Bingo Night Live From ITV

Play TV programming and the digital channel of the same name, which involved pay to play phone games, were cut last year amid criticism of premium rate services and the way the shows were run.  No doubt they will now come under fire and tarnish the good name of bingo.

The new bingo programme will air for an hour from midnight between Tuesday and Saturday. Messenger said: "Bingo is the nations favourite game and accessible for all - it's good clean fun, nice and easy to play and best of all it is free."

ITV said: "Bingo Night Live will bring a whole new dimension to the nation's favourite game with viewers playing from their homes for no cost at all. The one-hour show will mix free-to-play bingo with entertainment with three main bingo games each night and Golden Jackpot prize money starting at £25,000 on launch night!"

Players will register and download bingo cards from the ITV Bingo website each night. Underwood will play bingo caller and Messenger will present occasional "Magic Bingo Number draws", while statistician Nichola Dixon will use a map of the UK to reveal which areas are proving lucky.