Disrupting American Idol - Sham or Brilliant Idea?
Disrupting American Idol - Sham or Brilliant Idea?
My anti-marketer colleague Paul Paetz has a lengthy analysis today on the disruption of Fox's American Idol.
He points out that American Idol is at the top of its game as a major force in pop media. But trouble is on the horizon:
- VoteForTheWorst is a subversive blog that has grown virally to as many as 500,000 hits daily and is skewing the results of the talent contest
"VFTW exposes this sham. They recognize that American Idol wants train wrecks in the final 12 to keep the show entertaining while we get to know the real finalists. Which is why there are so many in the top 12 who can't sing.
"And the outcome may be that VFTW forces a change in process which makes the show more honest but less interesting. That's a real world example of the power of disruption -- either way it costs and it may kill the target if the response to the threat isn't met successfully.
Paul has some provocative questions at the end of his post and I'll add a few more:
- How can television programmers harness audience interaction to create more compelling shows and better businesses?
- Are there valuable new services for advertisers and telecommunications companies that can be created by linking interactive technologies like MyThum or CommerceTel with broadcast content?
- Are there other media that could be dramatically changed using such systems?
**Other Sources**
Global Network and MyThum announce deal for interactive "Deal or No Deal"
Here's a video interview with CommerceTel President and CTO Dennis Becker (6:32 min) from TVMainstream, recorded at the Emmy Technology awards.
