I have an interview with Survivor host Jeff Probst at about the upcoming season of the popular CBS reality show. During our conversation, we discussed the effects that online and social media have on shows such as Survivor.
“I have a love/hate relationship [with online media],” he told me. “I love the enthusiasm that makes somebody want to get online and even criticize our show. I don’t care if you like it or not. I love that people are invested enough to say, ‘That was a great season and this one was lousy.’ What I’m not so enthused about are people who want to try to ruin the show.”
Although Probst may find these online spoilers annoying, he told me he isn’t worried about them damaging the show. He suggested that the amount of attention given to online discussion is sometimes overblown. “I think the amount of people that are actually online talking about a show is so minute that I don’t think it impacts the show,” he said. “The reason I say that is, every year there are spoiler sites that try to give away all the information, and it hasn’t hurt the popularity of the show one bit.”
If you’re getting the impression that Probst dislikes the online arena, that’s far from the truth. He acknowledged, “It has its place. It’s a legitimate place to talk about the show.”
He also made it clear that the television industry remains tuned in to the voices of online contributors. “Everybody in the television industry certainly knows about [online media], because that’s where the industry is headed,” he said. “You look to those sites to kind of see what they’re talking about, because, in a way, they’re telling you what they want to see.”
I really enjoyed speaking with Probst and found him to be as personable as he comes across on the show.
Also, in case you’re not aware, CBS has pushed back the season premiere of Survivor to Thursday, Sept. 25. It will be the first-ever two-hour premiere for the show. This is also the first season Survivor will appear in HD!
Check out more Survivor news at the links below:
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[...] Survivor Host Jeff Probst Talks Online/Social Media « Scott’s Spotlight September 9th, 2008 | by cwalton | Survivor Host Jeff Probst Talks Online/Social Media « Scott’s Spotlight [...]