iPowow, Red Bull Media House partner for interactive soccer match innovation

The result of a new partnership between participation TV specialist iPowow and Red Bull Media House, the live airing of the FC Bayern München vs FC Red Bull Salzburg match in January is described as the world’s first soccer telecast utilising fan participation.

The match aired via Red Bull Media House’s ServusTV, where fans were given the power to control on-screen elements from their digital devices and see the detailed results of these interactions as they occurred live on TV.

For the broadcast, iPowow provided a seamless solution between digital devices and the big screen. Soccer fans were encouraged to explore their views and feelings during the live airing of the game. They were prompted to engage on their connected smart devices or computers via simple calls to action directing them to participate, interact and respond to questions and events happening around the game-play and players. The results of the interactions were displayed on a second-by-second basis within the broadcast through graphical imagery rendered directly on the TV screen, and also on the user device, in real-time. The results displayed on TV and the user device were synchronous.

Since the January soccer broadcast, Red Bull Media House and iPowow have expanded their collaboration to ice hockey. DEL (German Hockey League) games broadcast live on ServusTV and powered by the iPowow Participation TV platform now also enable real-time audience interaction. For the first time in Europe and from March 9 onwards, fans have been able to choose the Man of the Match for the Sunday game, while viewers can also vote live to determine the game that will be broadcast the following week.

Gavin Douglas, chief commercial officer of iPowow, comments: “Red Bull Media House has been a valuable partner. Their vision for how to engage their fans and enhance the experience for the viewer has been revolutionary. The key to a successful execution relies on how well you can include the fan in the story and enhance the viewing experience. Our partner does just that with first the soccer match and now the DEL playoffs from March 9 on – giving fans a chance to be a part of the story throughout the entire experience.”