Bingo on the TV was meant to have been the big thing in the bingo world during 2008 and 2009. ITV's Bingo Night Live was expected to do well, but a poor format and a late night slot meant that it just wasn't viable (or watched). ITV based their game on free bingo, but a new game BingoLotto is hoping to achieve better results. They're combining bingo with lotto, have got Tesco involved, and are asking the nation the simple question "Are You In"?
The major difference between ITV's bingo and BingoLotto is that to play you need to buy game cards. These are available at a cost of £2 from Tesco, with 20% of the cost going to charity. There's a host of prizes on offer too including £100,000 cash, a brand new car, holidays, TVs and lots more. The aim, no doubt, is to attract lottery players to have a go at the bingo game, however previous attempts to compete with Camelot (for example Monday Lottery) have failed as badly as ITV's bingo show.
To give themselves a fighting chance, BingoLotto have also hooked up with a TV celebrity, Ulrika Jonsson, to host the show although as ITV discovered even big names can't save poor formats. The show is on once a week and is available of Sky Channel 121, Freeview Channel 20 and Virgin Media Channel 119. The show gets underway from 7pm and it'll be interesting to see how it works and whether anyone has learnt from the ITV debacle.
You can keep up with Mr Bing and BingoLotto via Twitter and Facebook. These social media channels will be vital for BingoLotto to hit a wider audience and sustain long term consumer interest.
If this kind of format can be shown to generate significant public interest then TV Bingo could have a big future in 2010.
The first BingoLotto game starts at 7pm on September 13th.
