Television on the internet isn't an especially new concept. The overwhelming success of the BBC's iPlayer this year - with over 20 million viewings in June, leading to over 21 million in August - has only encouraged more ventures into this market.One such project is "Chelsey OMG", a new series hosted by Bebo that follows the adventures of American Chelsey as she navigates her new hometown London and meets all kinds of wacky characters.
The show is just one of several that have been populating the net from a growing area of online entertainment. The first such venture is arguably LonelyGirl15, which finished its two year run last month. The show followed fictional character Bree's adventures and sparked controversy in 2006 when it was revealed that the show, which appeared to be genuine, was fictional. Initially, Bree would reply to comments on her posts - she even had a MySpace set up, which she would update with in-character posts and respond to viewers. When speculation led to proof that the show was not genuine, it strangely didn't affect its popularity; in fact, it went on to produce spin-off KateModern and a new series has been agreed on for the USA.
Chelsey OMG promises difference in its quest to make television even more interactive. Episodes will see Chelsey making journeys into the real lives of Londoners and even includes the option for viewers of the show to become 'friends' with the stars - blending the worlds of reality and fiction in ways people could only imagine just a few years ago. Conceivably, viewers could one day be a part of and directly influence their favourite programmes as technologies, flexibility and ingenuity improves.
The development will see a world of possibility open up in the field of interactivity - a media feature that consumers are demanding more and more. Every aspect of media is now becoming interactive - if it hasn't already - to cater for consumers' burgeoning needs to be completely in control of what they receive on their computers, mobile phones and television sets. With in-show interactivity, it is possible for viewers of Chelsey OMG - which runs for a full three minutes per episode, adhering to the generally short attention span of many modern internet users - to control what happens in each episode and shape the future of the series.
Whether the show will work or not is anybody's guess - it may not be successful at all - but what's interesting about it is the possibilities it opens up for a potentially very lucrative market.
Since the advent of YouTube, everyday people have been making their own shows and posting them online. Some have achieved an impressive level of fame thanks to their online exploits, gaining fan bases in the region of thousands. Now it looks like these online shows could take a leap in an exciting new direction which could, potentially, blast open television and turn it from a passive form of entertainment to a whole new platform of expression.
