Oxygen Channel’s Social TV Platform Arrives May 18

The Oxygen Channel is launching a new social TV platform for fans of its programming this month. The platform — Oxygen Connect — will offer viewers web exclusives, challenges for incentives and a central place to vote during competition shows.

Oxygen Connect (see mock-up above) will initially be woven into the second-screen experience for The Glee Project, a reality show where contestants compete for a role on Fox’s comedy-drama Glee.

More series will eventually use the platform, which will be available as a mobile app and on Oxygen’s website.

Season two of The Glee Project premieres June 5, but viewers can register for Oxygen Connect starting May 18 to watch a web-only preview of the series. To use the platform, users will sign up with their Facebook accounts and create a profile.

“It’s allowing us to further fuel the fans’ desire to root for and connect with their favorite contenders, which is what drives the passion for the show.”

Each week during The Glee Project, viewers can participate in missions to earn custom badges and points for a more personalized experience. The points unlock sneak peeks and live chats with contenders, among other rewards. Points also could win users face-to-face meetings with contestants.

Jennifer Kavanagh, SVP of digital at Oxygen Media, told Mashable this interactive initiative supplements the company’s existing OxygenLive.com co-viewing hub.

“Oxygen Connect gives us the opportunity to build on this and more directly reward fans for this level of engagement by giving them more exclusive access to talent and content,” she says. “It’s allowing us to further fuel the fans’ desire to root for and connect with their favorite contenders, which is what drives the passion for the show.”

On the platform, Glee Project fans can use Twitter hashtags to vote for their favorite contenders during “Last Chance Performances.” Their votes will be displayed on TV in real time with the top vote-getter winning a featured spot on Oxygen Connect.

“Tuning in live each week and voting is a key way of earning exclusive badges and ensuring their favorite performance gets unlocked online for a full week,” Kavanagh says.

SEE ALSO: I Can Has Cheezburger on TV? Reality Show Planned for Bravo

Oxygen, which has 5.2 million followers across social networks, says the mobile and tablet app also will deliver synced content (polls, videos and ads) based on each user’s location.

More About: Entertainment, GLEE, hashtags, mobile apps, Oxygen, social tv, The Glee Project, TV, Twitter

For more Entertainment coverage: