Oh God. Really? Britains Got Talent mobile app hits no.1 on iPhone

Here you go. Proof that the combination of television, mobile applications and viewer interaction is an incredibly potent brew. Four days after launch, the Britain’s Got Talent app has reached the top of Apple charts, with over 200,000 downloads.

What’s the app?

Britain’s Got Talent is massive. Whether or not you like it, the weekly display of “talent” draws viewership figures that have made it the biggest entertainment property in the last 5 years of UK TV.

The app provides various types of content: pictures galleries, mobile-exclusive behind the scenes footage, breaking “news”… that kind of thing. More importantly, it’s got a feature that allows users to interact with the show during the broadcast. And it has the usual social networking tie-ins, with Facebook and Twitter. Honestly, it’s nothing new or breathtaking. But it works. 200,000 downloads prove that.

Mobile Interactive Group built the service through its Kilrush content arm, and it’s monetised by the Mpression advertising platform from 4th Screen.

What we think?

I’m not even remotely interested in reality TV, but no-one can deny how successful, influential and profitable the genre has been. Not only does it give viewers a more voyeuristic rush, which they love, but integral to the genre is the idea of interaction. Pretty much every single reality TV show involves a voting mechanism whereby YOU, the VIEWER at HOME can decide what happens next.

The potential for the mobile phone to be a kind universal remote control for reality overlaps with that beautifully, like cogged wheels.

Another aspect to this is that reality TV is almost live – shows like Big Brother enabled you to watch the housemates 24 hours a day. It wasn’t split into discreet chunks that were recorded ages ago, like most TV shows. The things you are seeing on the show happened during the week – and the things you’ll see in the next show are happening right now. For those who want more constant interaction with their reality shows, no device enables it better than a mobile. After all, it’s in your pocket right now.