Lionsgate and Zed drive reality TV through mobile SMS and social networks

Lionsgate and Zed today announced a partnership for a worldwide launch of “Instantly Rich”, Zeds mulitplatform reality show. The two companies paired up in September last year to experiment in combining mobile and TV, and “Instantly Rich” is their first worldwide release.

The show is already a hit in Spain’s, on the Antena 3 TV network. Along with regular TV channels, the program will be sold to mobile operators for SMS integration in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The show is a 60-minute weekly reality show that gives contestant the chance to win up to $1 million each week on live television. Viewers can use SMS, mobile WAP and mobile appds to compete for the opportunity to be contestants on the following week’s program.

From the release:

“This is a revolutionary new concept in reality television programming in which mobile and social networking platforms are drivers for content and not afterthoughts,” said Lionsgate President of Television Programming & Production Kevin Beggs. “We expect mobile multimedia to generate a significant portion of the show’s overall revenues, and we believe that this multiplatform launch once again reflects Lionsgate’s commitment to groundbreaking television innovation.”

Miguel Lopez-Quesada, General Manager of Zed TV, said, “We see ourselves as players with a disruptive technology, so it’s great to partner with another industry pioneer. During our previous relationship with Lionsgate, we realized there was a strong partnership in the making between two nimble, market-leading companies. This initiative continues to grow that partnership and, for the first time, we’re developing a series that not only leverages the $130 billion global SMS market, but also strengthens Zed’s goal of having a multiplatform vision covering console, cinema, PC, mobile and now television.”

What we think?

SMS and reality TV have gone hand-in-hand for a long time now, with voting on shows like Pop Idol being almost entirely text based. “Instantly Rich” is going a bit farther than that. It looks like Zed and Lionsgate are really trying to make SMS integral to the show, with contestants being chosen via text and a MoSo network being built around the show.

Which all sounds great, sure, but is it going to go anywhere? Mobile social networks based around brands and products have never really gone anywhere. It’s pure networking sites like MocoSpace or Facebook that tend to attract users, not hybrids - no matter how much money Lionsgate has to throw at it. SMS and reality TV do go well together, and it’s certainly worth trying to develop that. But I don’t see the step that these two companies are taking as being big enough. Being able to text a show isn’t anything new.