Try out the vote
Reality TV junkies, get ready to be truly interactive.
Tuesday, fans of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" can vote for their favorite contestants through the TV - if, that is, those fans subscribe to Time Warner digital cable.
The cable giant, which serves the Triad, has been beta testing an interactive polling option for digital cable customers since March. Subscribers have been able to test out the voting mechanism during "Top Chef" on Bravo and the NBC reality comedy show.
Next week will mark the first time that these poll results actually count, however, toward the outcome of the show.
"This is the first real-life test of polling," says Buck Yarborough, a local spokesman for Time Warner.
After the jump, more details on the TWC program, "Last Comic Standing," and how to vote ...
Time Warner added trivia and polling to its Tuesday lineup on NBC around the end of May. But subscribers' poll votes didn't count toward the official results on "Last Comic Standing," an Emmy-nominated series that pits funny men - and women - against one another in a battle for laughs.
The trivia and polling are just a few of the interactive elements Time Warner has introduced during the last year or so. Digital cable customer here also can play with local weather, sports updates and called ID - if they have Time Warner's digital phone service - on their televisions.
The Triad has been one of the first markets to test this technology, which also was available early on in New York, L.A., Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Wilmington and Charlotte. The cable company has seen some success with the method already - during the May 3 episode of "Top Chef," 28 percent of the show's viewers tuned in through Time Warner participated in the polling.
"That's very encouraging," Yarborough says.
During the Tuesday show, digital cable customers will be able to use the 'A,' 'B' and 'C' buttons on their remotes to choose their favorite contestant. An overlay screen will automatically pop up on customers' televisions when it's time for voting, Yarborough says.
Time Warner digital subscribers also will be able to vote during the Aug. 8 final episode, in preparation for the Aug. 9 announcement of the show's winner.
Yarborough says the success of interactive polling like this could open up avenues to other Time Warner experiments and programs - like ways to order goods and services from your TV during commercials for cars or digital phone. It's a way to establish a dialogue through your television, he says, and it speaks to viewers' desire to interact with what they're watching.
If you're jazzed about testing the Time Warner system, use the NBC Web site to check up on any changes in air dates or times for the comedy show. Voting through your TV is free.
"Last Comic Standing" is one of NBC's most-watched shows. It garnered more than 8 million viewers for its debut episode this season, according to Nielsen ratings.
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Hey, did you know there is a fan site dedicated to Josh Blue, the comedian with cerebral palsy on "Last Comic Standing"? Check it out at http://www.joshbluefans.com. It has video clips, photos, a way to send fan mail, and the latest on Josh and the show!
Posted on July 14, 2006 10:12 AM