ITV Boosts Interactive To Run Services Non-Stop
ITV has announced the launch of its 24 hour interactive service on Sky Digital, extending its current crop of one-off interactive TV show tie-ins to become a fully fledged, always-on interactive service.
Dubbed ITVi 24/7, the service will carry a range of services on both ITV1 and ITV2. Amongst the content available to viewers from launch will be gaming and gambling services from Littlewoods, comprising jackpot games based around primetime ITV programming, as well as interactive scratch cards, slot machines and pay-to-play fixed odds games.
Littlewoods’ Bet Direct service will also be available through ITVi, giving users access to regular bets on all key UK and international sporting events. In addition the service will allow viewers to stake money on the outcomes of ITV shows such as I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and The X Factor (see ITV To Offer Interactive Betting On X Factor).
For those viewers not wanting to gamble, ITV has created GTV, an interactive games service developed in conjunction with Playjam, one of Britain’s leading interactive games developers (see ITV Signs Playjam For Interactive Games Service).
Various other services will be available to users, including the option to buy mobile phone ringtones and logos, join dating services and search the Friends Reunited database to find long-lost school friends.
The launch of ITVi 24/7 will be backed by a large-scale advertising drive dubbed ‘Bringin’ Home the Bacon’. The campaign centres around the character ‘Dave’ the pig, a Brummie window cleaner, who uses ITVi to win fantastic prizes. The campaign is designed to drive Sky viewers to press the red button and sample the 24/7 services on offer and will launch this week.
Commenting on the launch of the interactive services, and ITV’s plans for the future, Jane Marshall, controller of ITVi, said: “Over the past year we have put in place the infrastructure to let ITVi take bolder and more creative steps in 2005. The money invested in the division demonstrates strong backing from ITV to take commercial interactivity forwards. The consumer launch, this October, of ITVi 24/7 is only the beginning of an exciting future for interactivity on ITV.”
There are currently 17 interactive shows on ITV utilising a combination of SMS and red button technologies to connect with viewers. These include The X-Factor, This Morning, UEFA Champions League, 60 Minute Makeover and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Forthcoming shows scheduled to use the technology include The Great British Spelling Test, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and The National Television awards.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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