Television's New Joy of Text Shows With Vote by Messaging Are on the Rise as Programmers Try To Make Live TV Matter
By LI YUAN Wall Street Journal July 20, 2006; Page B1 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115336109951711994.html?mod=technology_main_promo_left Darlene Karst, a retired Boeing Co. employee in Arlington, Wash., won $10,000 in March watching NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal" by text messaging a contest answer. Since then she's text messaged CBS's reality show "Big Brother" in support of one of the houseguests. "You feel like you're part of the show," she says. "It makes it a lot more interesting." It's that kind of connection that has sent the number of TV shows that allow audiences to participate through text messaging skyrocketing as programmers seek out new revenue sources and try to encourage people to watch shows when they are aired, rather than on tape or video on demand. While a handful of TV shows in the U.S., such as "American Idol," which is aired on News Corp.'s Fox, have been inviting viewers to vote through their cellphones for years, most programmers haven't seen much benefit in doing this. There was little money to be made since consumers generally paid only about 10 cents per message and the cellphone companies typically kept most of the revenue. Also, a few major cellphone operators, concerned about possible billing confusion and network overload, wouldn't let their networks be used for that purpose so a large number of viewers weren't able to participate. But both those drawbacks were eliminated this year when the leading wireless operators and programmers in the U.S. agreed on "consumer best practices guidelines" for text-message voting on TV shows. The guidelines, which are enforced by the carriers, allow programmers to charge as much as 99 cents a message as long as the price of the electronic missive is made clear to viewers. Also, now that all major operators are participating, programmers no longer run the risk of frustrating audience members who have the wrong cellphone service. "You need all carriers connected in order to be valuable to the programmers," says Jim Ryan, a vice president at Cingular Wireless, majority-owned by AT&T Inc. The result has been a flurry of new shows that seek out viewer input through text messaging. This summer, CBS is using premium text messaging in each episode of "Big Brother," charging 99 cents to enter a sweepstakes and to sound off on which house guest might be evicted. The country-music channel CMT asked audience members to vote via text message for the music video of the year winner at "The 2006 CMT Music Awards." More than a dozen other shows began this year with text-messaging components including NBC's "America's Got Talent" and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen." In the fall, there will be at least a half-dozen more, according to telecom vendors that specialize in processing text messaging. Many programmers view voting as a way of defending traditional TV watching against a wide range of new technological threats, from video iPods to digital video recorders, such as TiVo. These new viewing forms typically allow people to watch recorded shows whenever they want, often skipping commercials. But if viewers want to participate through voting the only way they can do that is by watching shows when they're scheduled. "It helps viewership," says Stephen Andrade, a vice president at NBC Entertainment. "People stick around until the end of the show ["Deal or No Deal"] to see if they won. It certainly encourages people to watch live programming." And it may increase viewer commitment. CBS said that some of the people who voted for "Big Brother" last year joined the show's fan club so that they can get alerts of what's going on in the house on their cellphones. This should enhance audience loyalty to the show, says Cyriac Roeding, a CBS executive in charge of wireless strategy. While many shows allow people to vote on the Internet free of charge, the cellphone is a particularly effective tool for casting a ballot. "Cellphone is the best way to make television interactive because you can participate without getting out of the couch," says Mr. Roeding. In Europe and Asia, people like using text messaging because it's much cheaper than voice calls; the lower price has helped spread its use on television. The U.S. has been slow in adopting text voting because programmers have to deal with several time zones and several different wireless network technologies, says Mr. Andrade. In most countries, there is only one time zone and one dominant wireless network technology. Revenue from text messaging is not insignificant. Last summer, viewers sent over 500,000 text-message votes within two days during the reality show "Big Brother," which charged 49 cents a pop. In the spring season, NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal" earned enough money from premium text-messaging votes to cover the more than $1 million sweepstakes prize money. Viewers of the show cast a total of 57 million votes, both online and via text message. NBC declines to disclose how many of those votes came from cellphone users, who paid 99 cents to participate in the sweepstakes. CBS says it's "slightly profitable" in the four premium text-message voting campaigns in the past year. "There is a real opportunity to increase the bottom line for the production companies and networks," says Jeff Glass, chief executive officer of m-Qube Inc., a subsidiary of VeriSign Inc. M-Qube processed premium message voting for six TV shows in the first half of 2006 and anticipates doing that for four to five more in the second half. Programmers often get up to 40% of the messaging revenues with the rest split among wireless carriers, messaging companies and other parties involved, according to industry people. In the U.K., revenue from phone and text-messaging services for TV programs came to about $457 million in 2005, compared with almost zero in 2000, according to an industry-funded regulatory body that tracks premium telecom services in that country. The U.S. market may be poised for similar growth. Americans sent 9.8 billion text messages in December 2005, up from 4.8 billion a year earlier, according to CTIA, the Wireless Association. "American Idol" has so far had the most successful text-message program in the U.S., and it has been growing every year. According to Cingular, which sponsors the show, viewers sent 64 million text messages to vote for or chat with contestants in 2006, up from just 7.5 million in 2003. Viewers pay 10 cents or less for each text message. Because of such trends, Endemol NV, a Dutch TV-production company that produces shows such as "Big Brother" and "Deal or No Deal" throughout the world, felt this was the right time to introduce interactivity to the U.S. TV market. Americans especially like to hear their names announced if they win something through text messaging, says Jon Vlassopulos, an Endemol executive. "People like their five minutes of fame," he says. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
