Play to Win

The Great Big British Quiz (GBBQ) was a Play to Win Joint Venture between the etv media group and telecomms specialist, Transact. Launched on Sky Digital in June 2005, GBBQ broadcast live from 12pm to 4am seven days a week and from 1am and 5.30am Fridays on Five.

The channel was also broadcast on NTL channel 634, with selected hours on the Sci-Fi channel.

Since the channel launched, GBBQ quickly established itself as the number one quiz channel of choice for Sky Digital viewers.

The channel was presenter led and features puzzles and quizzes from the numerical through to celebrity themed. Prizes ranged from £30 to a £100,000 jackpot and more then £1 million has been given away since launch. There were a number of ways in which we distinguished ourselves from our competitors: High production values - quality studio sets and filming and good, credible presenters.

There were also a number of quirky features in the programming such as Jack the dog, who barks when a caller got through to the studio.

Without any marketing or promotional activity, the channel picked up a sizeable audience within days of launching. GBBQ went on to build on this early success and to not only increased audience share but built a strong profile in the Call TV sector.