Mass media's reality check

Cell-phone service provider Play and lifestyle publication Aktivist have teamed up to bring the newest generation in reality television to a range of media. The project is the most innovative format of the genre, based on mobile-video blogs (aka vlogs) produced by six contestants from across Poland, cast according to their particular level of extrovertism and ingenuity.

Each of the players has been equipped with a Nokia N-93 phone, loaded with a video function to document their antics all over town - at home, on the street, in a club or at an after-after party in the wee hours of the morning. As with any reality show, the "stranger" the circumstances and the more "wild" the activity, the more interest the show is expected to generate. The main difference with "Melanż" is the lack of a media-controlled environment in the vein of the global franchise, "Big Brother." "Melanż" players Lili, Dorota, Kurachic, D_Vil, Pinkabala and Szymek remain in their home environments and are required only to make videos of themselves acting up.

Video voters

The web aspect of the project follows the burgeoning trend of video web sites, led by Youtube. The US site hosts thousands of new videos a day from music videos, television programs and amateur home videos and was purchased last year by Google for $1.75 (zł.4.73) billion. Polish portals like Wirtualna Polska, Onet and Smog also feature music videos and news feeds more pertinent to the local market. "Melanż" is the first outlet that showcases reality-based programming from Polish talent within the framework of a competition.

The incentive for creativity, spontaneity and utter recklessness is the zł.10,000 prize awarded to the contestant whose videos receive the most votes.

Videos are immediately streamed to the website via a software application in the player's cell phone. Blog viewers can view videos, vote for their favorite content, post comments and send text messages to any of the players. They also have the opportunity to suggest topics assigned to the amateur videographers. Highlights from the week's videos are also broadcast on the television station 4FunTV and Radiostacja airs party reviews and recommendations from the players on the weekend.

First of its kind

"As far as we know, this is the first reality show of its kind," says Zuzanna Ziomecka, Aktivist's publisher and the show's producer. "We have brought in some unique personalities and they are coming up with videos that are getting more creative and more courageous as the show progresses."

Łukasz Macheta, managing editor of Mediarun, a media research and consulting firm, believes the project is "an interesting alternative to the faltering reality show genre, with a real potential to revive and diversify the range of existing media formats."

The show is currently set up as a pilot during the month of April to test initial response to the product and work out any bugs. Valkea Media, which publishes Aktivist, as well as Warsaw Business Journal, and runs the "Melanż" site, is considering bringing the show to mainstream television stations upon its launch in the fall.

For more information, log on to www.aktivist.pl/melanz