Bravo Ready to Launch Online Real-Time Polls and Viewer Interactivity

By David Tobia
October 24, 2012

Bravo plans to start using on-screen, real-time polls and graphics for all of its programming, reports AllThingsD. The graphics will first appear next month during the premiere of the new season of “Watch What Happens Live.”
Viewers will use Web browsers to participate in polls and contests, and the results will change on-screen in real-time.
Bravo reportedly spent a year on the new tech, which is built on interactive TV software from MegaPhone Labs.
While other programs have experimented with other types of “live” voting, these systems usually have used text messages, and results still had to be tallied.
Lisa Hsia, who heads up digital media for Bravo, explains that the Comcast cable channel will not overload users with graphics, and will only employ two or three the first time a show airs. She says that Bravo will use more graphics during repeat episodes in an effort to create “interactive episodes.”
Bravo’s largest challenge will be to figure out how to deploy the graphics without being distracting or annoying. “It’s our job to do it in a fashion that makes the fan enjoy it,” suggests Hsia.

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