Is Big Brother watching you? For viewers in South Africa, the tables are being turned. Using the Microsoft Windows Media Player technology, viewers are the ones watching "Big Brother," the local version of the global reality-TV hit, live via the Internet. Approximately 1.3 million South African households watch the show, and 2.4 million page visits have already been recorded on the Big Brother Web site. The series in South Africa is the most recent incarnation of the Big Brother phenomenon. In 2000, Big Brother traveled to Germany, Spain, the U.S., the UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium. This year, there have already been Big Brothers in Germany (3rd series), Portugal (2nd series), Denmark, Norway, Poland, Argentina, Australia and now, South Africa. All in all, 27 Big Brothers have been produced so far. Viewers can "visit" the Big Brother house on the Internet during the course of the show. This is enabled by live video streaming from the house to the Big Brother Web site, using Microsoft’s Windows Media Player technology. The Microsoft Big Brother streaming solution is one of the most demanding Web-based applications yet devised, and 363,000 Web streams from the house have already been used.