OpenTV News:

Submitted by itvt on October 12, 2008 - 8:16pm

--Acquires Sydney-Based TV Workflow Specialist, Ruzz TV
--Secures Deals with Japan's SKY Perfect, Comcast Spotlight
--Taps Ex-NDS Executive to Lead its Indian Operations

Interactive TV middleware and advanced advertising technology provider, OpenTV, said last week that it has acquired Ruzz TV, a privately held, 10-employee company, based in Sydney, Australia, that provides turnkey software solutions for broadcasters. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Ruzz TV is an innovative provider of high-quality technology solutions for broadcasters," OpenTV CEO, Ben Bennett, said in a prepared statement (note: for an in-depth interview with Bennett in which he discusses the company's " three-phase" strategy, see [itvt] Issue 8.01). "With this acquisition, we are excited to complement our products and offer broadcasters around the world the right components to manage their workflow and content processes quickly and efficiently." Ruzz TV's customers include Granada (now part of UK broadcaster, ITV), SBS Australia, ABC Australia, Seven Network Australia, Foxtel and Austar.

According to OpenTV, Ruzz TV's main technology provides broadcasters with a platform that enables the optimization of broadcast playout operations by seamlessly integrating mission-critical systems and components supplied by multiple vendors. The platform allows for the rapid deployment of highly flexible solutions across a broad range of operational areas, the company says, covering the business, technical and operational requirements of broadcasters. It also manages the actual assembly and transmission of the stream of pictures and sounds that are broadcast to TV viewers, from scheduling and sales, to acquisition, production, assembly, playout, transmission and distribution, OpenTV says. In addition, it develops solutions that it claims support content management and delivery across a wide range of platforms and formats, as well as the platform-wide synchronization of schedules and metadata. Robert Rutherford, who founded Ruzz TV in 1999, will continue as the company's managing director and CTO.

In other OpenTV news:

In a conference call with analysts following the release of the company's second-quarter financial results, CEO Ben Bennett revealed that the company has signed a new, multi-year deal with Japanese pay-TV operator, SKY Perfect Communications. SKY Perfect claims to have 4.2 million subscribers, making it the largest satellite TV operator in Asia. While Bennett said that he was not yet at liberty to comment on the specifics of the deal, he stated that OpenTV would provide SKY Perfect with a "next-generation set-top box platform...built on OpenTV core middleware, using our latest DVR technology," and that the deployment would be "one of the most advanced HD solutions yet deployed by OpenTV." Bennett went on to say that the company has begun ramping up its development efforts for SKY Perfect, and that this includes expanding its Japanese operations and moving into new offices in Tokyo in the fourth quarter, in order to accommodate local integration and sales support teams. Bennett also revealed in the conference call that OpenTV has signed a multi-year deal to license its EclipsePlus campaign management solution to Comcast Spotlight, the MSO's advertising sales arm. He said that Comcast has already rolled out the platform in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Seattle, and that OpenTV is also in discussions with other operators about the platform.
The company has tapped former NDS executive, Kishore Shirekar, to head up its Indian operations. Shirekar, who will hold the titles, general manager, India and sales director, subcontinent, will be based in Mumbai. In addition to managing OpenTV's relationships with existing customers and growing its customer base in India, he will be tasked with opening a new local office that will house a support team for the company's Indian customers, which include Dish TV and WWIL (Essel Group), Big TV (Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group), and Sun Direct TV. "As the leading provider of advanced television services in India, we are committed to this market and to our existing and future customers in this market," OpenTV's Bennett said in a prepared statement. "Establishing local representation will enable us to provide increased support to our customers, grow our customer base, and ensure successful digital television launches across India." (Note: for coverage of recent OpenTV technology news, see article in this issue.)