Telescope and MBlox Unveil Plans for $3 Billion US Participation TV Market
Telescope, a provider of mobile and interactive TV solutions with the largest phone voting system in the world, and the SMS messaging aggregator, mBlox have teamed up to offer TV shows a complete, full-service mobile solutions that give viewers an enhanced interactive experience known as Participation TV. Chosen by TV Networks like FOX, ABC and GSN, the Telescope and mBlox solutions support many of the most popular TV shows of 2006 and are intended to help aggressively grow the Participation TV market segment in North America.
Together, the companies are leveraging premium and non-premium SMS to power Participation TV campaigns and engage audiences with mobile interactive TV experiences far exceeding the programming available in 2005. The two companies powered more than 13 programs so far this year. These programs offered a range of services including cross-carrier voting, sweepstakes and premium text-to-TV services that took viewers to a completely new level of TV interactivity.
"Today, broadcasters face two significant challenges: declining advertising revenues and viewer churn from increased multi-channel fragmentation," said Troy Sample, President of Telescope. "TV Voting applications immediately increase revenues while attracting advertising sponsors, like Coke and Ford for 'American Idol,' for exciting new interactive TV formats. This inherently increases subscriber loyalty and keeps broadcasters happy."
"TV interactivity via mobile brings a more involved experience for the viewer and is transforming television from a passive to active form of entertainment," said Jay Emmet, mBlox President of Americas. "Our extensive and resilient transaction network, combined with Telescope's fun and easy-to-use mobile services, means 180 million people around the country are able to participate with their favorite shows, thus creating a truly inclusive and exciting medium on a mass scale. That's not just great news for audiences but for programmers who are looking for ways to retain their viewers in this increasingly fragmented market."
Posted to the site on 14th September 2006