FME, talkbackTHAMES Ramp Up Digital Rollout for The Bill

LONDON, November 6: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and
talkbackTHAMES have aligned for a digital campaign for the British police drama
The Bill, including the launch of a
dedicated channel on YouTube.

The Bill’s YouTube
offering will include sneak previews of upcoming episodes, guest stars and
footage of ‘everyday life’ on the beat in Sun Hill.

To coincide with the upcoming three-part The Bill special, Moving Target—which begins airing November 14—FME’s
interactive team will roll out a series of micro-sites to support the programs,
linked from the main The Bill website
(itv.com/thebill). An “Interactive Incident Room” has been set up, where users
can discover more about the crime featured on the show using text, diagrams and
video clips.

A number of fictional websites, also linked to the main
site, have been designed to bolster the storyline. This includes a spoof local
newspaper website for Canley, the fictional home of The Bill, which will be regularly updated with new stories
about ‘life’ in the area.

Robert Marsh, FME’s VP of interactive and telephony,
commented: “It’s exciting to have the chance to develop The Bill in digital space. This portfolio of interactive
sites leads the user on a journey of discovery and by combining a number of
real-world and fake sites, we are adding an extra level of complexity.”

Added Johnathan Young, the executive producer of The Bill: "Working in conjunction with ITV, we are
always trying to look at new ways of reaching out to viewers, and the YouTube
site and the development of our own website, allows us to do this.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski