Something interesting happened the other night while “the Critic” was watching live television and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit how it all went down. My wife and I were relaxing at home and the DirecTV remote was all the way across the room and our one month old daughter was napping on the bed while we watched television. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past month it’s when she’s sleeping, it’s best to avoid any movement that could startle her but keep noise levels up. This meant we were both staying put on our bed for a while and whatever station the television was currently on was going to be our entertainment for as long she was asleep or risk missing out on some relaxation time. Well, unfortunately The Bachelorette was our so called “relaxing” evening entertainment. Something happened at the end of the show that made me very happy we were stuck watching reality television last night.

With about 20 minutes left in the show, it went to commercial. Instead of showing paid advertisements, ABC decided to let viewers preview a new show premiering Sunday June 22nd. As soon as I saw it I thought, “Great another singing reality show!” Very shortly after hearing more information about ABCs new show Rising Star, I felt completely different about just another singing show. Rising Star lets viewers interact with the show and contestants in realtime through an application viewers can download on their smartphones. Once you download the application, users are all setup and ready to go after answering a few questions and linking the app to either their Facebook or Twitter account. Viewers have 90 seconds to check-in before each contestant begins performing to help give them a shot at stardom or send them back to reality.

This approach lets viewers have an active hand in producing drama for live television. If we look back over the years, viewers have wanted to get involved with the drama playing out on television for quite a while. Years ago American Idol gave viewers the ability to text or call in their votes for their favorite singers, but viewers wouldn’t get to see how it all played out until the next night when results were shared. Rising Star lets viewers see their votes play out right in front of their very eyes. Also, the profile you connect with the app could show up on the video board visible to contestants and the millions of viewers. Pretty awesome way to become a part of a live show!

Viewers on the Eastern and Central time zones will have first crack at giving contestants a shot at moving on. If they don’t make the cut on the first viewing of the show, Mountain and Pacific time zone viewers will vote too and could put them over the edge to move on. If this happens, producers will cut in and show the contestant moving on thanks to the new segment of live viewers voting.

I’ll admit, “the Critic” isn’t one to watch much live TV. I’m part of the DVR generation that sets up their recordings weeks in advance to let life happen around us and then catch-up on our shows at our own convenience. Rising Star is the first show in a long time that I’ve even remotely thought about watching live. I know a lot of shows have integrated Twitter and Facebook sharing to encourage viewers to interact with a show during its original air time. I know some friends and family members who enjoy engaging with shows this way, but I still enjoy watching something on my own time regardless of the perks of watching it live. It’ll be interesting to see if Rising Star sucks me back in to watching live television on Sunday nights.

What are your thoughts, would you be more likely to watch live television with viewer interaction like this? Share your thoughts by sending me a message on Twitter or Facebook. Download the Rising Star application from the iOS App Store before it airs Sunday June 22nd.

More About Jeremy

Jeremy “the Critic” writes for and owns iOS Etc (http://iosetc.com). He’s a United States Air Force veteran, an air traffic controller, and an Apple fanboy. One day he hopes to expose the world to a groundbreaking iOS application from an unknown independent developer. In his mind, it’s important we share someones hard work with the world if it deserves the recognition. You can follow iOS Etc on Twitter as well as Facebook and read more about him here. Want to connect with Jeremy? Feel free to send him an e-mail or add him on LinkedIn.