Simon Fuller Plans Nonstop Online Reality Show

The man who brought the world American Idol and the Spice Girls has yet another talent show in mind. Unlike the others, If I Can Dream will air online 24 hours per day, seven days a week. The show will follow three actors, a model and a musician as they try to make it in Hollywood.
Other than the idea to stream the program online, the standard reality/talent/surveillance formula is in place. Five contestants will live together in a Hollywood house rigged with cameras that will webcast nonstop footage on IfICanDream.com starting early next year, and the show will extend to several social networking and media sites.
Hulu will show weekly highlights viewers with slightly more selective viewing habits, marking the first time a Hulu show will have been available internationally. Should any of the contestants actually succeed in landing a gig in the entertainment industry, MySpace will accept video submissions from viewers who want to replace them on the show. And throughout the whole process, fans will be able to send messages to the contestants via Twitter and Facebook.
“I am determined to continue challenging convention and pushing the boundaries of mainstream entertainment,” said Fuller in a statement. “The next frontier is the video world of authentic real-time interaction. ‘If I Can Dream’ experiments with technology to provide for the first time a complete open-door opportunity that allows the viewer to experience reality in a way never before attempted… This is the dawning of a new age.”
Say what you will about his previous productions, but this looks like another savvy move on Fuller’s part — especially in light of YouTube’s announcement yesterday that Susan Boyle’s video was the most popular of 2009. Clearly, viewers have strong appetites for televised talent shows, spying on contestants’ private moments and talking about all of it online.

Source: https://www.wired.com/business/2009/12/simon-cowell-plans-nonstop-online-reality-show/