Broadcast News

The Age

Thursday December 6, 2007

Lia Timson.

Now you can phone in for a live cross to the small screen, writes Lia Timson

IF YOU thought talkback radio was the ultimate form of audience participation, wait until Australian TV shows begin adopting the MeOnTV interactive video system launched late last month.

The broadcast system runs on 3G phone networks and, when installed at television stations, allows them to capture video footage from viewers' mobiles and put it straight to air.

It lets callers talk to show hosts on-screen and is poised to spruce up quizzes, reality TV, betting and talent quest shows. Some already use voice calls and premium-rated text messaging services. It will also fast-track the impact of witnesses and reporters on news bulletins.

Until now, television newsrooms have had to send camera-ready journalists or film crews to breaking news stories.

Eyewitness mobile phone videos delivered to stations on tape or as email attachments are usually only aired after the fact.

Now anyone with a camera 3G phone can potentially break news on the spot.

"It adds a new element of interactivity. If you are the first on the scene, the video you take is of significant importance. It puts control of the (show) in the consumer's hands in a sense," says Kursten Leins, marketing manager for Ericsson's multimedia arm.

The company developed the technology with Endemol, the production house responsible for Big Brother globally.

It was demonstrated during the final episode of Big Brother Netherlands last year but is only now ready for deployment worldwide.

"Any viewer with a video-enabled phone can call into a show," Ms Leins says. "It can handle multiple calls and can drop the live feed straight into the stations to be mixed into a (screening) show."

It also captures and stores videos from callers who are kept on hold waiting for their turn to appear on screen. They may find themselves on a show's associated website or blog instead.

Chris Caines, a lecturer in media arts at the University of Technology Sydney, can see the potential for live interaction with TV programs but says there are stumbling blocks.

"There are issues of censorship and filtering," he says. "These are usually dealt with by editors or on (photo upload) sites like Flickr by other users.

"Of course, on a TV station you can't have uncensored footage. Stations are under a lot more restrictions on what they can and can't broadcast. They are very (easy to sue)."

Mr Caines says users may also baulk at the cost of video calls, especially if telephone companies establish dedicated premium phone numbers to capture the footage. As with SMS premium numbers, these could become a money-spinner for the carriers and the TV stations. The practice - known as Participation TV - is under the microscope in Britain where the Government's Office of Communication and the Gambling Commission is investigating public concern over being repeatedly encouraged to spend money to interact with television services.

David Cannon, a telecommunications senior analyst with technology research firm IDC, says the main obstacle is video quality.

"The actual live feed is a totally new ball game but it's not the same quality as digital cameras used for remote feeds that we are used to in prime-time news bulletins," he says. "But it has its place in reaching out to the mass market to communicate with anyone anywhere.

"Over time as cameras and mobile phones get better it can be widely used."

Mr Caine says consumers have largely rejected video calls to date.

"Video phones have been around for a long time and people are not crazy about them. The social conventions are still awkward."

He says people are used to multi-tasking while on the phone and having to look their best while talking and holding up a camera is not comfortable.

"Having said that, I can see Rove crossing live to someone's bedroom, but I can't see it taken up on a mass scale."

The technology is not to be confused with a web service of the same name (www.meontv.co.uk) where members of the public can apply to take part in the filming of TV programs, as talent, quiz players, home renovators or competitive chefs. Programs are produced by RDF Television for stations in Britain.

© 2007 The Age

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