"American Idol:" Well...? What's the Real Story?
As you know, reps of Fox and AT&T yesterday hurriedly ran out to the parapets of the Bastille, looked down balefully upon the surging mob, and then threw down a pair of statements in an effort to quell the unruly peasants.
"They wants answers?" said the gendarme in charge. "THEN WE'LL GIVE THEM ANSWERS!"
Here are the statements, as reprinted (again) in this morning's LA Times, as referenced to the power voting that AT&T sponsored for Kris Allen at a couple of venues in Arkansas:
AT&T employees were "caught up in the enthusiasm of rooting for their hometown contestant. Going forward, we will make sure our employees understand our sponsorship celebrates the competition, not individual contestants."
And Fox: "Fox and the producers of 'American Idol' are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified," the network and producers said in a joint statement Wednesday. "Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process. In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition."
But wait! Mr. Gendarme! If in "no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition" then what about the AT&T employees who taught Allen fans how to power vote? Do you mean to say that these "individuals" thus FAIRLY influenced the outcome?
Note to Fox and AT&T: Maybe next time you send out dueling statements, best to make sure they don't contradict one another.
Meanwhile: I have more questions...
- How much money does AT&T make from the text votes cast during a regular edition of "American Idol?"
- As a condition of his victory, will Kris Allen be required to do any promotional activity for AT&T or any of its various subsidiaries?
- Why doesn't Fox tell fans exactly how many text votes were cast and for whom? Why is this such a secret and how - as Fox seems to be saying - could such information somehow taint the voting process going forward?
Let me be clear - I'm not accusing anyone, even in my own rabble-rousing, storm-the-Bastille-via-blogging kind of way, that anything untoward happened. In fact, I believe Fox on this one - why allow ANYONE, even a powerful sponsor, to taint your most important franchise?
But it would be nice to have a little more than a few leaflets of meaningless paper tossed out the windows of the Bastille...
Meanwhile, check out MadDogUSA's message on the jump! It appears he has some answers...
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Comments (10)
You asked...
How much money does AT&T make from the text votes cast during a regular edition of "American Idol?"
Well I went to AT&T . Com and checked out their news section and found this....
AT&T* reported today that more than 178 million text messages crossed its network as fans interacted with the country’s No. 1 TV show this season — the highest total for any season and more than double the 78 million messages AT&T reported last year.
And this...
AT&T also reports:
More than twice as many AT&T customers played weekly Idol Trivia via text this season versus last.
The number of AT&T customers who opted in to receive voting number reminders—a weekly text message listing all of the IDOLs and their voting numbers—was 70 percent higher than last season; fans who opted in for vote number reminders this season sent nearly twice as many text votes than did the overall voting population.
It's time that American Idol reveals who got how many votes and how many TOTAL VOTES were cast. AMERICA DEMANDS IT!
Here's the link...
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=26832
Let me put it this way: In a contest or sweepstakes where they
use a REAL judging agency, participants CANNOT be related to to
an employee of the company or ANY OF ITS SPONSORS, OR
have any interest in the judging agency. In this case, AT&T (and
other cellular service companies) certainly have an interest in the
judging agency since they are being used by the public to cast votes,
or to JUDGE! So, actually, if the winner has a relative who works for
AT&T, or any other cellular service company, then YES, the
contest should be void!!!!!
Don't know if there is any truth to it but read that one of Kris Allen's band mates' father is a spokesperson (works for) AT&T. I'm just sorry I wasted so much money texting votes in such a fraudulent contest. I'm done with AT&T, FOX, American Idol and affiliates.
I hope to clear a couple of things up on this latest ATT text message situation in Arkansas. Since this has spread like a wildfire a few things need to be made clear. Yes there were ATT employees at two Kris Allen watch parties on the Tuesday night finale show. However, at Estes Stadium in Conway there were MAYBE 3,000 people there. The ATT employees never got on the microphone or anything. They were just on the field for anyone in the crowd that may want to go down and ask any technical texting questions. They were ONLY invited becuase there were some texting issues the week before. There were also some ATT employees at a watch party in Little Rock. There were less than 1,000 people there.
It's just outrageous that stories all over the country are blowing something so out of proportion. By reading these national stories you would think that ATT had rallies for thousands and thousands of people trying to get them to vote for Kris Allen. In fact, even people at these watch parties could have voted for whoever they wanted. Also, I'm told there are or were instructions on Adam Lambert's website on how to power text vote, too...
I wish something would be written, that would perhaps go nationally, that would really, truthfully explain what happened. This is giving Arkansas a black eye -- these outlandish accusations that these few thousand people at these small watch parties unfairly shifted the vote the wrong way. I just wish ONE national reporter would get ALL the facts straight before going national with this.
I hope to clear a couple of things up on this latest ATT text message situation in Arkansas. Since this has spread like a wildfire a few things need to be made clear. Yes there were ATT employees at two Kris Allen watch parties on the Tuesday night finale show. However, at Estes Stadium in Conway there were MAYBE 3,000 people there. The ATT employees never got on the microphone or anything. They were just on the field for anyone in the crowd that may want to go down and ask any technical texting questions. They were ONLY invited becuase there were some texting issues the week before. There were also some ATT employees at a watch party in Little Rock. There were less than 1,000 people there.
It's just outrageous that stories all over the country are blowing something so out of proportion. By reading these national stories you would think that ATT had rallies for thousands and thousands of people trying to get them to vote for Kris Allen. In fact, even people at these watch parties could have voted for whoever they wanted. Also, I'm told there are or were instructions on Adam Lambert's website on how to power text vote, too...
I wish something would be written, that would perhaps go nationally, that would really, truthfully explain what happened. This is giving Arkansas a black eye -- these outlandish accusations that these few thousand people at these small watch parties unfairly shifted the vote the wrong way. I just wish ONE national reporter would get ALL the facts straight before going national with this.
Dont' you think if 20 people were taught how to power vote that they in turn sent a text to all of their friends on how to do the same? That is probably how Kris Allen won, he is good but even he thought Adam should have won.
That's ok that Adam didn't win AI, people will see that Adam Lambert is even bigger than American Idol!!!! Post that message everywhere ADAM LAMBERT IS BIGGER THAN AMERICAN IDOL!
But anyone with any common sense, ANYONE can figure out how to text 10 votes at once. It doesn't take a rocket scientist. I mean, goodness, Think about it. You don't have to be "taught".
Where is the F.C.C.? Or do they have some stake in this too?
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