Due to the joys of pouring through transcripts of interviews with people about their second screen behaviours I was only able to catch a short segment of the X Factor with #Yappfactor as a sidekick show. As such, my impressions are based on a very limited experience.
What I noticed first was that Jake Yapp only broadcasts with sound during the commercial breaks. During X Factor itself the audio is muted and Jake is reduced to holding up messages and Tweets to the camera on pieces of paper like a cheeky schoolboy passing notes behind the teacher’s back. Whether this is because of rights issues or the concerns I touched on regarding people’s social TV preferences I am unsure.
This seemed to work quite well as I caught what appeared to be a fake baked genetic splice of the Beckhams murdering Spandau Ballet’s Gold, or #Bronze as Jake’s note suggested. However, bifocalling between the two shows did not feel entirely comfortable on my tired eyes and may take some practice.
Once the adverts came on audio from #Yappfactor was restored allowing some of Jake’s acerbic wit to flow. One thing I did realise was how how hard it was to hear my iPad’s speaker with the TV on in the background. Headphones might be a solution but this would prevent a shared experience with others in the room and be as much a faff as trying to find the remote to turn the volume down on the TV. As such, advertisers may be encouraged to note that their audio pummeling of my subconcious was maintained. Not only that, watching #Yappfactor kept me in the room and I found myself repeatedly looking up at the main screen inadvertently absorbing their visuals. So, good news for ITV’s sponsors then.
I would certainly have liked to watch more, but after two performances the tedium of the judges’ comments so splendidly mocked with the #Yappfactor bingo board and my wife’s desire to catch up on Homeland put pay to my experiential research.
Perhaps next week I’ll be able to last longer. As zeebox ceo Anthony Rose recently pointed out, the second screen has the ability to make bad TV watchable.
#YAPPFACTOR BINGO
