Text Voting TV

30/11/19

First there was MTV Battle of the Bands, then it was the universally popular Popstars, followed by Fame Academy, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and even GMTV has taken the bait with an array of contests and voting polls on its LK Today programme.

The list of TV companies opting to implement SMS as a source of contact and interactivity with the audience is increasing rapidly.Now it seems it's the turn of Granada's notorious 'Blind Date'.

In a turn-around to the usual format of the contestant only deciding, viewers will be encouraged to SMS their vote in a live text vote where they influence the out come of who dates who.

Although programme makers are unsure if this will be a continual feature of Blind Date, they are sure that the massive following of regular viewers to the show will enjoy getting the chance to play cupid.Granada, along with a number of other television companies has held back from turning to SMS services in it's programmes until now, due to worries over network capacity issues and the withholding of short-code numbers.

However, with much reassurance from SMS service providers over increased capacity capabilities and the granting of short-codes from OFTEL, broadcasters are now realising the massive benefits of both programmes popularity and viewer interaction with TV.

Meaning the viewer will be taking a staring role in programme making.