‘American Idol’ changes vendor for text-message voting

The Fox network has opted for a new dance partner to handle its wildly successful “American Idol” text-message voting campaign, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The News Corp. subsidiary will no longer use Mobliss Corp. but has tapped VeriSign Inc. for the popular campaign, sources say. VeriSign will work with FremantleMedia, which produces “American Idol,” on the SMS offering that allows viewers to vote for their favorite would-be music star.
A Fox representative confirmed the move but declined to disclose details surrounding the agreement. Executives from FremantleMedia were not immediately available for comment.
Mobliss, which had powered the show’s text-voting campaign since its debut in 2003, said it will continue to partner with FremantleMedia on other projects.
“We enjoyed working with FremantleMedia for several seasons of ‘American Idol,'” Mobliss said in a prepared statement. “But our current focus and direction is on developing and publishing hit mobile games.” Those games include “Family Feud” and “The Price is Right,” which also are FremantleMedia properties, the company added.
Mobliss execs said the company took itself out of the running to continue the Amerian Idol campaign, opting instead to focus on its mobile games business.
Fox’s decision appears to be a major win for VeriSign, which became a player in the mobile marketing arena with last year’s $250 million acquisition of m-Qube.
SinglePoint, a Seattle-area mobile content and interactive television company, will also play a large role in the show’s wireless efforts. SinglePoint last year rebranded from Wireless Services Corp. and closed a $30.75 million round of funding in August. The company jumped headfirst into the content business several months ago with the acquisition of Mobile Media North America for an undisclosed sum.
“American Idol” has maintained its status as a blockbuster hit-witness the show’s pair of two-hour episodes in prime time last week-and its SMS voting initiative is considered a watershed for wireless data in the United States.
The effort generated 7.5 million messages in its first year and exploded to a whopping 41.5 million messages by its third season. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. executive Alecia Bridgewater recently described the American Idol voting effort as a “turning point for getting people into text messaging that fall outside the youth segment.”