MSO Cablevision says that its Optimum Homes interactive TV real estate service (located on channel 606 of its iO digital cable service) is proving popular: according to the company, in January the service attracted nearly 100,000 unique visitors, who between them viewed over 5 million pages, and averaged over 17 minutes on the service each visit. "Optimum Homes has attracted the attention of home buyers across the New York metropolitan area, for good reason," Dermot McCormack, Cablevision's newly appointed SVP of interactive advertising and development, said in a prepared statement. "The convenience of shopping for a home without leaving the couch, with full-screen color images and additional information available with a click of the remote is an unbeatable combination that uses the power of our fully-interactive cable service to bring the home buying experience into the 21st century."
The service features tens of thousands of listings of real estate for sale or rent in the New York metropolitan area. Each listing includes text, color photos, updates on open houses, and information on the listing agent. The service also provides information on neighborhoods and on recent area home sales. It includes a free "Member Center" feature, which allows customers to create a profile of the type of home they are looking for, and then sends them email alerts when a property that matches their profile becomes available. The feature allows them to save the results of searches for viewing later, and also allows them to access their saved searches through a companion Web site (www.optimumhomes.com). Optimum Homes is similar in concept to Cablevision's Optimum Autos interactive car shopping service (located on channel 605): that service, which also features a companion Web site, contains over 50,000 new and used car listings from around 300 local dealers, as well as multiple color photos for each listing, the ability to contact a dealer, and the ability to access promotional VOD clips for specific models. "With Optimum Homes and Optimum Autos, we've been able to evolve the postage stamp-sized classified ad into a compelling and a fully interactive product description, presented in color on the big screen of television, with multiple views, a wealth of additional relevant information and video enhancements," Gary Schanman, VP of Optimum Classifieds, said in a statement.
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