Bingo Night Live - Format

Format

Bingo Night Live was a simple and free bingo game, split into:

• Four (originally three) games of bingo (green, orange, blue and - added later - purple cards). Prizes were given for:
  • One line
  • Two lines
  • A "Golden Jackpot" prize, starting at £25,000 on launch night, given for a full card with less than 32 numbers called
  • A full ticket ('Full House')

The show originally aired five times per week (Tuesday to Saturday), and were presented by a total of three presenters:

• a game caller (Anthony Crank, Michael Underwood or Mike Toolan)
• a statistician (Nichola Dixon)
• a supporting presenter for the phone-in segments of the show (Melinda Messenger or Jenny Powell)

Before play started, UK astrologer Russell Grant gave a pre-recorded view of the players' possibilities of winning according to their astrological sign.

At moments during each bingo game, the game was stopped and statistician controller Nichola Dixon provided player statistics, lucky star signs, facts and figures, based on live data of players active during that specific show.

Each of the first two games were followed by phone-in interactive games, initially fronted by Melinda Messenger. These provided additional cash prizes to be won, with normally two extra games played, such as "Magic Numbers" and "Minute to Win It". Later, this was reduced to one phone-in game. After her departure, Jenny Powell replaced Messenger as hostess of this part of the show, until Powell's absence through pregnancy led to Nichola Dixon being required to cover. This meant that occasionally there were only two presenters for the whole programme.

On 30 August 2008, it was announced a fourth game of Bingo (the purple game) would be introduced, to compensate for the reduction in the number of shows from five to three per week. "Minute to Win It" was removed, though the "Magic Number" game remained. New segments such as "Movie Reviews" were introduced. The podium from where the phone-in games were played was moved closer to statistician's desk, meaning that only two presenters were required. The section of the stage where all three presenters had stood at the start of each show was removed.

On 2 October 2008, it was announced that the Golden Jackpot bonus, which had been increasing by £500 since launch night without being won, would be given away on 10 October 2008 to the winner of a full house on the final game, provided it was not won through the normal rules before that point. The amount guaranteed to be given away was £60,000. On the night, Michael from Margate won a total of £60,500 on the blue game, the winning prize including the full house win of £500 plus the jackpot of £60,000. At the end of the show, it was announced by an official adjudicator of the Guinness Book of World Records that the Bingo Night Live players had made a world record for the world’s largest online bingo game, and that every valid player involved in the show would get their own Guinness World Record certificate.

On 19 October 2008, the "Minute To Win It" phone-in game returned each Saturday, giving magic number winners from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the chance of a £500 win. From this point, the show increased to four nights per week (Wednesday to Saturday). Additionally, the purple bingo game was turned into a turbo round where there was no one-line or two-line win, only the full house win with a chance of the golden jackpot. The numbers were read out at twice the normal speed, accompanied by a faster remix of the original background music.

On 8 November 2008, it was announced that Bingo Night Live would be coming to an end, with the final show being aired on 15 November 2008. During the show on 14 November 2008, it was announced that - as with the show on 10 October 2008 - the Golden Jackpot would be won again on the final show, if not won beforehand. Mike Toolan and Jayne Sharp were the presenters of the final show, during which it was announced that over the 6 months of broadcasting, prizes totalling £500,000 had been won by 15,000 winners.