tv and bingoConsidering how many bingo sites are advertised on our television sets, it’s a wonder there hasn’t been more success for the TV channels that have been launched specifically to allow for bingo games to play live. Popular favourites that are no more, include ITV’s Bingo Night Live which enjoyed short lived success and even Gala Live has been moved from television to live streaming online since April 2011. Despite these channels being no more, you can still enjoy Bingo on the Box live on your telly and also the Free Bingo Show sponsored by the Party Gaming brand.

TV via your Computer Options

Despite the end of Gala TV on Sky, you can still enjoy 24 hours a day Gala Live via their website, which is live streamed between 4pm and midnight every day. The game is also auto-played from 9am up until this time.  The Gala Live Room allows players to enjoy their favourite games in an even more interactive way and live chat hosts make it feel like your favourite club has arrived in your living room.

BingoCams has also taken the idea of TV and bingo to a new level, by making it a completely online phenomenon and showing podcast-style videos and more via their site. Specialist celeb events allow roomies to hook up with their favourite TV star or singer via the site and via their web cam. Although not strictly TV, the video element adds the same amout of fun and excitement to the gaming. Previous celebs have included Chico Slimane and stars of Hollyoaks.

Bingo on the Box

As one of the few TV channels still operating, Bingo on the Box is your best bet for some truly interactive gaming on your telly. Broadcast on Sky, Freeview and cable channels which you can check on screen yourself, a minimum of 9 hours of fun is available every single day. You can play alongside the live show on your computer and see the numbers called before your eyes. Again, it’s like visiting your local hall but in your own home and probably on a much bigger screen than your computer. The live chat host adds their personality and charisma into the mix and it can be a really fun and exciting way to play your favourite games. You can still access the chat rooms via your computer so you can chat along with your roomie friends, so really the TV show is just a further entertaining addition to your experience.

Just for Advertising

It seems that so many brands have had such success with their online sites that they utilise the television as a great advertising means but have no need to actually launch their own shows. Foxy Bingo in particular has its own TV website where it displays all its latest ads for fans to enjoy and they have also had regular radio stints but there has been no mention of a permanent Foxy channel. We’re sure it would be a huge success but perhaps there is a recognition that many players like to settle down with their favourite television show and their favourite site and enjoy both simultaneously. 

A few years back many of the big brands were claiming TV bingo would be the next big thing. It was dubbed the future of online gaming but rather than jumping in at the deep end, most sites waited it out to see how the phenomenon developed and it seems only a niche few have been a success. We can’t argue with the fact that TV bingo gives online operators an extension to their already existing brand but it just hasn’t proved to be as successful as many would have hoped. This has got to be down to the idea that most players love the chance to multitask, settling in with all their favourite media sources at once so they can enjoy the soaps whilst potentially winning some fab bingo cash. Another factor which influenced the interest in TV was its success in other countries with Russia having as many as 3 million bingo TV viewers back in 2009 and it also being a success in the US and Australia. Perhaps the formula hasn’t been perfected in the UK yet.

So, can our favourite game and telly work together? A definitive yes is the answer but perhaps us busy Brits prefer to have more than one thing going on at once. Although we love our favourite sites we also don’t want to miss out on our favourite TV shows either.

 

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