How did an old show get to be (in my opinion) the best example Australia has of ‘interactive TV’ and the use of social media on television?
If you’ve managed to catch any episodes of Hey Hey It’s Saturday (Wednesday nights on Channel 9), then you’ll notice that they’ve done some really great work at integrating new media into the show.
The show’s formula and games are pretty much as they have been for many years. Simple and the kind of funny you kick yourself for laughing at but find yourself laughing regardless! Yeah for Chook Lotto, Celebrity Heads, Red Faces etc. The formula still works. That’s a given.
And now, the show’s masterminds (or some smart cookies involved) have harnessed the power of social media to engage not only the live studio audience but hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
I’m thrilled. Really.
The closest thing I’ve seen to this live use of social media is on US news shows when the Twitter stream is shown in the lower third. Nice, but boring.
Hey Hey has it right. Where once the studio audience would judge a ‘Red Faces’ act, now you and I can, from the comfort of our home, vote, share our opinion, debate and have a collaborative community experience that is unprecedented.
And, and using less ‘social’ media, Lavinia has a laptop on hand to get any new emails that are worth commenting about. What a great way to engage viewers! “You mean I could have my email talked about on live TV? Wow…”… and so Mary Smith from Tewantin in Queensland chimes in and takes part in the conversation.
I used Hey Hey as an example at three speaking engagements in the last week. I’m so ‘chuffed’ at how well they’re doing this. (Being LIVE they have a rare opportunity, on Australian TV, with Social Media but others have had the same chance. They are just the first, I think, to really get it right.)
As at this morning Hey Hey had 432, 936 fans on Facebook. How exciting.
This week the show used #chook (I think) as the tag for those watching to follow the conversation on Twitter.
(The Twitter following is at the mo’ just 3,123 but that’s okay. I think Facebook is more suited to what the show is doing.)
When ‘they’ told us about ‘interactive TV’… I don’t think ‘they’ knew that this would be it… a LIVE show, with Australia participating alongside the show’s activity.
Congratulations Hey Hey.
I’m watching (’cause I think you’re fun) AND because this ‘old dog’ has certainly learned some new tricks.
