clipped from www.techcrunch.com

ushing the most interesting content in front of viewers in real time is a challenge. But there’s an audience to interact with, and that makes all the difference.

Ustream’s version 3 redesign released today is focusing entirely on the audience-host relationship. They’ve added three new interactivity features to the platform: shout meter, live polling, and a video archive widget. They are all solid additions to the service.

The shout meter lets users vote for the current channel’s content by clicking vigorously on the sidebar. More clicks from more users pumps up the shout bar, tipping Ustream off to something good happening on the channel. The bar on the right reflects your own shout level (red) and the crowds (yellow). There’s no word on how they’ll use the shout meter data.

incorporated live polling into their Broadcaster Console, letting the publisher throw a few questions to the audience in real time.