SMS Media Interactivity
Sunday, December 9, 2007 6:48Which companies are offering innovative SMS interactive services to their users? Umair Naeem takes a look!
With the advent of telephony and text messaging, it was quite obvious that the next phase in media interactivity would be through the cell phone. That time has now come to be, and whether you are listening to a radio station, or watching a TV program, or even watching a live sports event; text messaging allows you the opportunity to take part in the program or event and interact with the various people involved.
Arguably the first to make use of this phenomenon was the FM stations, whose RJs allowed you to text them and request songs if you couldn’t call in or if the lines were busy. Soon, what the radio was doing was being done by one and all. Turn on MTV Pakistan, formerly IM, and you’ll come across a number of live request shows which allows you to text a song request and watch it on TV. This is something that is now simply a part and parcel of music shows, and it doesn’t matter what channel the show is on. Even in-house cable TV channels of WorldCall launched a service some time ago which allowed the user to text in song numbers, and then the most popular would be played.
But music isn’t the only area where this way of interaction takes place. If you have watched live sporting events, then you’ll know that live text messaging plays a huge part in discussions and competitions. The
When Wasim Akram hosted the 7-Day Test on the same channel, text messages were again a huge source of opinion and talking points. Similarly, during cricket coverage on PTV and Geo, Telenor recently allowed users to text in answers to a cricket related question. Such examples are quite prevalent. Even news channels such as CNN and BBC do not take a back seat to these. They allow international viewers to text in opinions or questions relevant to particular programs, coverage and news events. On the other side of the divide, channels like Star Plus showcase bidding shows where again the text message can be utilized, or quiz shows, where by one single correct text, you could win a tidy jackpot!
The reason why SMS interactivity has taken off in such a massive manner in the media is simply because of its convenience. We can also argue now that the text messaging is quite cheap, but when the phenomenon actually began it wasn’t very cheap, but was still quite popular. As a result of the convenience factor, text messaging is increasingly dominating emails and postal mail when it comes to interactivity.
Whereas the problem with the postal mail is that it takes time, emails require the presence of a computer and internet. Sometimes what needs to be said can be very aptly said using a text message, and this again helps in their growing popularity. Although it is highly unlikely that they will replace phone calls when it comes to media interactivity, they have certainly joined the email in replacing the snail mail, and are going to give the email a good run for its money.
