Programmer Granada America (Hell's Kitchen, Nanny 911) is looking to expand its piece of so-called "participation television."
The programmer has formed a joint venture with Play On TV to help Granada get a piece of a growing market in interactive and ancillary TV revenues in what it calls a rapidly growing market.
Participation TV includes interactive gaming (in the case of digital television), as well as selling branded products and services or the increasingly popular text-message voting that programmers get a cut off. (Play On TV partnered with TeleScope for vote management on American Idol, for example.)
Granada could, for example, develop a syndicated late-night show with transactional elements like texting or gaming. Syndication and cable are the most likely venues for the new venture, according to a Granada spokesman.
Granada parent ITV is already heavily into participation TV in Europe, including a dedicated channel, ITV Play.
Heading up Granada's participation in the joint venture will be Katrina Moran, executive VP, Digital Media.
