I’ll Take Live TV For $1,000 Alex
September 7th, 2006 Davis Posted in Marketing, TV |
For my entire life I’ve been a fan of TV gameshows. Whether it was tuning in to episodes of card sharks, waiting all day to get in to see the Price is Right or actually trying out for the game show Double Dare as a child, I’ve always had a fascination with the fast paced Q&A challenges that game shows provide.
Game shows have always been ahead of the times in using product placements, whether it’s the free wardrobe that Vanna White picks up each night or the consolation trips to the beaches of Mexico for the contestants, game shows realized early on that sponsors would pay for their prizes, if they could get viewers to turn in. Even with the product placements though, game shows have still traditionally relied on the 30 second spot to help pay for the excitment that they create, but with consumers moving past the 30 second spot, game shows have been finding it harder then ever to get sponsors to make a deal.
In a new development for the television industry, KNBC plans to offer a new live interactive game show following Sunday night football. The game show will ask questions and will encourage viewers who watched the game live to stay tuned in by giving them the ability to play along at home via the internet or through the cell phone.
This will be a money making machine for NBC. This is a great way to help keep live viewers tuned into the football games and with consumers wanting to interact with programing, it should be a bigger hit then George Michael’s Sports Machine. By letting viewers play along live, it gives people a reason to stick with appointment based TV instead of time shifting the game, which should help increase ad rates. While the terms and conditions don’t make any mention of texting charges, given the popularity of TV texting and the potential to make millions off of micro payments, it would surprise me if NBC doesn’t end up making a pretty penny off of texting at some point during the life of the show. Whether consumers will stay tuned into a blowout game, just to play the Challenge is anybody’s guess, but by giving consumers a payoff to tuning in live, NBC may be able to return the game show back to it’s glory days.
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