ITV Gives Viewers Interactive Contol Over Celebrities
ITV has announced a raft of interactive services to accompany the latest outing of its celebrity endurance show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
The fourth series of the reality marathon promises several new twists and gruelling trials for its contestants, while ITVi gives its viewers the power to make decisions more ways then ever, with interactive TV elements, mobile phone content and traditional phone voting.
The show’s voting element has been boosted to allow viewers control over which celebrity faces trials in week one, with information on an interactive scren giving celebrity profiles with fears and phobias to help the decisions, as well as the option to vote on which celebrities stay in the jungle in week two and ultimately win the contest.
The show’s voting interactive systems have been created by pushbutton TV, allowing satellite viewers to register their preference for the winning celebrity, read their profiles, bet on the outcome, and play to win prizes.
Commenting on the programme’s interactive content, pushbutton managing director, Paula Byrne, said: “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! is a great show for ‘red button’ enhancement. Our voting application enables the viewers to determine the outcome by voting for who they want to stay in camp. We are delighted to be associated with such a popular show.”
Jane Marshall, head of interactive programming at ITV added: “pushbutton has an excellent track record of delivery for us at ITV Interactive. Its solid understanding of iTV design and development issues, combined with years of experience in the industry has resulted in a very successful working partnership, making it a key supplier for ITV. I’m a Celebrity is the latest in a number of prime time interactive projects pushbutton has completed for us this year to its usual high standards.”
The application follows previous contract wins by pushbutton for interactive development for ITV shows The X Factor, Hell’s Kitchen and Love on a Saturday Night.
The new services tie in with ITVi 24:7, the broadcaster’s recently created 24-hour interactive portal, and build on existing relationships with interactive partners. Littlewoods will provide betting services for the programme, as well as offering a £1m Jungle Jackpot to interactive viewers, with a game designed to encourage betting from 10p upwards with instant win prizes. Pushbutton TV was also contracted to design and build the ITVi 24:7 menu earlier this year (see ITV Boosts Interactive To Run Services Non-Stop).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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