SMS or text voting for the UK hit show ‘Big Brother’ has proved to be hugely popular. It was introduced for the first time for series three of the program. So far, of the near 11 million votes that have been received by the show, 2.6 million have been via SMS – this equates to a nearly a quarter of all votes.
The revenues generated from SMS voting have been estimated to be in the region of $1.3 million for the UK show, broadcasted by Channel 4. Mobile users seem to be at ease with SMS voting even though the premium text message could be more expensive than voting via the traditional phone call method.
Similar success stories have been received from other Big Brother shows around the world. About half of all the votes for this year’s Big Brother in Norway have been via text.