Two Way Limited's Sky Racing Active Interactive TV Application Wins ASTRA Award

Australian interactive TV applications provider, Two Way Limited, contacted [itvt] earlier this week to let us know that Sky Racing Active, an interactive TV wagering service that it has created for betting company, Tabcorp, and the Foxtel pay-TV platform, has won an ASTRA Award for "Most Outstanding Use of Interactive Television." ASTRA (note: the name is an acronym for the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association) is the industry organization for Australia's pay-TV industry. "Sky Racing Active harnesses innovation to provide a world's-best interactive service for Tabcorp customers," Tabcorp COO, Brendan Parnell, said in a prepared statement. "Sky Racing is the most watched channel on the pay-TV platform in terms of duration watched. The 'press the red button' service creates an additional dimension for Sky Racing viewers in terms of racing information, choice and convenience."

Sky Racing Active was launched in Victoria and New South Wales in April, 2008. The service, which is accessed via the red button and offered free-of-charge, provides detailed information, updated in real time, for all thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races for which Tabcorp is conducting wagering that day. Information provided by the app includes track conditions, form guides, scratchings, approximate dividends, results, and final dividends. If permitted by local laws, it also allows viewers to access their Tabcorp wagering accounts and to place various kinds of bets (note: standard local call charges apply when using this functionality). According to Two Way Limited, all betting transactions through the application are encrypted for security. Last November, Two Way Limited announced that it had been granted an Australian patent for the technology underlying Sky Racing Active (note: the patent was the company's first for a technology that it had developed itself; however, it also holds exclusive rights in Australia and New Zealand to an extensive portfolio of ITV patents and pending patents from UK-based Two Way Media). And in January, the company announced plans to expand distribution of the app to Queensland and South Australia.