As our favourite reality shows went on air at 9 pm every weekend, we fought for power over the remote control. But as reality TV hits cyberspace, the mouse has become the new symbol of power
As our favourite reality shows went on air at 9 pm every weekend, we fought for power over the remote control. But as reality TV hits cyberspace, the mouse has become the new symbol of power
In December last year, 20 bikers had a life-changing experience. They went on a 21-day journey across seven states, covering a distance of 4,500-plus kilometers, completing tasks at each pitstop all for a reality show.
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Not only were the bikers caught on camera, but they also posted pictures and updated blogs to chronicle their journey.
For those who lost the opportunity to catch the offline bike to stardom, web reality show, Yamaha India Bike Rally, hosted on social networking site bigadda.com, has provided for a reasonable share of virtual fame on a real-world trip.
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| Track your favourite contestant's fitness report card on a web reality show. |
It's a perfect marriage. The maniacal popularity of reality shows coupled with the growing use of the Internet meant that it was only a matter of time before we switched on our PCs instead of our TVs to watch our favourite shows.
"Everyone watches TV but now you can watch your show on your mobile, at work or at home, wherever and whenever you want to," says Mahesh Murthy, founder and CEO of Pinstorm, a digital marketing firm.
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"And if you want to vote for your favourite contestant, you don't even have to spend money on an SMS." Just click on your mouse!
That also explains why BigAdda has launched another reality show, this one focussed on fitness.
Here, you get to watch 26 finalists go through an eight-week fitness regime, allowing you to not only interact with the participants and post comments on their blog, but also interact with other users.
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"This sort of interaction can propel it to another level altogether," says Mandar Natekar, Head of Revenue and Marketing, BigAdda.
"You can also download the contestant's diet regime, and use that as your personal diet plan depending on your build."
To lure younger audiences, last year also saw behind-the-scenes gossip from popular TV shows like Splitsvilla (MTV) on Web18 (Internet and mobile arm of Network 18) while portals like Yahoo have hosted Channel [V]'s Get Gorgeous and Color's Bigg Boss.
MTV also has a "community" online called Gang Next, where college kids compete to complete tasks like getting their professors to dance, and then upload the videos to win votes.
Roadies Underground, a digital extension of the popular TV show Roadies, was like a parallel universe, where after a round of online auditions, the Roadies were given video tasks to do.
"People are into multi-platform consumption and you have to engage them wherever they are," says Aditya Swamy, senior vice president, sales and marketing, MTV, adding, "It also helps that the online medium
is cheaper."
On Foreign ShoresNokia Malaysia and Singapore are out with The Rookie, in which 12 individuals battle it out for internships at four high-profile companies. Is anyone from The Apprentice listening?
Simon Fuller's American Idol made it big but he moved on to the web with If I Can Dream, a 24-hour live show in which participants were moved into a Californian house wired with 56 cameras. The auditions for future seasons will be held on the show's Myspace account.
Girls Will Be Girls stars teens and documents their everyday lives and relationships. It was started when a guy decided to follow his younger sister and her friends with a video camera.
YouTube has a web series called Green Eyed World, which follows the life and adventures of Katie Vogel, a talented girl with a green guitar and big dreams.
