Reality TV Is The Killer App For Convergence?

Culture

from the who-would-have-predicted-that... dept

Just as some are saying that reality TV has hit its peak and is on the decline, others are pointing out that reality TV is the killer application for interactive TV and convergence. The idea is that as awful as some of these shows are, the viewers all get involved. The article points out that you can watch Survivor all you want, but you’re not getting the full story unless you’re playing along online with everyone else trying to pick up clues about who is really going to win. Some people even say that the off-air “game” of picking the winners is much more important than the on-air game itself. The reality TV shows are starting to pick up on this fact. There have always been claims that Survivor’s producers put fake info online to throw people off the track, and American Idol got a ton of people to participate through online votes. Next up are going to be reality shows that get people even more involved with the game. People have been talking about the potential to have shows where audience members at home have a chance to join the show each week, which should cause quite a stir.