The reality television show, Big Brother has been responsible for integrating many media and communication channels in order to produce one interactive show. Natalie Apostolou (2004: http://www.smarthouse.com.au/articlesbytopic/profiledhomes/1679?p=1) claims that Big Brother has “the power to explore the possibility of reality TV’s real convergence potential�. This statement has come about from previous converging abilities shown in the earlier series of the show. Despite the advanced technology used throughout the house construct (microphones and cameras etc), the real celebration comes as a result of multiple media channels being merged together to promote audience interactivity.
Media channels such as, print, radio, television, computing, Internet and telecommunications have converged to generate the success that shows like Big Brother are used to. Whilst televisions enabled audiences the view the show in half hour or hour blocks, in conjunction with the Internet, people were able to access live image and audio footage of the housemates at any time. It’s the synergy between Internet services and television programs that add value to shows (Noam, Groebel and Gerbarg, eds, 2004: 89).
Telecommunications have enabled audiences to interact with online voting polls as well as voting from mobile and landline phones. In the fourth series of Big Brother, Hutchison Telecoms introduced 3G and video streaming. This technology allows 3 consumers to connect with the Big Brother house 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and choose their own camera angles to watch their favourite housemates. Gary Carter of Endemol, (in Chahal, 2002: http://www.nmk.co.uk/article/2003/07/07/reality-tv) believes that “expectations have grown so much that viewers now expect a degree of control over their programming that has gone as far as exercising control over the final outcome of a show.� Reality shows such as Big Brother pray on this expectation through providing audiences with numerous channels through which to vote. Carter continues to argue that producers are able to fulfil this control expectation due to the “interactivity and the convergence of new technologies�.
The convergence and interactivity involved in the production of Big Brother series is known as a “multi-platform development� (Gawlinski, 2003: 184). Gawlinski states that over “27 companies were involved with the development of interactive services for Big Brother in 2001.� The cohesion between all these companies was a foundation for the multiple aspects of the show. All organisations were working towards one fundamental goal, yet all had individual roles to fulfil and perform. However, in focussing on convergence, shows like Big Brother would not be so popular if it wasn’t for the television show, the mobile up dates, the voting lines, the live communication downloads and the interactivity of the audience.
Alison Costello 10:46, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)
