It’s the most popular show in North America, and nothing else even comes close.

It embarrassed the Grammies this year when the two were aired on the same night, and in the finale the other day, 63.4 million votes came pouring in to help decide a winner. As Ryan Seacrest announced on the show, that’s more votes than any Presidential candidate in the history of the U.S. (Watch the language there, more than any one candidate; not more than the whole election)

Some fans have bragged about voting as many as 100 times each, making some people think that the number of votes is somehow less relevant. I disagree. My wife and I have watched every season, but have yet to vote. WE DO however share our opinions back-and-forth and try to predict what the voting outcome will be. And thanks(?) to her diligence, we hardly ever miss an episode.

Why? Why would I, being of sane mind and body, tune into American Idol along with millions of others, helping make it more of a cultural phenomenon than just another TV show?

Because American Idol does what every other company on the planet should be doing. It gives the audience a voice. It brings them into the discussion, and make their opinions matter.

Taylor Hicks’ soulful swagger and Katherine McPhee’s physical attributes aside, the reason why fans are so rabid for the show and have put it on top is because it’s interactive. As consumers, we want to be involved. We want to be heard. At the very least, we want some proof that our opinions and feedback aren’t just falling on deaf ears.

It gives us something to think about when we’re running our own businesses:

How can you invent a model that will work in your company? To involve the most loyal of your customers, bring them into the discussion and reap the benefits of their feedback and conversation?

Want people to tell ten friends about your business? Give them something to talk about. Sometimes all you have to do is talk to them at all, (and listen!) and the rest will take care of itself.

Idol fans Bonus link:: JD has made peace with Kellie Pickler, and she wrote back!

Via Steve Rubel: Podguide.tv reported today that NBC News is now selling news stories in the iTunes Music Store.

Steve says that this is a sure sign that paid video and podcasts are next. I say it’s a sure sign that the slow-to-change mass media companies are clutching at straws to hold onto some market share, as more and more people turn off the evening news in favour of other sources of information and entertainment.

I’ve hammered NBC before, and here I go again: Wake up! Your business is in advertising first and foremost, and you’re on a very slippery slope when what is supposed to be your most objective content (the news) is suddenly being sold as product.

Sell ads, not news. Give the clips away with ad support, and this idea might have a future. If necessary, sell a hi-res version separately (via your own site) to the two people in any given story that will buy it from you; but otherwise concentrate on ideas to deliver value to your advertisers.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe there really IS a market out there that will actually pay for news stories and NOT turn around and use them for commercial purposes, but my gut tells me this is an idea destined for failure.

NBC deserves an honorable mention for making an effort, but their last two attempts at taking a piece of the new-media pie are failures, imho.

You’re in a position to really help me out.

As I proceed to plan the future of Tell Ten Friends, I wanted to conduct some very vital market research. I have a survey about marketing, that takes about 2 minutes to complete.

With your help, I’d like to forward it to as many Business Owners and marketing decision makers as possible. (preferably businesses with less than $30 M per year in sales) I can’t do this alone, so please help out by forwarding it “ten friends” if you can think of that many.

I realize that the easy thing to do is skip this over, but it would make a big difference in the future of my company, so please forward on this marketing survey.

If it’s easier, here’s the link in full; so you can copy and paste it into an email:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=628672147583

Thanks in advance, all of you who helped me out on this.

Update: I’ve gotten a few responses, but I need more. That’s why I put in this otherwise useless update…to give me an excuse to republish this post.