NBC Universal Digital Studio Names ChaCha as Answers Service for Original Digital Series ‘FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit’ | MMA Global

NBC Universal Digital Studio Names ChaCha as Answers Service for Original Digital Series ‘FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit’

September 1, 2010
Submitted by Cha Cha Search, Inc.

ChaCha and NBC Universal Digital Studios Partner to Leverage Human-Powered Answers to Engage Audience

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA and INDIANAPOLIS, September 1, 2010:  NBC Universal Digital Studio, which launched the original series "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" last week, has named ChaCha (http://www.chacha.com) as the answers service provider for the branded entertainment series.

"FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" is based on a short film of the same name. The show follows two overzealous fact checkers employed to confirm or disprove various statements made in articles scheduled to be published by a magazine. Viewers and fans can participate by joining the show’s mobile alerts and "Check Your Own Facts" by texting ChaCha on the show site and engage more deeply with the content by experiencing a live feed of fact checking questions.

"Viewers are constantly looking for ways to engage with our shows’ content and talent in new and unique ways. Providing viewers with the chance to get their own facts checked in real-time by ChaCha’s expert Guides provides a first-of-its-kind experience as millions of viewers immerse themselves deeper into the FCU storyline," says Cameron Death, Senior Vice President & General Manager, NBC Universal Digital Studio.

"ChaCha has grown to be the ‘smart friend’ people turn to for all their answers, about anything," says Scott Jones, ChaCha’s CEO. "Powered by over 50,000 people called 'Guides,' we are able to deliver superior answer quality and response times. This new show from NBCU was an ideal opportunity to leverage our fun content and clever answers from our Guides for this creative comedy show launch."

ChaCha provides superior service across mobile, online and social platforms, making it easy to engage with the "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit." Key features of the partnership include:  

Mobile question and answers service -Users can check any fact by texting FCU (space) followed by the fact / question they want to check to 242-242. 

Mobile show alerts, reminders, factoids, and news - Users can opt in to a "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" VIP mobile list via ChaCha to get show reminders, breaking news, cool updates, etc by texting FCUVIP to 242-242.  

Users can also opt in to daily mobile alerts or "FAV" and get "did you know" type facts, show quotes, and more by texting FAV FCU to 242-242. 

Online answer services - There are "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" topic pages at ChaCha.com. In the search bar, users can ask a question about the series and get to a topics page where they can click on videos and more.

Social answers service - The "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" fan page is available to users at: http://me.chacha.com/fcu 

"In the past year, ChaCha has become the ubiquitous, always accessible answers service, providing info on anything from world events such as the BP oil spill to hot gossip about celebrities like Justin Beiber,” Mr. Jones added. "We are thrilled to be part of NBCU’s web series as another way to showcase that we have become America's number one way to find answers for anything. Plus it’s a hell of a funny show!" 

The "FCU: Fact Checker’s Unit" eight-episode short form series, something of a spoof of procedural dramas, depicts a pair of magazine fact checkers who go above and beyond to confirm obscure celebrity facts. Like the 2008 Sundance acclaimed short film of the same name, the new web version of the show will feature scenarios, along with celebrity cameos. For example, the FCU team will investigate whether the house of former "Beverly Hills: 90210" star Luke Perry is haunted or whether "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek shaves against the grain.

Users can watch the digital series on www.factcheckersunit.com, on iTunes and all major cable video-on-demand services and mobile platforms in the United States and will also premiere on the digital platforms of Syfy in the United Kingdom, Syfy Universal throughout Asia/Pacific and The Syfy Channel in Australia.

ChaCha answers who, what, when, where and why, and has emerged as the No. 1 way for advertisers and marketers to engage teens and young adults.

Through its unique "ask-a-smart-friend" platform, ChaCha has answered over 600 million questions since launch from approximately 15 million unique users per month via SMS text (242-242™), online (http://www.chacha.com), Twitter (@chacha), Facebook app, iPhone app, Android app, and voice (1-800-2-ChaCha™). Working with major brands such as Paramount, AT&T, Palm, Johnson&Johnson, P&G, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Sonic, and presidential political campaigns, ChaCha.com is one of the fastest growing mobile and online publishers according to Nielsen and Quantcast.

ChaCha was co-founded by proven innovator and entrepreneur Scott Jones and is funded by Bezos Expeditions; Morton Meyerson, former President and Vice Chairman of EDS as well as Chairman and CEO of Perot Systems; Rod Canion, founding CEO of Compaq Computer; the Simon family; and Jack Gill, Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

NBC Universal Digital Studio. In addition to original episodic programming across all genres, the NBC Universal Digital Studio creates deep interactive experiences that drive high levels of engagement with audiences and presenting brands. The studio offers advertisers full service solutions with access to top writers, producers and talent, high quality production expertise, consumer insights, measurements and analytics and scale to reach their target audiences.

Contacts:

NBC Entertainment
Lesley Cerwin,
818-777-2888
[email protected]

ChaCha
George H. Simpson
203.521.0352
[email protected]