UK TV interaction has a wider history thanks to Red Button services, and the BBC is finally coming through on its promise to join that experience with the internet as it launches its first companion app on iOS and Android. Previously tested in beta with Frozen Planet and Secret Fortune programmes, these apps let Antiques Roadshow viewers compete against others  (whether in the same room or across the country) as they try to guess the value of items displayed on the show. When the Red Button version launched last September it netted 1.5 million users right off for the Antiques Roadshow, and the Beeb expects to build on that more by moving to mobile devices.
The internet-to-TV hookup even goes both ways, and viewers experienced during the Olympics, so we’d expect to see even more interaction launching soon. The apps will be available later today for use with the new episode airing on the 6th. Can’t wait that long for your antiquing fix? Thanks to embedded audio watermarks syncing everything up, they will also work with last week’s episode (and future ones going forward) viewed on iPlayer or home recordings.

The new app is great fun. I love guessing the values of objects, I only wish I got it right more often! Now that you can play on smartphones and tablets, the world of antiques is certainly not stuck in the past.”
Fiona Bruce

Via: BBC