‘iVillage Live’ premieres on NBC stations, online

Cory Bergman December 4th, 2006

I just watched a few minutes of the first iVillage Live show, billed as the “daytime TV’s first fully interactive talk show.” The show debuted today on NBC’s owned and operated stations and Bravo while being simulcast live on iVillageLive.com. First off, the hosts were way too over-caffeinated for my taste, but let’s hope they can chalk it up to launch day jitters. Meanwhile, the interactive components have tons of potential. While watching the show live online, I was logged into a straightforward chat window (screen grab below). A moderator offered behind-the-scenes factoids along the way, while users posted feedback. “The concept is great but everyone is too self conscious and trying too hard. It makes me nervous to watch,” said Vikilee in the chat. You can also text in comments from your mobile phone, which scroll along the bottom of the screen. Or participate in votes that influence the outcome of the show (in this episode, you could vote how to cut a woman’s hair.) And finally, you can edit and upload your video via iVillageLive.com, without any application downloads. The most popular videos, determined by users and screened by editors, will appear on the show. NBC’s effort is tremendously ambitious, and while the talent needs to take it down a notch, I think it’s a great concept.