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ITV signs gaming deals for Simon Cowell's Red or Black? 26/08/2011
Mark Sweney
ITV strikes deal with gambling company Gamesys and social TV firm Monterosa for paid-for and free games based on show

ITV has signed deals with two companies to produce a range of free and paid-for games based on Simon Cowell's new big-budget primetime show Red or Black?.

The show, which will be fronted by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, gives contestants the chance to win £1m on the spin of a wheel.

ITV has signed a deal with online gambling company Gamesys to produce a series of four pay-to-play games based on the branding of the gameshow.

The games – called Red or Black Slots, Red or Black Instant, Red or Black Hi Lo and Red or Black Stacks – will be available at www.jackpotjoy.com.

The games will be promoted with a TV ad campaign and will cost from 5p to 50p to play. They will not be made available through ITV.com.

ITV and Cowell's Syco, which is co-producing the show, initially tried to negotiate a deal with Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, but failed to reach a deal.

The broadcaster has also struck a deal with Monterosa, a company specialising in social TV, to create a play-along experience to go with Red or Black?.

The free game, which will be made available at ITV.com, will allow viewers to play along with contestants on the show.

They will also be able to compete with Facebook friends.

"A primetime production of the scale of Red or Black? clearly has a huge amount of potential off air," said Denise O'Donoghue, managing director of ITV Studios UK. "Working with Syco we have been exploring the best opportunities to fully exploit this fantastic programme idea."

An ITV spokeswoman said: "It made commercial sense to license the brand to market leaders, who run the UK's leading gaming website. ITV.com has strong plans to support Red or Black?, which includes the play-along game."

Channel 4 has had huge success with online play-along games for its gameshow Million Pound Drop.

Like Cowell's other ITV1 shows, The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, the production will be filmed in an arena – in this case, Wembley Arena. It airs from 3 September.

In June, ITV signed a £1m deal with Domino's Pizza to sponsor Red or Black?.
 


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