shakeup will be embraced by young news consumers as an appreciation for reaching out to their demographic or shunned as Poochie-like pandering remains to be seen.