Acceptance of the new TV format was very high

LIVE was “on air” for a total of 33 hours per channel, in which a total of 254 onscreen interactive elements were produced. On average more than half of all viewers took regular advantage of the interactive elements to switch to dramatic events on another channel or to vote or rate the content on screen.

87% of viewers participated in the trial on at least two weekends. Overall satisfaction with the broadcast was very high. In fact 63% of viewers who participated on all three weekends were very happy with the broadcast . Nearly all of the respondents in the follow-up user survey indicated that they would like to use such an interactive TV service in the future. The high acceptance of the TV format ensured a basis from which the producer could make informed decisions about which sports to broadcast live or which content of high interest to repeat. Patterns began to form in the voting and rating of content that indicated high interest in the behind the scenes action of sports events, this also included the behind the scenes of the production broadcast itself.

The result was the production of new content ‘on-the-fly’ such as studio guest interviews, documentaries about sports personalities and interviews with the production team. The use of a dedicated channel for informal and spontaneous live moderation soon took on the form of a home channel where viewers would return either for a break from the action or for an update on the action across the 5 channels or to hear what the other viewers had to say. The producer also relied on the studio channel for immediate reaction to patterns in viewer behaviour such as a major switch to the medal ceremony involving an Austrian athlete.