Canal Operacion Triunfo and Barcelona CityTV introduce photo-chat.

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Two Spanish television channels, the private Canal Operacion Triunfo, from Canal Satelite Digital, and the local Barcelona channel, Barcelona CityTV, have incorporated a new way of interacting with the viewer. Through the channels' homepages, the viewer can upload a photo that can be displayed on the screen when sending a SMS or MMS to a television programme that involves SMS/MMS interactivity.

Given the success SMS interactivity has achieved on Spanish TV in the last year, TVC Multimedia and Random One - both Catalan software companies - have begun to invest more resources in such interactivity, a profitable method of developing viewer participation and loyalty, as well as obtaining valuable information from the audience.

Canal Satelite Digital broadcasts the channel Operacion Triunfo, a specialised channel where the viewer gets to choose the singer that will represent Spain in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The local television station, Barcelona CityTV, will start using PhotoChat March 21 with the entertainment programme, Vitamina N. The show's anchor, Jordi GonzAlez, commented on the subject, "we are incorporating the latest technology in order to add new features and interactivity, which are some of the reasons for the success of Vitamina N."

Due to the small number of viewers with mobile phones capable of sending MMS, both programmes request the viewer to upload a photo through the programme's web page after fulfilling in a questionnaire. ((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))