Mark Rowland, the former managing director of Television Corporation International, has joined I'm a Celebrity's interactive service provider Red Fig to spearhead a strategy of global expansion.
Mark Rowland, the former managing director of Television Corporation International, has joined I'm a Celebrity's interactive service provider Red Fig to spearhead a strategy of global expansion.

Rowland, who left TV Corp last December, fills the chief executive post that John Curtis vacated a number of months ago. Rowland said that six months of studying the market had reinforced his belief that interactive services offering turnkey solutions will become increasingly involved in the creative processes of programme-making.

Rowland said the UK is currently the 'cauldron of interactivity' and is in the perfect position to become the world leader in all forms of participation TV.

He added: 'My interest in Red Fig, and the interactive market as a whole, lies in designing interactive elements into the production from the start. I believe the future of broadcasting depends on audience dialogue. The BBC's Come and Have a Go if You Think You're Smart Enough had interactivity at its core, enabling viewers to compete against studio contestants in real-time. Red Fig managed the audience registration, score-handling and tie-breaker aspects of the show.

Rowland said his first-hand business experience had shown him how ancillary revenues are growing in value and companies are increasingly keen to exploit this area. 'The fault line of interactivity is between mobile phones and TV, which is a model that is hugely applicable around the world,' he said.

Rowland has been responsible, with the Mentorn and Sunset + Vine brands, for some of the UK's biggest format hits of recent years, including Robot Wars, Paradise Hotel and Gillette World of Sport. His appointment marks a move towards the heart of the TV content business for leading interactive company Red Fig.

Over the past few years Red Fig has handled some of the UK's largest participation TV projects - from ITV's I'm a Celebrity? Get Me out of Here! to the BBC's Great Britons - and has worked with the UK's leading broadcasters and advertisers.

'Interactive service is no longer fringe,' Rowland said. 'One in five viewers of I'm a Celebrity participated in interactive elements. That makes interactive TV very much mainstream.'

Red Fig is a privately owned business.