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After Channel 4's popular TV show Big Brother 3 came to an end last month, mobile operator O2, which sponsored the programme, said it had processed a colossal 6.6 million text messages that were sent in to the show.
Indeed the latest instalment of Big Brother is expected to see Channel 4 rake in around STG5 million in profits, partly because it introduced new ways for viewers to participate in the show, namely text messaging. As the statistics indicate, SMS proved to be one of the most popular ways to participate in the programme as mobile phone use increased during the life of the show to account for 30 percent of all votes by the final week.
And of the 6.6 million SMS messages processed by O2, only half were eviction votes, which cost around STG0.25 each. The remainder were requests for Big Brother ringtones, logos and news updates; services that cost between STG0.25 and STG1.50.
Channel 4 and O2 aren't the only businesses to try to cash in on the synergy between SMS and TV. MTV runs a programme called Video Clash, which invites viewers to vote for their favourite video via text message or the Web. Its system is capable of processing 2,000 messages a minute.
In the Netherlands users can go to SBS teletext page 666 and engage in text message chats on TV, similar to chat rooms on the Internet. The difference here is that users pay EUR0.20 per message. Teletext/SMS channels are also going live in Finland, Germany and in the UK (through Sky Digital). In Germany RTL II, which runs one of these services, is now generating close to 200,000 SMS messages each day.
"I think at this stage, it's been proven that these two technologies work very well together," said Colm Healy, chief executive officer of Xiam. The Dublin based software company makes a media platform which TV and radio stations use to process text messages and e-mail messages. "These are both technologies that people know how to use...it makes sense that they would be comfortable to use them together," Healy said.
Healy suggested that the launch of premium rate SMS numbers throughout most of Europe was a primary contributor to the trend. Experts have also cited other reasons for the shift including better SMS processing software and the ever-increasing desire of mobile operators to boost data revenues.
"What the broadcasters really seem to like is how the SMS messages improve the stickiness of their programmes," Healy added. "People will send a message and sit and wait for it to appear on TV...when the message appears they might send another. TV is more interactive now and in some cases producers no longer control the direction of programme, users do," the Xiam chief said.
It is rumoured that Kodak is experimenting with a service that will let users send televised digital photos to friends and relatives. Moreover, with the launch of MMS and picture messaging, it will soon be possible to easily send photos to TV stations and programmes. "It's hard to imagine how huge that is going to be," Healy said.
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