| Service: |
Interactive application to enhance TV show, “Brainiac” |
| Production company: |
Granada Media |
| Channel: |
Sky One/Sky Mix |
| Launch: |
September 2004; 13 episodes in total, enhanced TV for eight episodes |
| Show proposition: |
Factual entertainment |
| Presenters: |
Jon Tickle and Richard Hammond perform crazy scientific experiments |
| Audience: |
Mostly male; “lads and dads” |
| Brief: |
To introduce interactivity to the second series |
| Solution: |
Viewers could vote for their explosion of the week |
© Granada Media Group Ltd./BSkyB Ltd. All rights reserved.
“Brainiac” is a factual show about science that attracts a large “lads and dads” audience. For the second series, the enhanced TV team at Sky Interactive worked closely with the series producer at Granada to introduce a number of red button and mobile enhancements.
The main objectives of introducing interactive enhancements were to:
- Give viewers more to do outside of the show transmission
- Enhance the editorial
- Boost ratings
- Increase viewer loyalty
- Secure a larger brand presence
Pressing the red button enabled viewers to:
- Find out about experiments to try at home
- Read about some of the characters
- Vote for their favourite explosive of the week
- Win a star appearance on the show
By voting, viewers were automatically entered into a competition to be filmed for the show blowing up their favourite explosive.
Viewers could vote via text message or through their Sky digibox. They could also request a Brainiac ringtone or logo for their mobile phone. These enhancements helped secure a larger brand presence for the show and made it more fun.
The series proved to be a ratings winner with a significant proportion of viewers pressing the red button.