Talent Television to Produce ITV-Enabled "How Euro Are You?" for BBC Two

Talent Television, the company behind the popular interactive quiz show, "Test the Nation", has been commissioned by the BBC to produce an interactive TV show, called "How Euro Are You?" The 90-minute show, which will air in the early fall on BBC Two in a primetime slot, will poll viewers in real time, via the Web and mobile and land-line phones, on their knowledge of and attitudes towards continental Europe and the European Union. It will be hosted by the BBC's political editor, Andrew Marr. "We are delighted to be working with BBC Two for the first time," Talent TV managing director, Tony Humphreys, said in a prepared statement. "This new interactive polling event builds on the skill and expertise that we have built up during the long-running 'Test the Nation' series and this new format promises to be a success with viewers when it broadcasts later in the year. This commission demonstrates our continued progress in developing and owning original formats and programming."

Earlier this year, the BBC commissioned another six episodes of "Test the Nation," in a deal that will see versions of the format airing on BBC One through 2006. The show features a red-button app, and also allows viewers to participate via land-line and mobile phones, and the Web. In an interview with [itvt] last year, the BBC's head of interactive, Emma Somerville, said that "Test the Nation" has proved to be one of the Corporation's most successful interactive programs--in part, because of the ability of the show's red-button app to provide viewers with a personalized response: "We get big audience numbers with 'Test the Nation'…and those audiences stay with the interactivity throughout the program," she said. "We know that one thing people love is getting a personalized response: people were amazed when they saw that they could use the Test the Nation app to get their own IQ or find out what kind of personality type they are."