Strahan lives with two jobs, two phones
Former New York Giants
NEW YORK defensive end Michael Strahan never leaves home without two smartphones for his gigs on the syndicated Live with Kelly and Michael and as an analyst on Fox NFL Sunday. He shoots video status updates, which he makes with the Viddy app on his smartphones. And he spends a lot of time tweeting with fans, as we learned recently when we met Strahan here on the set of Live.
Shooting, sharing video
He likes sending text tweets out on Twitter, where he has 936,000 followers, but video updates via Viddy “engage the fans and let them see a part of your personality. You get to look intomy eyes, see the way I’m expressing it.”
What he shoots
Behind-the-scenes Live and Fox NFL photos, glimpses of life with his two daughters, and travel shots. “When I’min California, I’ll shoot the ocean and waves.” On Live, he sometimes dresses as a character. He’s sent videos of himself as President Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
Tech in TV
On Fox NFL, he used to get cards with team stats; now, they’re presented to him on an iPad. “We’ve eliminated the use of paper.” On Live, he uses cue and note cards. But tech has invaded the show by way of social media, which he uses to engage with fans. “If I say something I think is funny, they’ll tell me if I’m wrong. And if I say something they disagree with, I know when they disagree.”
Different kind of tweets
Male feedback is sports-oriented, “and more aggressive,” vs. the “nicer” female response, Strahan says. “I’ve learned that on Sunday, my Twitter feed is a little different than Monday through Friday. I have a nicer Twitter feed during the week. Reading the tweets gives me a good insight to what people are thinking— which I get to bring up on the air. It’s great for anyone who watches the show to know we actually do listen, we pay attention, and that through technology, you can reach us as if you’re reaching out to your family member.”
Apps
Besides Viddy, he loves Yelp for local restaurant reviews and Cinemagram, which takes a portion of a still photo and makes it move.
Those two phones
An iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III. He likes the Galaxy’s big screen, and uses it with fiancée Nicole Murphy. “That’s our thing. The touching to transfer technology. We share music and photos.” He also likes the iPhone 5, to be current. “I felt like I needed both. I use whichever one has a full battery. I keep saying I am going to do just one phone, but it’s too hard to figure out which one. So I just keep them both.”