Reversal of Fortune: From Mobile Game App to TV Quiz Show

Follow the money - and the viewers who possess it. JL

Jonah Bromwich reports in the New York Times:

We’re seeing an existing brand in the app market being transferred onto TV.”QuizUp, which in its first three weeks of existence in 2013 became the fastest-growing mobile game of all time, has over 75 million users around the world and has been downloaded in 131 countries.

In this era of “peak television,” with nearly 400 scripted series being produced, broadcasters are searching for novel programming ideas to break through the clutter.Executives at NBC have placed a bet that one of the world’s most popular mobile game apps will translate into a hit show. Late last month, the network announced plans to develop the trivia game QuizUp into a prime-time game show that will invite viewers to use the app during the broadcast. It ordered 10 episodes of “QuizUp America,” and the British network ITV has ordered a pilot. NBC is also in talks to sell the show in eight other countries, including China.

QuizUp joins the ubiquitous game Angry Birds, which now doubles as a cartoon series in Finland, where it originated. (A feature film based on Angry Birds is scheduled for release next year.) Brands like Candy Crush have also tried to gain a foothold in television, albeit through a strong advertising presence.

Mobile gaming is on track to be a $29 billion industry in 2015, according to a May report from the investment bank Digi-Capital. While broadcasters have been fascinated by apps for the past couple of years, they have mostly tried to create companion apps for existing television shows.

“In our case, we’re seeing the reverse,” said Thor Fridriksson, 36, founder and chief executive of Plain Vanilla Games, the Icelandic company that developed QuizUp. “We’re seeing an existing brand in the app market being transferred onto TV.”

QuizUp, which in its first three weeks of existence in 2013 became the fastest-growing mobile game of all time, has over 75 million users around the world and has been downloaded in 131 countries. Players face off in over seven million trivia matches a day, testing their knowledge by answering timed questions on an array of subjects including American history, “The Simpsons,” beer and “Game of Thrones.”

Mr. Fridriksson will be one of the executive producers of “QuizUp America.” Potential contestants will be able to use the app both to qualify for the show and, if selected, to compete with in-studio contestants. When the show airs, viewers will be able to win prizes by playing along with QuizUp.

An earlier attempt by NBC to allow viewers to play along with a televised game show had disappointing results. When “The Million Second Quiz,” hosted by Ryan Seacrest, aired in September 2013, a corresponding app allowed viewers to play along with, and qualify for, the show from home.

But “The Million Second Quiz” was criticized as being confusing and was plagued by technical problems, including the app’s crashing during the premiere. After a 10-episode run, it was not renewed for another season.

The creators of “QuizUp America” hope to avoid the technical problems faced by the show’s predecessor.

“Of course I am worried, I am concerned about the technical part,” Mr. Fridriksson said. But given QuizUp’s traffic on a day-to-day basis, he said he was “pretty confident” in the app’s ability to handle the inevitable surge when the show begins.

Paul Telegdy, the president of alternative and late-night programming at NBC, said that app makers looking to transition into television often approached him, boasting of their vast user bases.

“These companies are very adept at coming and selling reach,” he said. “And that is fantastic, but it doesn’t really make a show.”

But QuizUp did not have to pitch NBC.

“We went after it,” Mr. Telegdy said. “They had a brand, they had functioning technology and we knew that trivia has been a staple of television for years

he said. “The glove fit in so many different ways.”

Game experts say the glove might not always fit so well. They caution that there are many types of mobile games, whole categories of which would not easily be adapted to television.

“The stuff that TV is going to have trouble with is structuring 10-minute segments around these short-term games,” said Zach Gage, a mobile games designer.

Naomi Clark, an assistant professor at New York University’s Game Center, agreed, saying that it might be difficult to make the transition from “an interactive form of entertainment with games to a passive part of entertainment in television.”

But Mr. Telegdy says that he and others in his industry have stayed vigilant when it comes to the newest smartphone games. He confessed to “constantly monitoring” his children’s phones in order to stay informed about apps that are in vogue among the younger set.

“I shouldn’t really say this, but my kid had been playing the Wipeout game based on the ABC show, long after the actual show went away,” he said. “And I thought, ‘God that would make a great show.’ And then I realized: ‘Oh yeah. It’s “Wipeout.”’”