30th May 2006 07:01
Cellcast plc30 May 2006 Press Release 30 May 2006 Cellcast plc ("Cellcast" or "the Company") Successful launch of Bid2Win in India opens market for premium mobile services linked to participation TV Cellcast Interactive India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Cellcast plc (AIM:CLTV), aglobal interactive digital broadcaster, today announced that its new interactivereverse auction TV show, Bid2Win, collected over a million bids in its openingweek. The show was launched in India on 7 May 2006 and is broadcast everyevening simultaneously across four of India's leading cable channels: Sony,SaharaOne, Zoom and Zee Punjabi. Bid2Win enables viewers to take an active role in a dynamic real-time auctionusing their mobile phone as the 'backchannel'. High-value items such as LCDTVs, iPods, home theatre systems, digital cameras, camcorders and laptops, canbe bought for a nominal amount by submitting the lowest unique bid via SMS andIVR. "It's a compelling interactive format for a mass audience," said Pankaj Thakar,CEO of Cellcast Interactive India. "In a reverse auction, instead of pricesgoing up and up and out of reach, prices stay so low that everyone canparticipate with confidence. We are extremely proud of our strong productionvalues and high energy anchors." Bid2Win is an evolution of a highly successful format pioneered by Cellcast.Reverse auctions first gained popularity on the Internet. Cellcast developedthe concept as a live SMS-driven interactive television show with Star TV inIndia in the autumn of 2004. The resulting show received over 6.7 million bids,becoming the world's largest interactive reverse auction. Cellcast's popularformat has subsequently been launched in many markets across the Middle East andin China. Andrew Wilson, CEO of Cellcast plc, said of the successful launch in India:"Until now, the market for live interactive programming, which has been sosuccessful in other parts of the world, has been constrained in India byextremely low tariffs. With Bid2Win, Cellcast has shown that subscribers arewilling to pay for premium mobile services, particularly if they have a strongTV tie-in. With the world's fastest growing mobile subscriber base and avibrant multi-platform television industry, India is now ready for the fullrange of interactive products that Cellcast has proven in other markets." Capitalising on its success in India, Cellcast plans to roll-out Bid2Win toother Indian television networks across the globe over the next three months. "Broadcasters can now expand their content offerings to the Indian diasporabeyond the current staple of movies, drama and music, and enjoy new revenuestreams at the same time," added Andrew Wilson. Pankaj Thakar is now looking to the future. "We have an exciting range of newproducts and shows which we expect to launch in India over the next six months.These include Golden Goal, a virtual soccer show to be aired during World Cup;a new virtual cricket show Beat Them All; an interactive astrology show,Interactive Astro;, an exciting game similar to Tambola, Go Bingo; the numbersquiz Qeno; a celebrity-based quiz show, The Challenge; an interactive shoppingshow, Shop-o-holic; an interactive show based on Bollywood, Bollywood Dhamaka;and Insomnia, the interactive gameshow enjoying international success." - Ends - For further information:Cellcast plcAndrew Wilson, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 7190 [email protected] www.cellcast.tv Cellcast Interactive India Pvt LtdPankaj Thakar, CEO Tel: +91 22 5661 [email protected] Daniel Stewart & Company PlcMarc Young, Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 [email protected] www.danielstewart.co.uk Media enquiries:AbchurchHenry Harrison-Topham Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 [email protected] www.abchurch-group.com Notes to Editors: Cellcast plc Cellcast plc is a leading international provider of participation televisionapplications and interactive mobile content in the fast-growing multi-platformdigital entertainment sector. Headquartered in London, with associatedoperations in Paris, Beirut, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires, Cellcast'sapplications and programming are distributed on the Sky Digital platform in theUK and broadcast partners include Canal+ in France; STB in Ukraine; Future TV,Dubai Television and Rotana TV in the Middle East; Zee TV and Star TV in India;TVS-3 in China; Telefe in Argentina; and TeleAmazonas in Ecuador. Cellcast's revenues streams are independent of both advertising and subscriptionfees. With a network of revenue sharing agreements with telecommunicationscarriers and aggregators across five continents, Cellcast receives a share ofthe call revenue every time a consumer uses a mobile or fixed-line phone toparticipate in its interactive entertainment, revenue which is retained orshared with its broadcast partners. Cellcast's programme formats and proprietaryInteractive Platform (CIP) also facilitate delivery of content to mobile phones,the internet and broadband-delivered IPTV. This enables viewers to continueparticipating in a programme away from the TV, generating 24/7 revenueopportunities. In May 2006, Cellcast announced the launch of a range of newinteractive entertainment services on Freeview's digital terrestrial television(DTT) platform in the UK which included a breakthrough in interactive TVtechnology. Cellcast plc joined the AIM market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange on 21September 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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