Virtual Future of TV Shows

The other day I turned on the TV and got hooked on a show. It's not that I was particularly interested in the plot or the intrigue of the contest being shown – I didn't immediately understand what I was watching. I heard a familiar song by "Bon Jovi" but saw some unclear 3D graphics integrated into a real environment.

After scrolling through the recordings of the "ALTER EGO" show on YouTube, it took me about three tries to grasp the concept. For those like me who haven't turned on the TV in years, I'm attaching a link to the episode. Briefly: a performer sings a well-known song while hiding under their 3D avatar with an altered voice. The task for the jury is to guess who is singing.

The grumpy old man inside me immediately started grumbling: "Who would watch this? Back in my day..." You, my smart reader-marketers, would quickly counter-argue: "Well, if there are ratings, it means people are watching."

Of course, you're right. But let's step away from the ratings and think about why people watch this.

I'll start with the grumbling of my alter-ego – the graphics. The technology of transferring human movement to a 3D character was perfected long ago by Cameron in "Avatar." Only in our case, we're getting not Cameron's picture but graphics at the level of early 2000s computer games.

And yes, considering the number of episodes of the show and the volume of different performances within each show, making an "Avatar" would take about five years, while these guys likely have a production cycle of a month or so, if not less. So, while one can express dissatisfaction with the graphics, there's really no alternative.

And what about the audience? Fans of Red Dead Redemption, Last of Us, and other games with powerful modern graphics, who also keep an eye on the latest from Pixar, are unlikely to get hooked on the graphics of the discussed show. But a viewer less sophisticated in graphics might. Imagine a woman aged 45-55, turns on the TV, and sees something visually appealing set to a familiar song – it captures her attention.

In the end, I was actually pleased with the industry's development – just imagine, 3D characters vying for the viewer's attention! To me, it's a great solution, visually interesting for the mass audience, and there's intrigue in the show.

I'll be turning on the TV more often.

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