| Service: |
Interactive application to enhance reality show, “The Match” |
| Production company: |
Endemol UK |
| Channel: |
Sky One |
| Launch: |
Week-long event in October 2004 |
| Show proposition: |
Charity football match between celebrities and international premiership legends, including Paul Gascoigne and Bryan Robson |
| Interactivity: |
Included voting, competitions, games and betting |
| Result: |
200,000 people entered the voting and competitions |
© Endemol UK/BSkyB Ltd. All rights reserved.
“The Match” was Sky One’s first-ever reality TV format and biggest enhanced TV proposition in 2004. Hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and Mark Durden-Smith, the show challenged a squad of football-crazy celebrities to hold their own against a team of Premiership legends to raise money for charity.
The objectives of using enhanced TV were to:
- Involve viewers in the show
- Offer engaging content that supports the event
- Boost ratings
- Raise money for charity
Participation was central to the show. Viewers voted a celebrity off the show every day, therefore deciding the outcome. By encouraging viewers to get involved and influence the events, viewers became emotionally involved, resulting in stronger commitment, higher ratings and more revenue.
Interactive voting determined the starting line-up. Sky Interactive worked closely with Endemol UK to develop content and design the application. The interactive services included:
- Voting for who plays
- Daily holiday competitions and a chance to win match tickets
- Sending messages to the players
- News
- Betting
- Player profiles
- Information about the charities (children's charities Chicken Shed Theatre Company and NCH)
- A penalty shoot-out game
Viewers could also press red to catch up on the show if they’d missed it earlier that day. As the show went out live, interactive viewers had the option to watch the show from one hour ago and four hours ago.
The eight-day event reached 7.5 million viewers and the peak audience was 2.63 million. Approximately 200,000 people entered the voting and competitions alone. The show raised a significant amount of money for charity.
"This was a terrific service, using oodles of resources to support what, for Sky, was a major linear event."
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