Participation TV is a broad term referring to television programming which relies on audience participation as a key form of revenues.
Genres include:
Regulations governing participation TV vary throughout the world - but the format is gaining popularity as traditional TV advertising revenues decline. There have been many scandals surrounding consumer deception and improper conduct relating to the running of competitions - particularly in the UK (a leading territory for participation TV).
Typically a TV production company will come up with the concept and produce a show, licensing it to a broadcaster and partnering with telecoms companies for the platforms required to drive the revenues.
Participation TV 2.0
The phrase ‘Participation TV’ was first used on reality television shows back in 2002, where the viewers could ‘Participate’ with the TV show by paying to send a text or call a number to register their vote. This was in the days before Smartphones and the Cloud enabled up to 80% of TV viewers to use their Second Screens while watching the TV.
Viewers no longer have to send Texts or Tweets that are added up by the TV Producers and then revealed at the end of the TV show. In ‘Participation TV 2.0’ the viewers are deeply engaged through their web devices, playing along with the Broadcast or TV show in real-time and affecting the show content in the moment.