Participation TV: beyond ‘American Idol’

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It all started with “American Idol,” the program that set the standard for participation TV (formerly referred to as interactive TV) in the U.S. and educated the U.S. consumer on the basics of participation TV and mobile device usage. Some say “American Idol” paved the way for the U.S. participation television industry, and now the question becomes, “Who hasn’t participated in a television text campaign?!” Sitting up, late at night, interacting with your favorite game show or reality program. “Deal or No Deal,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Hell’s Kitchen”. the list of programs goes on and on.
Participation TV industry is one of the hottest areas of the mobile industry today. According to Telephia, Americans texted nearly 35 million times in the first quarter of this year, generating roughly $35 million in revenue. The growth has been led by consumers looking to move away from a passive viewing experience towards their desire to impact and interact with their favorite content. In order to satisfy growing viewer appetite, producers and content owners have been experimenting with more options to engage their viewers. Voting, play-at-home, sweepstakes, polling, community features, online extensions, games, and trivia have been some of the ways that programs have adapted to connect with their viewers. Telephia research shows the split between sweepstakes participation and live “play at home” participation is roughly 75/25 (premium transactions only). In order to promote the interactivity, media companies run promotions on air, in-show and in some cases, offer sales promotions with additional content available via SMS. Mobile and Internet consumption has fueled the growth to some extent as TV needs to replicate the “active” experience and create a two-way dialogue with the viewer. Thus far, participation TV models have been funded by either advertising or consumer SMS revenues.
Aggregators like SinglePoint are reaping the rewards of the meteoric rise. The aggregator has been working to deliver tens of thousands of votes/entries per second-telephone, IVR and SMS. Reliable infrastructure, across all aggregators and vendors, is key to the experience as the consumer’s interaction with the program will determine whether there will be repeat usage so reliable infrastructure is key. According to Doug Busk, VP of industry relations at SinglePoint, the “most exciting thing about participation media and interactive TV, by most accounts, is that it represents the fastest-growing segment in the off-net business.”
The king of all participation TV programs over the past few years has been “Deal Or No Deal” (DOND). The show’s producers wanted to replicate the contestant experience for the viewer at home and devised the Lucky Cases Game. The game has proven to be immensely popular by creating a dynamic and immediate connection between the viewer and the show.
So what makes a participation TV program a success?
–Holisticly integrating the mobile call to action into the overall program is key to success. For DOND, the call to action was integrated into the show experience so viewers felt like they were part of the show, rather than simply having a call to action at the end of the program. (Credit to Endemol and NBC for their leadership.)
–Educating the consumer on how to interact with their mobile device. In essence, programmers must educate the consumer on mobile functionality.
–Letting the consumer know exactly what they are getting out of the program and all associated costs. If there is a prize, programmers must clearly communicate what the prize is as well as any costs associated with viewers’ participation through the mobile channel.
–Ensuring the consumer feels like they have influence on the outcomes of the show.
–Providing an alternate means of entry, through telephone or Internet, to drive broader participation and utilization.
The sign of a thriving business is others attempting to duplicate that success-and some of those competitors will survive and some will not. Those that do not succeed will not effectively teach the consumer how to participate, have poor or hard to understand calls to action, or poor mobile experiences (delays in text turn around or delivery of messages that make sense).
The evidence for consumer demand, based on the number of projects that companies like Telescope are receiving, is significant. Participation TV is a vital tool for media owners as traditional media devices like TVs give way to converged, Internet-enabled devices like the iPhone. “As a result of participation TV having expressed consumer demand and growth, as well as being a vital tool to the industry, it is important that we address it in a responsible manner. Specifically, with pricing clarity and good policies and procedures that distill public trust for the formats that use this new tool. By doing this, we will enable the continued innovations in the area of viewer empowerment for the media they consume,” says Troy Sample, CEO of Telescope.
As the appetite for the programs grow, it is imperative that the industry leads the charge to ensure the most positive consumer experience. Dave Oberholzer, associate director at Verizon Wireless, states, “Our relationships with consumers are critical to the wireless service provider, and we must ensure those experiences are positive to drive future interactions. In addition, we need to ensure that policies are sensible, allowing the programs to generate a reasonable ROI for everyone in the ecosystem. The MMA’s Consumer Best Practices Committee is at the forefront of balancing these two, sometimes competing objectives. Right now, the consumer experience and pricing clarity are paramount in this nascent market.”
The MMA has been establishing the guidelines and best practices around interactive TV since 2005, and the following excerpt from the “MMA Consumer Best Practices for Cross Carrier Mobile Content Services,” published in November 2006, outlines a few of the guidelines for interactive television:
–A premium charge call to action integrated with programming may be a single opt-in when the call to action contains the following conditions:
1, A mobile-originated message with a premium price of $0.99 or less.
2, Interaction is transaction-based messaging, not subscription-based.
3, On-air call to action and advice of charge need to be clearly stated, both visually and verbally.
4, If there is a limit to the number of votes a subscriber may submit to the program, this limit needs to be communicated once the subscriber has passed the limit.
The guidelines are evaluated every six months to ensure they address the needs of both the industry and the consumer. The MMA has also recently launched a Participation TV committee, comprising representatives from broadcasters, producers, mobile operators and applications companies, to ensure best practices are upheld and the industry continues to grow in a responsible and effective manner. The committee is chaired by Troy Sample from Telescope and Katrina Moran from Granada.
“It’s vital for the industry as a whole that we plan long-term and ensure consumers are offered a value proposition. It’s the MMA sub-committee’s aim to ensure we build a strong base for continued growth of participation TV for many years to come,” states Katrina Moran, EVP of digital media at Granada America.
A final word from Busk: “Never underestimate the average American’s interest in participating in their television experience. Innovation and participation in the media will come through effective integration across the three screens-mobile, television and PC.”
You may contact Laura directly at laura.marriott@mmaglobal.com. You may contact RCR Wireless News at rcrwebhelp@crain.com.