Short, often nonsensical sketches called "bumps" have been a hallmark of Turner Broadcasting System's Adult Swim in recent years. The 15-second bumps take on random topics like pirates, owls in suits and the secret lives of fax machines to underscore the programming block's offbeat humor.
Until now, the bits were written by Adult Swim staffers. Starting this week, though, Turner is giving fans a chance to get their bumps on air with a new iOS and Android app. The Adult Swim Bump Builder lets viewers create their own bumps, and the best ones will make it on air. (Click here for a collection of classic bumps.)
See also: Netflix Snags Cartoon Network and Adult Swim Shows
A Turner rep said this doesn't mean that all bumps will be crowdsourced. The "uncrappy" crowdsourced bumps, per the app's download page, will run along with the staff-written ones.
Adult Swim, which airs nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET, has 36 apps in the iTunes store, but this is the first that crowdsources content. The programming block also draws a monthly audience of 3.6 million to its website thanks to games like Robot Unicorn Attack and Amateur Surgeon.
In addition to culling some free content, Bump Builder will likely help foster more second-screen integration and provide new advertising opportunities. The first marketer to take advantage of the latter is AT&T, which is sponsoring Bump Builder.
Image: Adult Swim
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