A new mobile TV reality show, #BreakTheNet, is coming to Cell C that plans to start its own video-on-demand (VOD) service and hopes to cash in on the "trending" social media craze with user-videos that end up going viral.
By downloading the specifically designed Cell C Reality App from the Apple App store or the Google Play store, people can enter from Thursday 15 September until 15 October to become one of the 30 contestants on the show.
#BreakTheNet, produced by Bl!nk Pictures, is part of Cell C's plans to launch its own Netflix and ShowMax style video-on-demand (VOD) service with the show that will have a second season in 2017.
The first episode of #BreakTheNet will be shown on 19:00 on Sunday 23 October on the Cell C Channel on YouTube with the first season that will conclude on Sunday 11 December with the chance to win R250 000 and a trip to Hollywood, Los Angeles.
From 23 October viewers will be able to watch a continuous digital flow of content from the weekly shows, to tasks and behind the scenes clips as well as celebrity one-on-one interviews.
Contestants will be given a task to include in the filming of their videos and will be selected to continue week by week based on the number of views that they receive for each video.
#BreakTheNet contestants will get 48 hours to complete and upload a video, with the aim of getting videos to go "viral" and to create "the next online sensation".
Derick Watts and the Sunday Blues are the presenters of #BreakTheNet with Whackhead Simpson as the Task Master.
Mentors include the YouTube star, Suzelle DIY, the Instagrammer Ofentse Mwase and the online personality Theodora Lee. The South African actor Blessing Xaba is participating as a "celebrity" contestant.
Cell C says #BreakTheNet will be a never-before-seen talent search show that will challenge the typical way in which television content is produced and consumed and is Cell C's start into "content production for a future content delivery platform".
"How and where content is delivered to consumers is changing dramatically in South Africa as internet access becomes more pervasive. As an innovator, Cell C is taking its first steps into playing a role in the production and delivery of incredible content," says Cell C CEO, Jose Dos Santos.
"This is just the first step for Cell C into this arena and as a business, we plan on taking it by storm," says Jose Dos Santos.
"In the move towards a digital world, it's becoming more and more apparent that if it doesn't exist on your smart phone, it doesn’t exist at all," says Bl!nk Pictures director, Odette Schwegler.
