The BBC has announced plans to launch a ‘guess the value’ companion experience for the next series of Antiques Roadshow in September, enabling audiences to play along with the program via BBC Red Button or on a companion device. Victoria Jaye, BBC Head of IPTV and TV Online Content, who spoke at the recent Connected TV Summit in London, said: “Antiques Roadshow is a perfect series to develop a companion experience around. We’re tapping into existing audience behaviour – viewers have been shouting at their TV screens for years, guessing the value of items featured in the program.”
This is the BBC’s first public launch of a companion screen experience, after closed trials conducted around Secret Fortune and Frozen Planet, with the Corporation’s stated strategy for companion apps being to: “build on existing audience needs and behaviour, go beyond broadcast, and drive creative renewal and innovation”.
Jaye added, “We’re also taking viewers on a journey beyond where the broadcast program can go, providing in-depth content about the stories and the history behind featured antiques in the program, drawn from across BBC Online and other trusted sources. It’s a great example of how we can creatively renew our audiences’ enjoyment of watching a much cherished BBC program.”
The companion experience is designed to work alongside both live broadcast and on-demand viewing and offers the audience the opportunity to play at expert or amateur level and choose from four value ranges for each antique item featured on the show. Audiences make their valuation against the clock, before the answer is revealed on the TV. Viewers using the app on their PC, tablet or mobile can see what others playing along are estimating with a ‘Ask the Nation’ function.
At the end of each episode, audiences receive their final score, and find out how they ranked compared to the others taking part in the experience. The app also invites audiences to explore featured antiques in the program and the stories behind them.
Simon Shaw, Executive Producer, Antiques Roadshow, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the companion screen experience to The Antiques Roadshow. Our viewers love the rich mix of stories, surprise and learning from our team of experts. Now they’ll be able to really test their skills at playing the valuation guessing game and seeing how well they do against the rest of the nation.”
