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TV Nets Hope Games Will Hook Viewers

CBS multimedia contest offered clues online and off

By Laila Weir, Newser User

Posted Dec 7, 2007 2:51 PM CST

(Newser) – TV networks are using scavenger hunt-style games to attract viewers to their shows. Hundreds of players searched for clues online and offline, including on billboards in San Francisco and Minnesota, to crack a game linked to the CBS show "Numb3rs" last month. The network plans to promote more shows with games and hopes to sign up sponsoring advertisers.

CBS is also running a game for its show, "Jericho," and ABC operated a "Lost"-affiliated game. The efforts come with challenges, though: they're expensive to produce and it can be hard to roll out clues fast enough. During the "Lost" game, players solved clues faster than expected and were left "just kind of hanging around and waiting," said one participant.

This undated promotional photo, provided by CBS, shows cast members of the network's new series, "Jericho," from left, Lennie James, Erik Knudsen, Sprague Grayden, Ashley Scott and Skeet Ulrich.(AP Photo/CBS,... (Associated Press)

This 2006 publicity photo, released by ABC, shows actors Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lily on the ABC series "Lost."(AP Photo/ABC, Mario Perez, HO) (Associated Press)

This photo, provided by CBS, shows actors, from left, Dylan Bruno and Rob Morrow, working with director Tony Scott during the filming of the CBS dramatic series "Numb3rs" on location in Los Angeles. The... (Associated Press)

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TV Nets Hope Games Will Hook Viewers

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Related links

television • advertising • free online games • computer games • CBS television stations • Numb3rs

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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More Newser Stories

PBS to End Break-Free Programming

Sponsor spots to appear in 'Nature' and 'Nova' this fall

Amid Skepticism, 3D Ads Debut

ESPN prepares to roll out 3D sports channel

Idol Is TV's Biggest Moneymaker

'Two and a Half Men,' '24' also rake in the bucks

All That Attention Makes Super Bowl Ads Suck

Focus-group-esque setting leads to a lot of talking animals

The Year's Worst Commercials

From crapping bears to creepy wind-up dolls, these ads flopped

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Newser By Users

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More News

What is Newser?