The Winner Channel goes mobile

Fans of fixed odds gambling will be able to play their favourite games on the move as well as online, as a leading cable TV gaming channel improves its reach.

The Winner Channel, which is currently available on ntl and Telewest broadband cable television platforms in the UK, is to build on its success and roll out to mobile phones and the internet in late March.

The channel, which is operated by interactive TV company Two Way TV and software and technology provider Zone4Play, will offer gaming opportunites to players across all three platforms using a single account.

At present the channel is UK cable’s only fixed odds soft gaming service, and offers a range of ‘instant win’ games including roulette, slots, hi-lo, keno, dice and a unique fixed-odds poker game called face up hold ‘em. Players can win a jackpot of up to £500,000, which is the highest headline win offered by a UK fixed-odds mobile service.

Mobile players will have the added incentive of £5 worth of free bets when they join The Winner Channel. Regular players can sign up to a loyalty programme where they accumulate points which can be exchanged for cash, prizes and other rewards.

Two Way TV is at the forefront of interactive TV, providing the interactive functions on Channel 4’s Big Brother reality show, as well as BBC1’s Test the Nation, and the company’s games are distributed by broadcasters and networks worldwide and are now available in over 11 million homes. While Zone4Play is a technology provider to UK bookmakers, online gaming operators, betting exchanges and to US cable, satellite and hospitality service providers, delivering online, mobile and interactive TV solutions.

Guy Templer, Two Way TV’s commercial director, said: “With mobile and internet launches we are taking Winner to the next level. It has always been about fun, entertaining betting propositions, but now we can bring our games to a bigger audience. We are not stopping here though – over the next couple of months we will be announcing a series of distribution deals with leading media brand owners to distribute our games. There will also be a series of games based on major TV programmes.”

Shimon Citron, the chief executive of Zone4Play, added: “Launching The Winner Channel on mobile phones and the internet represents a milestone in our vision of bringing interactive e-gaming to the masses. But this is just the beginning – The Winner Channel is poised to become a common household brand within the near future.”