[Matt]

A celebrity tracker that shows which celebrities are generating the most interest on ITV.com and a roving Red Button reporter are two new ways that fans of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! can engage with the show.

The tracker, which will measure the amount of ‘chatter’ the celebs are generating on the web and their popularity on the ITV.com I’m A Celebrity site, was developed by ITV Studios’ Digital Productions unit led by Director of Digital Productions Patricia Wagstaff and commissioned by ITV.com Head of Online Commissioning Kate Bradshaw.

It will be embeddable on Facebook profiles and blogs and will allow fans to show their allegiance and spread news of the show on third party websites.

Playing games, watching video, looking at photo galleries and going to the celebrities’ profile pages on the site will all count towards the points totals of the celebs.

The brief for the site build was handed to digital agency Numiko who also built the Britannia High website.

As well as the tracker, which will be available from the start of the series, exclusive content will make the site a must-visit for fans of the popular show.

Celebrity interviews will give an insight into what makes the jungle inhabitants tick and a chance to hear their hopes and fears ahead of the show.

As usual, the site will feature highlights from each show as well as specific clips related to the celebrities which will be shown on their profile pages. Departures from camp will be documented with short-form clips taken from the main show while the digital reporting team will be uploading exclusive post eviction interviews featuring questions from ITV.com users.

Bite-size previews and teases of the next show will keep fans excited while other exclusive content will feature news stories, Bushtucker Trials, unbroadcast Bush Telegraph snippets and interviews with family and friends.

Through the course of the series fans will also be able to play three games representing three Bushtucker Trials. Players can pick a celebrity to put through the trial and the more stars a player earns the higher their celeb will go on the tracker.

Patricia Wagstaff, ITV Studios’ Director of Digital Productions, said: “I’m A Celebrity generates so much buzz that we really wanted to capture the excitement around the show online and on Red Button.

“The ITV platforms are increasingly like watercoolers for conversations about TV shows and there’s no bigger watercooler show than I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Using the tracker we’ve gone one step further by making sure that online interest in the celebrities becomes a way of measuring their popularity – or notoriety - and offers another layer of interaction for fans.

Kate Bradshaw, Head of Online Commissioning for ITV.com, added: “I’m A Celebrity is one of the biggest traffic drivers for ITV.com so we have gone the extra mile to offer a site that is engaging and entertaining in equal measure. We’re delighted with the site and hope that fans of I’m A Celebrity dive right in for all the extra content on offer.

Opinion, commentary, reaction and alternative ways of interpreting the past 24 hours of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! are key themes for the Red Button content around this year's jungle extravaganza.

An entertaining reporter will appear exclusively on the Red Button every day during the series to reflect on the antics in the jungle as well as gauge the opinions of the show’s audience via ITV.com. This original show is also being produced by ITV Studios’ Digital Productions arm.

Fiona Roberston, Head of Commissioning for the ITV Red Button, said: “Creating exclusive, daily content around the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! brand for the Red Button is a first for ITV and very much part of the new wave of experimenting with multiplatform innovation around big ITV commissions.

"The aim is to reward superfans with even more access to the show on a daily basis and create an appointment-to-view experience for them, via the Red Button. This is something very new for ITV and we look forward to exploring how the audience engage with this kind of content on this platform.”

As well as exclusive daily video content, the Red Button content for I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! will also include daily updates from the jungle, celebrity profiles, sponsor information, vote information and enable competition entry to the broadcast competitions.

Fans can also visit the official I’m A Celebrity mobile site for free highlight clips of all the best bits from the series.

They can get bite size clips of all the best bits, up-to-the-minute news and gossip from the campsite plus a whole lot more for their mobile and can even download the show’s theme music as a ringtone.

Fans can text CELEB to 83339* to answer their call of the wild.

*Cost is two standard rate messages. An internet/WAP enabled handset is required. Mobile network operator may charge premium rate costs for using mobile internet/WAP services. Visit itv.com/mobile for more information and itv.com/terms for T&Cs.

(ITV Press Release)

I'm glad they're doing more with the official site this year, it was crap last year.