Today the country is getting ready for the final of The Voice Of Holland, the most recent addition to a long line of talent shows on Dutch TV. The SchoolTV Weekjournaal, a weekly eductional news broadcast aimed at 10-12 year olds, asked me to explain the popularity of this particular title live in the studio. The Voice Of Holland differs in one important aspect from other talent shows: the judges do not see the person auditioning. They can merely listen and decide. Thus, the show has an added credibility as authentic because it appears that it solely focuses on ‘real talent’. However, the aim of the programme – as with all commercial television – is to make money. Talent shows provide an excellent genre to gain revenues outside conventional advertising income, through the texting required for voting but also through selling tickets to the live shows. I also talked about the ways social media are used. Watching television has always been a social endeavour and social media (particularly Twitter with its ability for real time updates) facilitate that. Watch the full segment below.

Update: it seems that embedding is not working. Clip can also be watched here.