or


[04/18/06 - 12:00 AM]
Viewers Becoming Increasingly More Interactive with NBC Universal Programming

[via press release from NBC Universal Television Studio]

VIEWERS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE INTERACTIVE WITH NBC UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMING

"Deal Or No Deal" Receives Over 30 Million Total Votes This Year

NEW YORK -- April 18, 2006 -- Viewers are becoming increasingly more interactive with NBC Universal programming, from voting for their favorite Project Runway contestant on Bravo to guessing the lucky suitcase on NBC's "Deal or No Deal."

Viewers of "Deal or No Deal" are given the opportunity to win $10,000 by playing the "Lucky Case Game" via text messaging on their cell phones or by logging on to NBC.com. Since its return to NBC in March, the show has generated over 30 Million total Short Messaging Service (SMS) and online votes.

"Interactive television is clearly resonating with our audience," said Darren Feher, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NBC Universal. "It is a powerful tool, which not only brings value to the viewers, who are much more engaged in the programming, but also the advertisers who are seeking their attention."

"For the past decade, NBC has been a leading innovator of interactive services to enhance its programming for viewers," said Jon Dakss, Director of iTV Product Development, NBC Universal. "You will be seeing a lot more interactivity across all of our networks, across multiple platforms, in the coming year."

Time Warner Cable and BrightHouse Networks digital cable subscribers are able to interact with Bravo's new hit reality series "Top Chef" using their remote controls. Throughout each episode, viewers are prompted to answer amusing polls about food and which chef they want to send home. Additionally, viewers are given the unique chance to receive text messages during the program from the various cast members themselves. Based on its success with fans, NBC's "The Apprentice" is now offering a similar service for viewers.

"We are seeing a real interest from our affiliates on rolling out more interactive services," said Jean-Briac Perrette, Senior Vice President, New Media and Chief Financial Officer, NBC Universal Cable. "We will continue to explore unique and innovative ways for them to deliver a more robust television experience to their customers."

During the March 8th finale of Project Runway, viewers could interact through their cell phones, as well as online, answering show-related questions. The results were displayed throughout the episode. All participants were automatically qualified to be randomly selected to win one of ten video iPods. The show yielded Bravo's highest ratings to date, with BravoTV.com receiving a record 5 million page views and 225,000 unique visitors. Over 100,000 votes were received across web and SMS.

During CNBC's Suze Orman show, viewers had the opportunity to send text messages via their cell phones to the broadcast. These viewer messages appeared in a crawl at the bottom of the screen throughout the show. This marks the first time a mainstream network and program adopted this format in the US.

Interactivity was also a popular feature for viewers of the Olympics. For the first time in the US, NBC offered an immersive interactive application for the Olympics across three major cable and satellite providers simultaneously: DIRECTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable. The service allowed viewers to access medal counts, news and athlete bios. DIRECTV recorded one million unique households that used the 2006 Winter Olympic interactive features available through the DIRECTV Sports mix channel, with more than four million individual interactions. This averaged to approximately 4.5 customer interactions per DIRECTV household. Time Warner Cable reported a 23% average usage rate of iTV among the 700,000 subscriber homes where this application was available. In Green Bay Wisconsin alone, 45% of Time Warner subscriber's used the interactive application.





  [april 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· APPRENTICE, THE (NBC)
· DEAL OR NO DEAL (CNBC)
· TOP CHEF (BRAVO)





[05/23/24 - 08:56 AM]
Academy-Award-Nominated Actress Danielle Brooks to Host the 2024 "Black Girls Rock! Awards" as the Televised Special Makes a Triumphant Return
The show will be taped at the Fox Theatre on June 27 and will air August 1, on Lifetime.

[05/23/24 - 08:26 AM]
The CW Network Renews Hit Series "Wild Cards" for a Second Season
The procedural starring Vanessa Morgan and Giacomo Gianniotti is the network's #1 new series in 2024 in total audience viewing, according to Nielsen.

[05/23/24 - 07:01 AM]
"Dexter: Original Sin" Sets Cast with Golden Globe Winner Christian Slater, Patrick Gibson and Molly Brown for Paramount+ with Showtime
Taking place 15 years before viewers first met Dexter in the hit Showtime series "Dexter," this new 10-episode thriller will chronicle America's favorite serial killer...in training.

[05/23/24 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "I Am: Celine Dion" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, the film gives us a raw and honest behind-the-scenes look at the iconic superstar's struggle with a life-altering illness.

[05/23/24 - 06:31 AM]
Netflix Renews "Barbecue Showdown" for Season 3, Sets Premiere for July 4th
Michelle Buteau returns to host with Melissa Cookston and Kevin Bludso serving as judges.

[05/23/24 - 06:07 AM]
Great American Pure Flix Announces Fourth Original Series This Year, Affirm Originals' "Shadrach," Starring Livi Birch and Cale Ferrin, Streaming July 25
Created by Holly Goldberg Sloan, "Shadrach" tells the story of the Wilson family's move from the city to the country.

[05/23/24 - 06:01 AM]
Video: Official Trailer Revealed for "Descendants: The Rise of Red"
The music-driven Disney Original movie starts streaming Friday, July 12, exclusively on Disney+, followed by a special encore Friday, August 9, at 8:00 p.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Channel.

[05/23/24 - 05:01 AM]
Video: "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills.

[05/22/24 - 08:01 PM]
Video: "Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Tales of supernatural sci-fi phenomena unfold in this collection of seven mind-bending stories imagined by writer-director Joko Anwar.

[05/22/24 - 03:30 PM]
Late-Night Partiers Bet Against the Las Vegas Parking Laws in "Sin City Tow," Premiering Tuesday, June 18 at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel
In the series, a group of tow truck drivers roam the bustling streets of Las Vegas amidst car crashes, angry drivers and unhinged revelers - working to clean up the mess while raking in the money.

[05/22/24 - 03:18 PM]
TNT Sports' Exclusive 2024 Stanley Cup Western Conference Final Coverage to Start Thursday, May 23 at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV & Max
On the call for the entire series will be Kenny Albert, along with commentary from Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher, and reporting from Jackie Redmond.

[05/22/24 - 03:03 PM]
Boston Celtics Victory Over Indiana Pacers on ESPN Delivered Largest NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Audience Since 2018
Game 1 averaged 6,433,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, up eight percent from last year's Eastern Conference Finals Game 1.

[05/22/24 - 01:16 PM]
TNT Sports to Present College Football Playoff Games Through Sublicense with ESPN
TNT Sports will present two first-round College Football Playoff games during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

[05/22/24 - 12:08 PM]
"FOX College Football Friday" Kicks Off in Primetime This Fall
FOX Sports' 2024 full early season college football schedule is set to be released on Thursday, May 30.

[05/22/24 - 11:31 AM]
Video: "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman" Season 5 - Official Trailer - Netflix
Dave sits down with Grammy winner Miley Cyrus and basketball icon Charles Barkley for a fresh set of revealing interviews about their lives and careers.