Although many do not realise it, bingo on the TV is nothing really new at all, in fact it has been tried a few times.
Do you remember Bob Monkhouse and the TV show Bob’s Full House? Maybe you also remember Shane Richie’s Lucky Numbers?
Bingo sites have been sponsoring popular programmes like Family Fortunes and Jeremy Kyle as well as there being a whole host of bingo TV adverts too. The rise in the bingo advert is directly related to the increase of bingo online. Sites like Moon Bingo have promoted the game in a positive light and it is these quality sites that have promoted a number of advertising campaigns. It’s safe to say that some of these adverts are quite good, others rather awful and yet others that get themselves banned.
Other Bingo games on the TV included Bingojoy where you could view former Big Brother winner Brian Dowling call the numbers for Bingojoy. The game ran on Sky Channels 158, 168 and 200 during the day. The game although it was fun was also a rather low tech affair.
Big Box Bingo (from Bingos) let their players play six games of bingo each Friday evening at 6.30 pm on Sky Channel 848. Tickets cost £1.50 and you had the option to print them out online or have them sent to you. Unfortunately these games were not a great success and Bingos moved over to the Best Bingo Network.
GalaTV actually used to be the Sky Channel 861 and since 2011 Gala TV shows are now streamed online. To access this feature all you need to do is hit the TV tab on the Gala Bingo site to fine your favourite shows.
ITV’s Bingo Night Live was branded as a brand new TV experience with the games being free and of course you could play from the comfort of your own home. Free bingo cards were accessed on registration with the channel offering three free games a night. ITV also offered to mark you cards for you if you were going out or had other things happening. This meant that you could also enjoy bingo online whilst still taking part in the free games on the TV.
Initially this free to play bingo games attracted a lot of attention with Melinda Messenger, Jenny Powell and Michael Underwood all presenting the programme. Where the programme did fall down on was its ability to generate much need revenue, and it was soon removed from the schedules.
Bingo on the TV is big business in the US, but has not really managed to break into the hearts of the UK public. What we need to remember is that the game of bingo is a social activity besides a fun game to play and as yet a transition over to the small screen has not been able to offer that special something that keeps bingo lovers coming back to their favourite game.