Over in the UK TV interaction has a wider history thanks to Red Button services, and the BBC is finally coming through on its promise to join that experience with the internet as it launches its first companion app on iOS and Android. Previously tested in beta with Frozen Planet and Secret Fortune airings, these apps let Antiques Roadshow viewers compete against others — whether in the same room or across the country — as they try to guess the value of items displayed on the show. Will that be exciting enough to pull viewers away from whatever the UK equivalent of Sons of Anarchy or The Walking Dead is? Maybe not, but a Red Button version launched last fall netted 1.5 million users right off the bat, and the Beeb expects to build on that more by moving to mobile devices.
The internet-to-TV hookup even goes both ways, as we experienced in our demonstration of Connected Red Button services on TiVo last month and viewers experienced during the Olympics, so we’d expect to see even more interaction launching soon. The apps will be available later today for use with the new episode airing on the 6th. Can’t wait that long for your antiquing fix? Thanks to embedded audio watermarks syncing everything up, they will also work with last week’s episode (and future ones going forward) viewed on iPlayer or home recordings.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Software, HD, Mobile
Source: BBC
