BitGravity Powers Online Interactive TV Experience for Showtime MMA Telecast

BitGravity--a company which offers a content delivery network (CDN) that it bills as optimized for delivering HD-quality video live, on-demand and via interactive applications--contacted [itvt] Wednesday to let us know about a new interactive TV initiative it is powering, in collaboration with Episodic, for premium programmer, Showtime Networks. The initiative sees Showtime supplementing its April 11th live telecast of a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight between Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz (note: the telecast, which will also feature several other live match-ups, follows a February deal between Showtime and fight promoter, Strikeforce), with a live, interactive, pay-per-view online stream of the event.

Dubbed "Strikeforce: All Access" and priced at $24.95, the online stream will allow viewers to control their experience of the event through multiple camera angles with corresponding audio tracks, as well as interact with other viewers, watch user-generated photos, and download select music tracks from the event. "By and large, the core fight fans watching MMA on Showtime are among the most technologically savvy of all viewers," Ken Hershman, Showtime's SVP and general manager of sports and event programming, said in a prepared statement. "We are proud to offer this enhanced experience to an audience that will embrace the opportunity to control the content and interact with one another during the live show. 'Strikeforce: All Access' puts you in the driver seat." Added Chris Turner, BitGravity's VP of worldwide sales and business development: "Sports will be one of the big winners with the availability of high-quality, scalable and affordable live streaming. Showtime understands that sport fans demand a seamless viewing experience with a quality stream, quick start and no download. We are delighted to work with them to deliver 'Strikeforce: All Access.'"

According to BitGravity, "Strikeforce: All Access" will allow viewers to toggle between five live cameras surrounding the "cage" (the MMA equivalent of the ring), with full pause and rewind capabilities. Among other things, viewers will be invited to make predictions and comment on the fight using a live Facebook Connect application, and to purchase the ring-walk music of their favorite fighters from iTunes, using links on the "Strikeforce: All Access" site. The service will also use Flickr to offer professional photography of the action in the cage as it happens, as well as backstage photos and photos uploaded by fans.

BitGravity unveiled its platform's interactive TV capabilities last November, with an interactive broadcast of the Revision3 show, "Diggnation." For a detailed write-up of "Your Diggnation Remix," as the interactive version of the show was called, and of BitGravity's "Multiview" interactive TV technology, see [itvt] Issue xxx.

In other recent news from BitGravity:
--The company's BG Live service was used week to broadcast a live press conference at which Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr endorsed the efforts of The David Lynch Foundation, a charity founded by the eponymous director to "teach one million at-risk youth to meditate." It was also used to broadcast a live, 45-minute pre-show for a benefit concert for the charity. Both live broadcasts were delivered on the Foundation's Web site, davidlynchfoundation.org.
--Last month, the company announced the appointment of Perry Clarke as its first VP of engineering. Clarke--who is tasked with leading the team that designs, develops and optimizes BitGravity's core platform and products--joined the company in 2007 as one of its earliest employees. Prior to that, he founded, and subsequently sold to Yahoo!, Konfabulator, the company behind the desktop widgets application of the same name. And, prior to that, he managed software engineering teams at Sun Microsystems, SmartCalendar and Unify. His resume also includes management stints at Motorola and Oracle in the UK. "Perry Clarke is a seasoned engineering manager who builds great teams and great products," BitGravity co-founder and CEO, Perry Wu, said in a prepared statement. "He brings intellectual creativity and innovative approaches to BitGravity's engineering efforts as we continue to deliver breakthrough performance and redefine total cost of ownership in content delivery."
--Also last month, the company announced the availability of BG Live HD, which it bills as the first affordable, true HD, online streaming service for live events in both 720p and 1080p resolution. The Flash-based streaming service, which requires no client, is built on BitGravity's Distributed Origin-based network, which the company claims minimizes latency. "The notion of HD live broadcasting over the Internet is not earth shattering. Doing it in a way that enables wide adoption is." BitGravity's Perry Wu said in a prepared statement. "Technology is not meaningful if we only deliver four out of five requirements that customers demand. TV-quality 720p and 1080p HD with only a few seconds delay off live, no client download, simple set-up, scalability, and affordability are the table stakes for being a player in this space." The service was used March 2nd and 3rd to deliver a live, HD stream of the DEMO 2009 conference. BitGravity claims that it entails very low hardware start-up costs: in order to stream live with an HD camera and an Internet connection, the company says, it requires only an Apple Mac Pro loaded with BitGravity transcoding software, a PCI expansion card, and an HDMI or HDSDI source connected to BitGravity's network. BitGravity says that the service will initially offer HD H.264 live streaming in 1080p or 720p at no price premium over standard-definition H.264 delivery.