The plot of an upcoming episode of the popular police procedural Hawaii Five-0 will be determined by a vote on Twitter and the CBS website, according to an announcement from the broadcaster. The episode, set to air on January 14th, will feature the murder of a university professor by one of three suspects — viewers will be able to express their preferences using specific hashtags, and alternate endings will be broadcast according to the tally of their tweets.
According to CBS, separate versions of the show will air for Eastern/Central and Pacific timezones — if viewer sentiment changes, then a different killer will emerge, while all three potential endings will be available to watch online. Suspects will be the professor's boss (#theBoss), a teaching assistant (#theTA), and a student (#theStudent).
The bold move follows hot on the heels of a new second-screen app for iPad, dubbed CBS Connect, which syncs with live and recorded television viewing to provide additional content, as well as a lucrative new advertising channel for the network. It is not yet clear whether CBS plans to offer voting functionality through the app.