Australian Idol (season 4)

* * Shows in which contestants brought instruments onto the stage with them.

Idol Backstage

Origin and production

In 2006 Fremantle Australia's digital media division launched "Idol Backstage", a companion show to "Australian Idol" distributed by Telstra and promoted in clips on the main show. It followed the pranks, gags and interviews of host Josh Zepps as he roamed behind the scenes of the Australian Idol set while the show went to air.

"Idol Backstage" marked a clear break in style from the rest of the Idol franchise, appealing to a young, tech-savvy audience. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/ten-to-offer-program-downloads/2006/12/06/1165081010017.html SMH article: Ten Network's online demographic] ] The clips were edited overnight each Sunday and Monday into roughly one commercial half-hour per week (22-24 minutes) over four episodes. There were 54 episodes in total, with additional content available on mobile phones and on BigPond's [http://bigpondguide.com/genre.php?channel=21 Idol Backstage Online] website.

Reaction

"Idol Backstage" was a popular success, with viewer numbers climbing strongly week-on-week and total Idol web video downloads reaching a record 2.5 million throughout the season. Traffic to the Idol website was up 40% on the previous year with more than 26 million page impressions, and "Australian Idol" became the most popular television program website in the country. [ [http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/Another_Idol_Success_Story_271106.html eNews article: Idol ratings] ]

References

External links

* [http://australianidol.bigpond.com.au "Australian Idol"]
* [http://ten.com.au/ten/tv_australianidol.html "Australian Idol"] on Network Ten
* [http://blog.who.com/whosays/australian_idol/index.html WHO.com Australian Idol blog]