MUMBAI: Zee Network channels are planning to go more interactive. And the technology to support this will be from UK-based Cellcast Group, a global provider of digital and interactive media solutions.

Zee Music and Zee Business will be the first to increase their SMS-driven interactive content. In the business channel, programmes including debates and expert discussions will be used as platforms where audiences can exploit the interactive technology.

"The plan is to provide interactivity to Zee network channels in whatever form they need. The initiatives will be mainly SMS-driven," Cellcast Group business development director Andrew Wilson told indiantelevision.com.

Cellcast Group is already providing technology solutions to Essel Group's newly launched gaming channel PlayTV. "We are in talks to expand our portfolio to cater to the whole network including regional channels. Interactivity is giving you opportunities to do a lot of things. We are looking at various ways to exploit this arena. The PlayTV experiment has inspired us to broaden our area of operation," says Zee Network VP business technology Ishwar Jha.

The advantage interactivity brings is a huge database which broadcasters can exploit for generating advertising revenues. "The database can be used to drive the traffic back to the channel. Viewers will be able to express their opinion, which would be discussed live. Then they would get the responses live in their mobile phone. That way, the feature is going to be two-way interactive," says Wilson.

Cellcast claims that its applications and TV channels are already building new traffic for mobile networks and generating significant revenue for its broadcast partners in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company's global clientele include Sky, Asiasat, Globecast, Star TV, BT and Future Television.