The internet phone company Skype is aiming to break into TV programming through a deal with Crystal Entertainment to adapt its service for shows such as ITV1's This Morning.
Crystal, which is run by the former chief operating officer of 19 Entertainment, Charles Garland, is aiming to integrate Skype's real-time video calls and other products into TV shows. The company said that it is already in discussions with several independent production companies on Skype integration projects.
The company has already integrated Skype video into ITV1's This Morning in a recent episode of the Cook In! show. It was used to provide video connections with home viewers. Overseas, Skype has been integrated into shows include Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in the US.
Crystal has also already approached Channel 4 about using Skype in shows based around hospitals, such as One Born Every Minute, after being inspired by the story from the US of a marine in Afghanistan who was able to be involved with the birth of his child back home thanks to Skype.
The company, which was launched by Garland in 2007, will also look to work with TV talent who might look to use the product in their shows. The deal also includes developing new TV formats - Crystal is looking at property and dating formats – that might involve the use of Skype.
"We are keen to develop broadcast opportunities that will help bring the benefits of Skype to life for the millions of people in the UK who do not have a good understanding of how wonderful and useful it is," said Jonathan Watson, Skype's head of marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
"Skype is brilliantly suited to integration within television shows with emotional communication at their core," said Gideon Joseph, a director of Crystal. "I have no doubt we will see its use more and more across the entertainment world given its ability to reduce production costs and its unique flexibility to deliver content from anywhere around the world."
Crystal is also developing the Beat the Monkey quiz show idea with Noel Edmunds.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
