bye-bye Glitterball

My understanding is that last night was the last Glitterball under the ITV Play umbrella and that ITV Play will now be ‘Make Your Play’ only, which I think is rather sad as if I had to choose between the two I’d opt for Glitterball.

Last night I briefly watched Quiz Call which airs on C5, it looked (on first viewing) as a somewhat inferior product with a single host and answers being revealed by removing a sticky overlay (rather than any fancy electronics) the presenter though seemed characteristically upbeat and the game did feature some good ‘extras’ such as a period where callers could offer two answers for the price of one. On a non-scientific feel it looked like more callers and winners. The game I saw being played was for viewers to name children’s TV programmes.

Views on Participation TV? Either complete the survey or send an e-mail to ITVPlaysurvey@btopenworld.com

I’m putting together a list of characteristics/traits I’ve noted of the format which I’ll add during the week for comments and additions by you…

Is a game of chance a lottery ?

One of the key questions around the quiz formats like ITV Play and Quiz Call is are they a lottery - I was interested to see that the mad comments blog has noted that The Gambling Commission is set to rule on this, (good piece here too) the implications are not just the specific late night gameshow ghettos there'll be a knock on to some of those peak time shows too. But figures are that the chances of getting through to some shows were as high as an incredible 5,000-1 at peak times mean that this is an outside gamble with slim chances of winning.

The point (to me though) is What is ITV for is it something more than a vehicle for exploiting broadcasting capacity?

Mr Grade probably needs to re- invigorate the ITV brand and give a mission statement that is clear and inclusive.

Earlier predictions around a privatised Channel Four and a Sky owned Channel Five are looking noticably more likely and a clear differentiation is a goal ITV should aim to convert as soon as it can.

More on Participation TV

My research on participation TV continues, I’m putting a query on Linkedin and also going to check out some of the other offerings. any thoughts?

What happened to Playdate?
What do you think of 5’s Quizcall ?
If you want to help or have a view please e-mail ITVplaysurvey@btopenworld.com