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Is Big Brother becoming too much like the novel it was based on? For a television show that claims so frequently to involve its audience, Big Brother seems to be slowly silencing its fans – all except the ones who pay 55 cents for their 'right' to voice themselves.
I'm talking of course about the online Big Brother community - a community you would presume a necessity for the audience-participation TV format. But no: as the webmaster of Big Brother fan site Behind Big Brother for the last four years I have seen the unofficial online aspect of the show dwindle and die at the hands of Big Brother’s production company.
Most recently my own fan site has been the victim of the fan-gag (although not the first attempt by Endemol Southern Star to shut it down). For those unfamiliar with Behind Big Brother, it is similar to Crikey in terms of critique (of the show), but also deals with rumours and unearthing show details before they happen. Lately we’ve adopted more of a negative attitude towards the show and last year gained mainstream exposure for focusing on a T-shirt sales group becoming involved with the show to benefit one contestant.
After that incident, the Big Brother producers became aggravated with us, to say the least; and last week (at least one month before the season starts) moved to have us shut down. The problem was our users talking about show auditions and audition details on our forums outside their contracts.
In the past when Big Brother has had a problem with our content they sent the usual complaint letter requesting content removal or apology etc. Not so this time. Perhaps they are sick of dealing with us. This time they went straight to our web host and demanded the entire website be removed, without any notice to me or any other Behind Big Brother administrator.
Put in a legal predicament, my host deleted the site. It was only through the good will of the host administrator that the situation was explained to me. My question is, why did Big Brother go straight for the jugular? Was this just an excuse to shut down the entire site? It would sure keep their fans regulated: Behind Big Brother is the only unofficial dedicated Australian Big Brother website and includes a large uncensored forum base which attracts about 7,000 visitors each day. Why not jump at the chance to cut down this rogue information terrorist and claim monopoly on the discussion agenda for the show – before the season starts so it doesn’t draw so much attention?
It’s a concern that a fan site like Behind Big Brother harbouring a discussion arena is seen as a threat big enough to justify a hostile attempt to close it down. From a marketing perspective fan sites and public discussion are a great source of free promotion and hype. But what if there’s even a hint of criticism? Thinking for yourself isn’t commercially acceptable as far as Big Brother’s concerned. Only “We love Big Brother”.
As for the “official” online community, that ended mid-2003 after one of the housemates accidentally let slip some legally sensitive information concerning a minor while on air. The official forum began buzzing with discussion about the incident. Unable to cope with the volume of messages, the Big Brother website team pulled the forums down and the incident was dubbed “Belindagate” (based on the name of the housemate). The official forums were finally put back online a week later, boasting heavy moderation. When the 2004 season came around, the forums were nowhere to be found. Legal issues aside: how is the audience meant to be active in a supposedly interactive show, when they have no means to do so – excluding means that result in direct income for Big Brother?
Is Big Brother shooting itself in the foot? As a commercial operation it requires its fans, but if they don’t support the fans, what incentive is there to actually become part of the show? It's something the producers should consider for the coming season. Big Brother has suffered a slow decline in its ratings since it started in 2001, and if they want the show to carry through successfully past 2006 (when Channel 10’s contract ends), a change of attitude towards the fans will be needed
Crikey.com
