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TV Genius Starts Celebrity SMS Services

Thursday, November 17, 2005, posted by Tom Weiss
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TV Genius (http://www.tvgenius.co.uk), the intelligent search engine for UK television, has started selling premium SMS alerts based on its popular TV listings search service. Combining editorial with TV listings in a form consumable on mobile handsets, the SMS services are available on a revenue share basis in conjunction with fan websites and SMS providers.

The first full service is now live and can be seen at http://www.fanalerts.co.uk, with revenue-share deals in place with leading Michael Jackson and Martin McCutcheon fan clubs.

"By combining television listings for well-known celebrities with news and gossip, we've struck upon a compelling proposition," says Tom Weiss, co-founder of TV Genius. "People don’t just want to know when their favourite stars are on TV, they also want to know what they're doing. Our SMS service means they can receive all this information in regular, daily, sound bites."

He adds: "This is the first time we’ve used our new editorial team to support our products. We expect this to become a core part of our mobile services, extending our range to include soaps and other popular shows - starting with Eastenders - from the end of 2005."

The SMS alerts are charged at 50p a message at a maximum cost of £2.50/week, and users can subscribe to receive information about the following celebrities: Charlotte Church, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Aniston, Jordan, Robbie Williams, Jamie Oliver, Paris Hilton, Eminem, Angelina Jolie, Madonna. TV Genius is currently offering readers their first week’s subscription to the service free of charge.