Companion screen voting for Britain’s Got Talent

ITV and FremantleMedia have launched companion screen voting for the Britain’s Got Talent show, using technology from Mobile Interactive Group and app developer Tellybug.

Viewers are now able to vote via their iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch directly from the Britain’s Got Talent app. The app has received over 500,000 downloads across the series and seen peak traffic of up to 130,000 users per episode.

The app now features a voting button that displays during the voting period on the show, replacing an existing interactive feature, the ‘buzzer’. Users are able to purchase of bundle of three votes for £1.49 (€1.85). The app also now enables viewers to purchase access to live streaming from four exclusive backstage cameras which have been placed around the Britain’s Got Talent studio. Users can purchase a series pass starting from £1.99 at the beginning of the live phase.

ITV and FremantleMedia have also introduced the use of Mobile Short Dial Codes for the show. These allow UK mobile users to dial a short seven digit number to vote from their mobiles for a guaranteed fixed price of £0.50 per vote, regardless of mobile network provider.

Ann Cook, director of interactive, ITV, and managing director of ITL said, “We know that today’s viewers like engaging and interacting with our biggest shows via new platforms and on many devices. Therefore it makes sense for us to explore introducing voting to the places where large numbers of viewers are already engaged. We’re really looking forward to seeing how audiences respond to both these two new voting platforms, alongside the existing landline platform, as Britain’s Got Talent moves into its exciting live final phase this weekend.”