How Dizplai helped Channel 4 turn Crufts into a two-way conversation with dog lovers

Crufts is the world’s biggest dog show, and for millions of viewers it’s must-watch television. But watching is passive. Channel 4 wanted to encourage more fan engagement creating a broadcast where fans weren’t just at home with their dogs pointing at the screen, but genuinely part of the show. That meant rethinking how live content handles the audience energy that already exists around an event like this, and finding a way to bring it into the room.

The challenge: turning a national audience into an active community

Channel 4 knew the fan engagement potential sitting inside a Crufts audience was enormous. Millions of dog lovers, already talking online, already passionate, already watching together from their sofas with their own dogs beside them. The goal was to build a viewing experience that felt genuinely participatory rather than one-directional, particularly for a younger generation of fans who expected to be part of the conversation, not just an audience for it. The challenge was integrating live user-generated content from social platforms and messaging apps directly into the broadcast without disrupting production quality or pace.

What Dizplai delivered: 2025

Working with production partners Sunset+Vine and Hypothesis Media, Dizplai powered the live broadcast with a full social integration and content curation setup. The production team used Dizplai’s platform to pull in live content including social posts, images, and video from multiple platforms, with moderation built in to ensure everything was broadcast-ready before it hit the screen.

The standout element was the rotating 3D social cube on the in-studio display, which brought viewer reactions into the physical set and gave the host a live feed of the audience to reference throughout interviews and fan-led segments. Alongside this, WhatsApp and QR code integration was introduced for the first time on Channel 4, giving viewers a direct line into the show from their phones and creating a new level of participation that the channel hadn’t offered before.

Results: 2025

• 33,000 direct interactions via WhatsApp over the four-day event, with 14,500 on the final day alone
• #Crufts generated over 385,000 mentions on Twitter in the build-up, during, and after the event
• The social cube and interactive elements created consistent new content moments throughout the broadcast

Phase 2: Crufts 2026

Channel 4 returned for a second year with the same ambition, this time extending the integration to include Facebook alongside WhatsApp and building on the participation model established in 2025.

What Dizplai delivered: 2026

The 2026 broadcast expanded the social integration to run across both Facebook and WhatsApp simultaneously, widening the entry points for audience participation and giving producers a richer, more varied pool of fan content to work with across the four days.

Results: 2026

Total audience engagement across Facebook and WhatsApp reached 40,767 messages over the event.

• Facebook: 6,399 messages
• WhatsApp (excluding poll): 11,052 messages
• WhatsApp (poll only): 23,316 responses

The poll alone generated over 23,000 responses, demonstrating the appetite for structured participation when the format is right.

FAQ

How can broadcasters integrate live audience engagement into a TV production? Live audience engagement can be built directly into a broadcast through social media integration, WhatsApp participation, QR codes, and dynamic on-screen graphics. Dizplai works with production teams to curate, moderate, and display fan content in real time, so it enhances the broadcast rather than disrupting it.

What is a social cube and how does it work in a live broadcast? A social cube is a dynamic on-screen display that rotates through live viewer reactions and social content pulled from platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. In Dizplai’s work with Crufts, it featured directly on the in-studio set, encouraging fan engagement and giving the host live audience reactions to reference and respond to throughout the show.

Can WhatsApp be used as part of a live TV broadcast? Yes. Dizplai introduced WhatsApp integration into the Crufts broadcast for Channel 4 in 2025, a first for the channel, generating 33,000 direct interactions over four days. The 2026 broadcast expanded this further, with WhatsApp participation across both conversational messages and live polls.

What is user-generated content moderation in a live broadcast context? Moderation ensures that content submitted by viewers via social platforms or messaging apps is reviewed and approved before it appears on screen. Dizplai’s platform handles this in real time, so production teams can use fan content confidently without the risk of unvetted material reaching a broadcast audience.

How does audience participation in live TV affect viewer retention? When viewers feel they have a stake in a broadcast, they stay longer and engage more actively. Participation features like live polls, social integration, and on-screen fan reactions give audiences a reason to keep watching and a sense of community around the content.