The Japanese television network Nihon Terebi (NTV) has recently launched a new mystery drama series called Piece Vote. Broadcast weekly at a late-night time slot, the show includes a scrolling side panel that's constantly updated with incoming viewer opinions and comments.
Despite being very new, TV viewers who've jumped onto the realtime response craze have already found a healthy balance between watching and commenting. Because Japanese Internet users prefer anonymity, the dialogue over Piece Vote has thus far been very curt, to-the-point and wrought with emotion. This innovation has already proven to be an exceptional business tool, allowing television producers to gauge audience reactions and change the narrative of the show accordingly.
Imagine if the makers of serialized shows like LOST, Heroes or even Jersey Shore could immediately tell what their viewers were thinking and feeling. You and the rest of the audience would be guaranteed to love next week's episode!
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- User-propelled Television Drama
- Television stations could enable user comments on their late-night programs with scrolling side panels, encouraging an active community response to scripted programming and allowing producers to gauge audience reactions.
- Real-time Response Television Shows
- Serialized shows could introduce real-time feedback into their plotlines to tailor story arcs to their viewers’ preferences.
- Anonymity-based Community Conversation
- Anonymity-based community conversation could prove particularly popular for Japanese Internet users, who have responded positively to short, emotive comments for a recent late-night television show.
Sectors Adopting This
- Television Industry
- Television stations could explore the possibilities of interactivity and audience involvement on their programs, testing user comments as both a marketing ploy and a possible means of story development.
- Entertainment Industry
- Serialized shows and other scripted media could experiment with real-time viewer feedback and interactivity as a means of tailoring their stories to a broader audience.
- Digital Media Industry
- Internet comments section could be utilized to foster an anonymous, active community of commenters during television programming, allowing producers to monitor real-time interest in their shows.
