Invidi

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show 2013 (June 25th-26th in San Francisco), we are covering stories in this issue in headlines/round-up format:

As most of you are probably aware, [itvt]'s daily news reporting was on hiatus for several weeks, because our editorial team was working on TVOT NYC Intensive 2012 and then taking a post-event break. In order to catch up with the news we missed during that period--as well as the huge volume of news generated last week by CES 2013--we are covering stories in headlines/round-up format (note: we have marked older stories with the date they originally broke). We expect it will take us a couple of weeks to catch up with all recent developments, so if you have sent us a press release or briefed us about a piece of news, and don't yet see it covered here, please bear with us.

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on our upcoming TV of Tomorrow Show event, TVOT NYC Intensive (December 10th in New York City), we are covering stories in this issue in headlines format:

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been working on The TV of Tomorrow Show 2012, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format.

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been working on The TV of Tomorrow Show 2012, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format.

Because the [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, we are covering stories in this edition of the newsletter in round-up format:

Invidi Technologies Corp. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Visible World and Cablevision Systems Corp., igniting a legal battle between two of the cable industry's leading advanced advertising technology vendors. 

• Hoping to lure customers from Netflix and other streaming video providers, startup mSpot Inc. launched a new online subscription movie package that drops the rental price on some new releases to as low as $3. mSpot boasts that it is able to stream many new movies the same day they are released on DVD, while Web surfers that use Netflix, Amazon, or Apple's iTunes Store and other services usually have to wait 28 days until after a DVD is released to rent movies. But mSpot's pricing packages may be confusing to some potential customers. It relies on a combination of monthly subscription fees and a points system where subscribers have to spend credits ranging from 15 credits for a new release such as Disney's "Tangled" to 5 credits for less well known titles such as "Dark Matter." A basic mSpot subscription package costs $4.99 monthly, and includes 20 movie credits, or up to four movies. Its premium package costs $15.99 monthly, and includes 80 credits, or up to 16 movies. Customers can buy additional credits for 25 per credit. More

• DirecTV, which has stepped up its focus in the last two years on selling targeted and interactive ads to media buyers, invested in addressable advertising vendor Invidi Technologies Corp. The New York-based company said it raised $49 million in its fourth round of financing, which also included investments Google, Group M, Motorola Ventures, Experian, NBC, Verizon, and venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, InterWest Partners, EnerTech Capital, Westbury Equity Partners and BDC Capital. DirecTV plans to roll out Invidi's Advatar software this year in all of its DVR set-tops, according to Invidi. 

• With award categories such as "Must Follow Artist on Twitter" and "NSFW Music Video," MTV says the focus of its first "O Music Awards" on April 28 will be to honor online creativity. The awards show is scheduled to run April 28, and MTV will distribute it on multiple platforms, including MTV.com, VH1.com, and LogoTV.com. Additional nominees and award categories worth noting: Antoine Dodson/ Gregory Brothers (Funniest Music Short); 50 Cent, Rebecca Black and Bert (Favorite Animated GIF); the Hype Machine (Best Music Discovery Service); Tiny Desk Concerts (Best Performance Series); Gorilla vs. Bear (Best Independent Music Blog); and Marshall Jones (Best Music Hack). More

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on TVOT NYC Intensive (November 18th in New York City), our new show on the national interactive TV platform and the emerging ITV economy, we are covering recent news in round-up/summary form. We apologize for any inconvenience to our readers.

The [itvt] editorial team will be on the road this week and next, so we will be covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

Experian Marketing Services--a company that bills itself as "focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting"--said last week that it has formed a partnership with addressable advertising specialist, Invidi. The companies' partnership also sees Experian becoming an investor in Invidi, which recently announced (see the article published on itvt.com, May 5th) that it had secured over $23 million in a Series D funding round that was led by Google.

The [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, so we are covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

GroupM-backed advanced advertising technology provider, Invidi Technologies, said Wednesday that satellite-TV provider, DirecTV, will use its software to offer advertisers "relevant" local advertising (note: last November, Invidi announced a similar deal with rival satellite-TV provider, DISH Network). According to Invidi, its Advatar software, in combination with DirecTV's DVR-equipped set-top boxes, will allow local television advertising availability based on geographic location, and will position TV ads according to any marketer's specifications.

Concurrent says it has successfully integrated its Myriad line of advance advertising products with systems from BIAP, Invidi and This Technology, in order to develop advanced advertising solutions based on the SCTE-130 and EBIF standards. The four companies, which are currently working on solutions that enable such advanced advertising functionality as targeted VOD ad insertion, bumpering, telescoping and reporting, say that over the coming year they will collaborate on product interoperability and integration, and pursue joint marketing initiatives, including interoperability demonstrations at industry trade shows and summits.