| Service: |
Interactive application to enhance “Big Brother 5” |
| Launch: |
May 2004 |
| Production company: |
Endemol |
| Channels: |
Channel 4 and E4 |
| Brief: |
Support and enhance the television coverage of “Big Brother 5” |
| Solution: |
Exclusive video footage via a streaming service |
Big Brother was the first reality TV programme to have interactivity behind it. For this fifth version of the hugely popular show, Channel 4 offered a range of interactive services aimed at enhancing and improving the viewer experience and retaining viewers within the programme.
The brief was to support and enhance the television coverage of “Big Brother 5”, which aired on Channel 4 over ten weeks from May to August 2004.
The main attraction of the interactive area was exclusive footage of action from within the house. As well as watching coverage on digital E4, Big Brother fans could keep up with goings-on via a 24-hour streaming service (or clips and news on the website), and could choose to receive news updates to their mobile, e-mail updates and a weekly newsletter.
Fans who pressed the red button could also enjoy access to further biography information about each housemate, read up-to-the-minute news stories, play themed Big Brother games, enter competitions and, of course, vote. The service was developed in a way that it could work across multiple services and was built to be easily adaptable for future use.
Since Big Brother began offering digital viewers interactive services behind the linear programme, the interactive elements have become a fundamental part of the viewing experience, adding value to the brand and providing another source of revenue.
Channel 4 estimates that more than 2.5 million out of the 14 million votes cast during Big Brother 5 were made using remote controls for digital television.
“Channel 4 strives to create interactivity, not for its own sake, but to push the boundaries of programme-making and how our viewers’ experience that programme.”
Iain Marsh, Executive Editor iDTV, Channel 4 Television