Google and FremantleMedia Asia have partnered to let fans of shows like Idols, Got Talent and The X Factor vote for people they support across Asia from Google Search on mobile, tablet or the computer. The feature will be live for 11 FremantleMedia talent shows in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand across regions. Fans will still be able to vote via SMS or in-app voting. The companies will launch a ‘how to’ video with the tool. As of now, the partnership has started with Vietnam’s Got Talent which was launched last month. Google says that a trial of Google Search voting took place for The X Factor Indonesia last year and claims that 97% of votes were made through the search engine, while the overall average number of votes grew 71% year on year per episode. Digital talent hunt: In March 2015, FremantleMedia partnered with mobile video streaming service ZengaTV and multichannel network One Digital Entertainment announcing ‘India’s Digital Superstar’, a digital talent hunt. The audience would judge the next big digital star across 14 weeks and mentors included Anu Malik, Vishal Dadlani and Salim Merchant. Fremantle Media produced Got Talent franchise operates in 69 countries, Idols in 55 and The X Factor in 52. The company operates in 31 countries and claims to produce over 10,000 hours of programming yearly, with 350 programs worldwide. Bertelsmann owns 75.1% in Fremantle Media. MediaNama's take: TV has driven a lot of mobile usage through voting and other means to engage audiences. However, the…
