WeDigTV

WeDigTV is an advanced internet television provider which launched in February 2007. It uses modern technology and broadband capability in such a way that it allows the viewer to take part in the shows they are viewing as a contestant would on television. WeDigTV have named this concept TV-2, and claim to be the world's first bearer of the idea. It uses a mix of specifically filmed and recorded clips and archive footage.
With a growing selection of old and new gameshows currently available, the viewer takes the place of a contestant in a modified version of the real show. Using combinations of Flash Player and streaming video featuring the authentic hosts of the programmes, the players are replaced by red and blue animated avatars. WeDigTV currently only supports one player, and the player is always the red avatar. Either the player plays against the computer, or the blue avatar simply does nothing whatsoever depending on the mechanics of the given show.
Upon starting the game, the player can choose two different ways to 'view' - Free to View, or Pay To View. Free to View allows the player to play free of charge, however the games are separated by a number of interactive advertisements. These cease to appear in Pay to View, and should the player gain a high score and therefore a good position on the given show's leaderboard, they will be eligible for cash prizes at the end of the given calendar month. Scoring methods vary depending on the game one is playing.
WeDigTV's concept is powered by The JD Project.
On 4 March 2008 it was announced that WeDigTV had been nominated for an Emmy Award. On 10 April, the site won the "Best Interactive Channel" award.
The Network Guide
As of 2009, WeDigTV's Network Guide consists of the following:
Channel 0: WeDigTV Information
Launched: 14 September 2007
Looping video of WeDigTV presenters welcoming you to WeDigTV and discussing how to use the website.
Channel 1: Deal or No Deal
Launched: 14 September 2007
UK Version of the gameshow hosted by Noel Edmonds. A player plays through the entire show, and at the end of each round must predict The Banker's offers, rate the given offer and then keep calm. The more effectively these are completed, the higher the player will score. Scoring is not at all swayed by the discovery of big boxes. Even after the player has dealt, she must still play through the rest of the game and predict and rate the Banker's offers, but no longer has to play the portion involving heart-rate control.
Channel 2: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Launched: 14 September 2007
UK Version of the gameshow hosted by Chris Tarrant. A player plays through the entire show, playing for points instead of pounds. A time limit of 30 seconds is given to answer each question, and time bonus points are given depending on how quickly questions are answered. Reaching a milestone (£1,000, £32,000, £1,000,000) without using a lifeline will double the score.
Channel 3: Family Fortunes
Launched: 7 February 2007
UK Version of the gameshow hosted by Vernon Kay. Players play through two regular rounds, one Double Money round, and then the Big Money round, should the player have beaten their opponents. If the opponents have the higher score, the game ends after the Double Money round. Points are awarded on the rank of each given answer. Finding mystery prizes by finding the top answers in the main game boosts a player's score, scoring 200 in the Big Money round boosts it even more, and finding the "top bonus" gives it an additional boost.
Channel 4: Countdown
Launched: 7 February 2007
Hosted by Des Lynam, Carol Vorderman, and Susie Dent. A player plays through two letters rounds, a numbers round to follow each letters round, and a Countdown Conundrum. Scores are determined on length of words in the case of the letters games, and on how quickly solutions are spotted, with extra points given if Susie or Carol cannot beat the player's given solution.
Channel 5: The Price is Right
Launched: 17 May 2007
UK Version of the gameshow hosted by Joe Pasquale. A player plays through three pricing rounds, a pricing game for each time he or she wins the pricing round, the Showcase Showdown, and the Showcase. Points are awarded for getting the closest value to the prize shown without going over, and for progress in the pricing games. In the Showcase Showdown, the player must pass a certain "threshold" with his or her spins to advance to the Showcase. The threshold(starting at 90) is lower(by 10) for each pricing game won.
Channel 6: Bullseye
Launched: 13 April 2007
Archive version of the gameshow hosted by Jim Bowen (archive video only) and Tony Green (both archive video and new audio, saying some lines that Jim would usually say). A players plays as both members of a team through five throws in the Category Question round, a specially-designed round in which the thrower must reach a total with his darts that starts at 20 and rises by 20 each time to earn the question, Bully's Board as on the show, and the 101 gamble using anywhere between two darts and six. Scoring is based on hitting the chosen categories or required scores, answering questions correctly, and the value of the prizes hit. A bonus is given for a successful 101 gamble depending on how many darts the player chose to use.
Channel 7: Blockbusters
Launched: 7 February 2007
Archive version of the UK gameshow hosted by Bob Holness. A player plays as the white team against the blue team through the second round, the third round if he or she has won the second (the first round is only available on Pay to View), and the Gold Run if successful in both rounds. Scoring is based on how quickly the player wins the rounds and any times he gets an answer wrong or doesn't ring in. The Gold Run is worth double if solved with no passes.
Channel 8: Catchphrase
Launched: 7 February 2007
Archive version of the UK gameshow hosted by Roy Walker. Players play through one Main Round, one Ready Money round, and the Super Catchphrase. Scoring is determined on how quickly the player buzzes in, how quickly they answer each given Super Catchphrase and whether any passes were made in the final round.
Channel 9: TV-2 Ad Experience
Launched: 12 November 2007
Advertisement only channel highlighting the appeal of interaction in the adverts.
Channel 10: Join WeDigTV
Launched: 12 November 2007
Allows viewers to sign up, which allows them to hear of and play new launches ahead of standard users.
Channel 99: Terms and Conditions
Launched: 14 September 2007
Reads about the methods of scoring and conditions needed to be eligible for the cash prizes offered.
YouDigTV
In April 2007, a new section to the website, called YouDigTV was added. These took rounds from the selection of shows available at the time and allowed the user to add their own touch to them in some way, for example, a Catchphrase tool allowed an uploaded image to be placed behind the Bonus Catchphrase squares, or a 9-letter word could be cryptically jumbled up to go into a Conundrum Round on a Countdown mini-game. These were then fed to the player as a simple hyperlink which could then be sent to friends to play. As these became more popular, the tools were eventually allocated their own separate site, www.wedigtv.com/youdigtv.
However, support for many of these tools was removed in late 2007, only Bullseye's 101 Challenge and Spin TV still remain, but links stored from the past games can still be played simply by putting them into the address bar. Recently they have been all added to the menu again.
New Content
On 2 December 2007, WeDigTV announced the commence of work on a brand new show concept called Heart Beaters. Using specially filmed real internal body footage, it is set to be a gameshow in which the player has to find certain organs by answering questions. Later, in January, Death Penalty and Mind Sets were also announced, and one other show remains undisclosed. The shows were scheduled for launch in 2008, although this did not happen. Unlike the above sets of gameshows, the new TV-2 exclusive games will only be available in Free to View, after WeDigTV were unimpressed with the initial performance of Pay to View (formerely Play to Win). Mind Sets is also set to be the first WeDigTV game in which two-player modes are supported, however this is not thought to be compulsory. The release of the games is set to coincide with the site's expansion into the United States and Germany, where new versions of the website will debut initially only including these shows.
In addition to this, WeDigTV hope to be expanding their catalogue of remade gameshows from TV. Taken from the Celebs page of the now defunct Alpha website, it reads that the company hopes to be negotiating with Ant and Dec, Les Dennis and Des O'Connor among others. Premium basis and High Definition content was also thought to be in the pipeline.
Evolution and Criticism
While being a very fresh, exciting new product - WeDigTV carries downsides due to the genre's originality. Its infant stages appeared very promising indeed, however, since its most major overhaul (to BETA) which occurred on 14 September 2007 (to the current front end of the website - which saw the debut of WeDigTV Information, Deal or No Deal and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), the general opinion of the website has gone down in approval, due to longer loading times, poorer picture quality and a sharp increase in the number of times the shows crash or behave in a strange manner. This can range from a series of long pauses, normally when the player's avatar is on the screen, to a fault ruining the game (two examples of this are Carol picking blank tiles on Countdown and answer boxes failing to appear on Blockbusters), bugs which did not appear before the makeover. The general poor performance of the website seems to be similar regardless of connection speed, with only loading times being improved on faster speeds.
The look of the website after the change has also been shunned, after being dubbed "unfriendly" on internet forums. BBC Click reporter Kate Russell praised the initial gaming sections of the website in her November 2007 review, but slashed the original presenters on the WeDigTV Information channel. WeDigTV appeared to take this on board, as they were replaced by former Quiz Call host Derek Gibbons and a co-host on 13 December. Five more versions of the WeDigTV Information channel in various languages were introduced in February 2008, although all games remained in English. These channels were removed in March 2009, reverting back to solely English, and putting any further evolution of the website into doubt.
Despite its problems, the site has developed a cult following because of the nature of its content, and, in its prime (circa November 2007), attracted around 2-3 million unique hits per month in the UK. It is unknown how it performs currently.

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