American carrier Cingular has announced that a record number of text messages have been sent in relation to the last season of American Idol, a nationally broadcast talent competition.

"We are pleased to have played a role in what was another great season of 'American Idol'," said John Burbank, vice president of marketing, Cingular Wireless. "We knocked Idol-related text messaging out of the ballpark and added another home run with our Live Idol Tones which capitalized on the passion 'American Idol' fans have for their favorite contestants."

Cingular customers also had exclusive access to additional content via wireless services, including text chats with contestants and voting reminders.

During the course of the competition, more than 64 and a half million messages were sent in relation to the program.