Two Way TV Australia has demonstrated the effectiveness of SMS audience interaction with the use of their Simcast interface on a live tv talk show in New Zealand, a trend which talk radio programmers will be watching closely.
The company’s licensed technology was used on Prime Television’s new show Paul Holmes , a new talk show hosted by local NZ personality Paul Holmes (not to be confused with the Australian ARN network presenter with the same name).
Two Way TV managing director Jim McKay says the technology – known as SIMCAST – allowed Prime viewers to interact with the show using SMS, without the need for a digital set-top box.
Viewers were asked to use their mobiles and SIMCAST to communicate directly with the presenter and his guests, suggesting questions and comments.
The same technique using email has been in place for some time by Australian radio presenters such as John Laws, but the SMS technology allows radio presenters even more options to receive input from listeners. ABC Radio presenters, such as ABC702’s Angela Catterns, have also begun using SMS interfaces to receive more feedback from listeners.
Jim McKay describes the software application: “The result was immediate, with viewers using their mobile phones and our licensed SIMCAST technology to send messages, questions and comments on the content of the show. The technology certainly attracted plenty of attention from viewers and from television reviewers, with one reviewer declaring that the technology allowed the audience to become the stars of the show.”
Two Way TV Australia has a perpetual exclusive license for all interactive television technology and formats from Two Way Media in the United Kingdom, including the SIMCAST system. It is already being used on programs broadcast on BSkyB in the United Kingdom.
For the tv industry, the new show demonstrates how free-to-air broadcasters can develop interactive TV services without requiring their viewers to have a set-top-box. “It makes the economics simpler and with mobile penetration so high, multiple people can interact using their own mobile phones while watching the one analogue TV set. We think there is huge potential for this product, particularly in the Asian market.”
For the radio industry the implications of this technology are about competition with talk radio formats. While radio thought it had interaction covered by telephone talkback formats, the use of such technology by tv programs puts radio programmers on notice to another competitive threat that will be watched closely.