Loyalty cards idea for TV addicts

Viewers could soon be rewarded for watching TV as loyalty cards come to a screen near you. Any household hooked up to Sky could soon be using smartcards in conjunction with their set-top boxes.

Broadcasters such as Sky and ITV could offer viewers loyalty points in return for watching a particular channel or programme. Sky will activate a spare slot on set-top boxes in January, marketing magazine New Media Age reported.

Sky set-top boxes have two slots. One is for the viewer's decryption card, while the other has been dormant until now.

Loyalty cards have become a common addition to most wallets, as High Street brands rush to keep customers with a series of incentives offered by store cards.

Now similar schemes look set to enter the highly competitive world of multi-channel TV. Viewers who stay loyal to a particular TV channel could be rewarded by free TV content or freebies from retail partners.

Broadcasters aiming content at children could offer smartcards which gives membership to exclusive content and clubs.

Read the article: www.bbc.co.uk