ITV gears up for I'm A Celebrity launch

Monterosa is to develop the mobile and tablet app for the show which will be powered by its Lvis platform. The app will offer the latest news, predictions, polls and quizzes to help fans stay up-to-date with the show.

It will also include an 8-bit style play-along arcade game, sponsored by headline sponsor Aunt Bessie’s, as well as allow fans to vote on which participants must leave the jungle.

ITV introduced an in-house developed I’m A Celebrity app for the first time last year. It generated 250m interactions and was also responsible for some of the 56m votes cast.

ITV Digital Studios head of entertainment, comedy and drama Athena Witter said: “We wanted to go even further, by enhancing what we can offer fans this year through targeted digital engagement and the use of Monterosa’s versatile platform we can continue to maintain our strong audience share and give our fans unprecedented levels of engaging content.”

Monterosa chief executive Tom McDonnell said that the app, available to download this week, would help ITV “coordinate large volumes of live interaction, generating loyalty, insights and helping brands.”

Social Celebrity
 
Separately the broadcaster has appointed content agency Somethin Else to work on the show’s social media, following a pitch process involving three businesses which was held over the summer.

The production company will collaborate with ITV’s in-house digital team to create content which will be distributed across multiple platforms. Several Somethin else staff will be embedded with the ITV production team in Australia as part of the agreement.

It is the first time Somethin Else has forge a direct deal with ITV, although it is retained by the Brit Awards, which air on the channel each February.

Witter said a strong presence on social media was a “crucial component” of the success of the format.

Somethin Else managing director Steve Ackerman added: “I’m A Celebrity offers amazing opportunities for social media with mass audiences and we’re looking forward to the other projects we may work with ITV on.”