The producers of "All My Children" were looking to add an interactive element that would allow fans to contribute to their popular daytime drama. The pioneering integration of premium wireless text messaging with television programming demonstrated the untapped market for premium text-messaging services - 2.5 million text and online votes were cast!

ABC Daytime had been interacting online with its loyal soap opera fans through message boards, polls, and chats that give their viewers direct access to the actors. ABC Daytime created a new revenue stream for its media properties with "Shop the Soaps," where fans shop for the styles worn by their favorite ABC Daytime stars. It's considered to be the first fully integrated crossmedia shopping program on network television.

In early 2003, ABC Daytime made a commitment to further expand the interactive aspects of its programming. ABC decided that the Emmy award - winning "All My Children" daytime drama would be a natural fit to integrate premium text messaging into its plot. The show has a strong following among college students and young women, a demographic that also widely uses wireless phones.

The Challenge
ABC Daytime was looking for an entry point to introduce TV audiences in the largest consumer market in the world to text messaging. ABC executives recognized that it was an opportune time to embrace wireless text messaging because wireless carriers had only recently opened up their communications gateways to allow the exchange of messages with their competitors. The emergence of cross-carrier premium text messaging is expected to considerably grow the market for text messaging overall as wireless users habituate to contact customers of other carriers.

ABC wanted to create an interactive program that was an organic extension of their popular soap opera and remained true to its style and spirit. The interactive element had to excite fans into action and had to be seamlessly introduced to viewers during the show.

The introduction of interactivity through premium text messaging was seen by ABC as a large opportunity for differentiation because while wireless phones have become indispensable communication tools in Europe, American penetration has been hovering at around 50%, with the overwhelming majority of Americans having little to no familiarity with text messaging.

The "All My Children" writing staff executed the idea of the "Sexiest Man in America Contest," during which fans would vote to select a contestant who would appear on a future episode of the soap opera. ABC decided to combine votes from the premium wireless text messaging and online voting in the Sexiest Man contest, which would run for seven weeks. (The winner was announced and appeared on the show on October 10.)

The instructions and procedures for text messaging a vote from a wireless handset had to be foolproof so that viewers' first interaction with the technology was highly positive and also encouraged repeated use.

To maximize the pool of fans that could participate, ABC had to find a technology company that could deliver a platform that was able to process and respond to text messages from a variety of wireless carriers. ABC wanted a media partner that could develop and manage a premium text-messaging program because it viewed the ability to generate revenue from text messaging as an opportunity that was worth exploring.

The Sexiest Man contest would offer the first premium text-messaging service in the United States. Premium services charge a small fee for each message in addition to any service fees charged by the carriers.

ABC Daytime president Brian Frons determined that Telenor Mobile Interactive USA had the creative and managerial talent to help direct ABC's pilot use of text messaging for the "Sexiest Man" promotion. Telenor was able to collaborate with ABC on the television production issues involved in integrating interactive services because the company's core management staff featured several former television industry executives.

The Solution
Telenor put in place applications that exposed millions of daytime TV watchers to the benefits of interacting via wireless text messaging. The hardware platform was configured to handle more than 500 text-messaged votes per second. After a series of internal audits, the system was determined to meet the capacity needs of the contest.

The platform was optimized to simplify the menu options during the voting process and to keep the interest of first-time text-message users. It was designed so that viewers who were unsuccessful in their attempts to vote would receive contextual feedback that would help them complete their votes. While nearly all users were able to "self correct" by following the text-messaged feedback, a FAQ Web site was also created to provide additional instructions. To further assist any users who had difficulty voting by text message, a toll-free 24X7 customer service hotline was set up, but received very few calls. Up-to-the-minute voting statistics showing who was the leading vote getter were automatically sent to ABC and were also available online.

The short code number, 4300, was established and functioned on all of the wireless carriers' systems. This short code eliminated the need for entering a 10-digit phone number, and using 4300 allowed for faster dialing because the digits 4, 3, and 0 are located at the edges of wireless handsets, making them among the easiest buttons to dial one-handed.

The platform was customized to accommodate the protocols needed to connect and share data with multiple wireless carriers. Once text messages were received, the system automatically communicated with the carrier to make sure the phone number was valid for billing purposes. Only valid customers who had successfully voted were billed the 50¢ premium text-messaging fee. The wireless carriers collected the fees from their customers and shared the revenue with Telenor and ABC.

Interstitial spots were run on ABC during the soap block to promote the contest, and each spot that ran resulted in a corresponding surge in textmessaged votes. The text-message statistics showed traffic volumes corresponding to when the spots were broadcast in the four time zones across the U.S.

To entice fans to text vote frequently, anyone who voted three or more times in a week automatically received a "story alert" text message. These story alerts were ostensibly written by one of the lead "All My Children" characters, giving hints as to what would occur during future episodes. For example, the character of Mary wrote, "Greenlee hates me. I must get her back on my side. She thinks new daddy Jackson is perfect, but a little lie I tell her Wednesday will fix that!"

"All My Children" fans using AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, and T-Mobile wireless networks participated in the contest, with some enthusiasts voting 60 times in a single week. During the contest, all of the carriers monitored their networks for regional congestion to ensure that data and voice traffic continued to flow. During the sevenweek contest there were no reports of text voters who were unable to get through.

Fans also submitted thousands of unsolicited text messages commenting on the unfolding story, and several commented about how much they enjoyed being able to participate. The fans' overwhelming response to the groundbreaking event proves that they are willing to pay for interactive text-messaging services that add value to their experience.

ABC is using what they learned from this success as a launch pad for future revenue-generating interactive services. The company will continue to innovate with new text messaging and interactive programming features for other media properties.

When driven by compelling content and artful execution, premium text-messaging services deliver value that customers will pay for and appreciate. Premium services are an effective method for both generating revenue and encouraging wireless users to rely on text messaging as an integral part of their daily communications.