Mobile casino launched

TV Commerce Holdings PLC 18 July 2005 Launch of new mobile casino in a joint venture TV Commerce TV Commerce Holdings PLC, the owner and operator of specialist television channels which joined the AIM market in February this year, announces that it has launched the UK's first Mobile phone casino and slots games to be branded and promoted by a television broadcaster. From today, millions of Sky television subscribers will be able to download and play free versions of the games directly to their mobile phones. The games all carry the station branding and related content, such as programme schedules and promotions. Customers can opt to play the games for real money once they have downloaded the free version to their handsets, and subject to rigorous age verification procedures. TV Commerce has selected the popular Your Destiny channel (Sky 694) to be the first station to take advantage of this opportunity. Your Destiny TV is the UK's first live psychic Television channel. The games on offer include 'Fortune Teller', a mobile phone fruit machine which also provides players with a daily horoscope. The service has been developed and is managed by Probability Games Corporation, the leading operator of managed 'white label' mobile casino and slots. TV Commerce is offering viewers the full range of PGC games, including Blackjack, Slot machines, Hi-Low, Roulette and Poker directly on to their mobile phones and play for stakes ranging from as little as 10p per game. The games are free and quick to download directly to the mobile handset. All games have been tested on over 150 different handsets and full customer support is available. The companies are already working on creating branded services for other channels operated by TV Commerce and expect to launch several more over the summer period. TV Commerce have assigned an initial budget of up to £100,000 to market the new games using predominantly television, database marketing, press and TV arrangements with other media owners. The games have been soft launched with immediate effect and a major marketing campaign will start in September 05 and escalate into the Christmas period. These months are traditionally strong for TV viewing figures. TV Commerce envisages that the mobile casino venture will make a significant contribution to revenues toward the end of 2005 and beyond. Commenting on the deal Vince Stanzione CEO of TV Commerce said, 'We believe that this is our most significant joint venture since our floatation and I am expecting massive growth in the mobile gaming markets. With our marketing expertise, existing customer database and our ability to market to over 8 million Sky customers cost effectively, this will allow us to generate substantial ongoing revenues in a fairly short space of time.' John Scaife of Probability Games said 'Television is a new frontier for low-stakes gambling in the UK which we are ideally positioned to exploit through this partnership. PGC have processed nearly four million mobile bets since our launch last year, and we understand that delivering a mass market entertainment service themed around low-stakes gaming is more than just putting a fruit machine onto a phone. A good service the viewing public can trust requires reliable and robust systems for preventing misuse and underage play, as well and an ability to support as many of the phones out there in the hands of our customers with a fast and reliable user experience.' For further information contact: Vince Stanzione, Chief Executive, TV Commerce Holdings plc: 01908 330 747 07712 651 777 Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: 020 7436 7486 07736 064 982 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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