Television addicts could get their own loyalty scheme

by Staff,, Brand Republic 29-Oct-04, 08:45

LONDON - Multichannel television viewers could find themselves rewarded for their devotion to the box with a new incentive scheme that may give them bonus points.

People with Sky set-top boxes could be introduced to the new reward scheme as early as January, when a spare card slot in Sky boxes is activated to accept a smart card.

Smart cards can then be used by various satellite broadcasters to tally up the amount of time viewers spend watching a particular programme or channel. The idea is that broadcasters can then reward viewers with either free programming or potentially hooking up with other partners, much like the supermarket loyalty card schemes work.

Sky has not revealed its own plans for the scheme at this stage, but has confirmed that it is making the function available. It has said that it will be up to individual broadcasters to decide how they use the technology.

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