As of February 20, you could follow the spectacular and adventurous road-trip of ten unknown Flemings crisscrossing Europe on VTM. Their ultimate goal? Finding Destination X. As the last episode aired on April 29, it seemed like the perfect time to look back on how mobco has contributed to their journey. Read on to find out all about it.
We, at mobco, like to think out of the box from time to time. In March 2022 television production company Geronimo approached us to brainstorm on a secret new television format where they needed expertise on how to manipulate smartphones and tablets. It turned out to be a television game show for the Belgian TV station VTM with the working title “Destination Unknown”, which was later on renamed to “Bestemming X” (Destination X).
The concept? Ten contestants would embark on a blind bus for a thrilling road trip through Europe. In each episode, they would have to complete special missions outside the bus to gather clues that would help them pinpoint their location on a map. The contestant who could place their “X” closest to their actual location, would win a grand prize of €50.000. However, on this trip full of deception, nothing would be what it seems…
Now, back to our role within the project. The production team was looking for a partner who could lock down the Samsung smartphones and tablets used in the show. After all, it was a game where it must be avoided at all times that they could pinpoint the location they were at using their smartphone.
The smartphone was used as a personal notebook and as a tool to support them during some of the missions. Besides smartphones, tablets and smartwatches were also used. The underlying challenge? Adapting the usage of these devices during the trip to fit the changing requirements.
Based on these specific needs, we came up with a suitable solution. We enrolled all devices in a customised kiosk mode using Samsung’s MDM system, called Knox Manage. During the recording days, the mobco team was in close contact with the production team to adapt the devices remotely in function of their current needs.
The show was a huge success in Belgium with a market share of 42%. In the meantime, the format has been sold to different TV channels in the Netherlands, France, UK (BBC) & the US (NBC). A second season has also been confirmed.
We are really looking forward to the next season, you too?