DirecTV Launches Sports-Themed Interactive TV Application, ScoreGuide

Satellite-TV provider, DirecTV, launched an interactive TV application called ScoreGuide, Monday, that extends its program guide with information targeted at sports fans. Viewers are alerted to the new application--which is being offered at no additional charge--by a small on-screen icon that is being displayed on all of DirecTV's approximately 200 sports channels (which include regional sports networks, subscription channels, and national cable channels devoted to sports). The app allows viewers with interactive TV-enabled DirecTV receivers to track live scores and start times of major sporting events (including start times of both currently airing events and events scheduled for the upcoming days and weeks), view the channel numbers for the channels that are carrying each of those events, and then tune directly to any of those channels with a single remote control button-push.

The app can be minimized to show just one game at a time and can also be left open as a visual means of tracking a specific game, DirecTV says. Each day presents a new schedule of daily events, the company says, and lists of weekly events are updated every Thursday. Sports covered by the new application include NFL football, MLB baseball, NBA basketball, NHL hockey, top-25 college football and basketball, tennis (men's and women's Grand Slam event quarterfinals and later rounds), and golf (PGA Tour majors). In addition, DirecTV says, the app will support NASCAR auto racing next season.

In other recent interactive TV sports news from DirecTV:
--Earlier this month, the company provided extensive interactive TV coverage (in both SD and HD) of the 2009 Masters Golf Tournament. During ESPN's coverage of the tournament's first two rounds (April 9th and 10th) and CBS Sports' coverage of its final two rounds (April 11th and 12th), viewers could access Masters Mix, a four-in-one "mix channel" (channel 701) that allowed them to view: 1) live network coverage from ESPN or CBS; 2) a channel called Amen Corner, that provided continuous coverage as the field played through the tournament's 11th, 12th and 13th holes; 3) complete coverage of the 15th and 16th holes; and 4) Masters In Depth, a channel that combined live updates with highlights and player interviews. Viewers with interactive TV-enabled receivers could use their remote to listen to the audio feed of any of the Masters Mix channel's component channels or to switch one of the channels to full-screen mode. Masters Mix also offered a real-time leaderboard and, according to DirecTV, each of the service's original channels was fully produced, with its own production crew and announcers. Viewers could also press the red button on their remotes in order to access an interactive leaderboard and an option, dubbed Scorecard, that provided hole-by-hole statistics for each player in the field. Other interactive features included a 10-question Masters Tournament trivia quiz, and a special Tune To menu that allowed viewers to tune directly to the Mix Channel, any of its three component original channels, or CBS's or ESPN's coverage. In the run-up to the Masters Tournament, meanwhile, DirecTV launched a special Masters page on its DirecTV on Demand service. The page allowed viewers to access exclusive content, including a 2008 Tournament Highlights Show and a 2009 Masters Preview. In addition, during the tournament itself, DirecTV on Demand provided daily highlight packages of the tournament leaders and other notable players.
--Last month, as part of its $69 "NCAA Mega March Madness" package of supplemental coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, the company provided a range of interactive TV features: 1) A Game Mix channel offered up to four live broadcasts on one screen in standard definition, with the ability to switch any of the four feeds to full-screen mode; the channel also provided a scoreboard displaying the status of all current-round match-ups. 2) An Interactive Bracket application, accessed from the Game Mix channel and all individual game channels (it was also available 24/7 throughout the tournament on channel 700), allowed viewers to make and track their own bracket picks and to see every score from every game in the tournament. 3) While watching any game, viewers could call up an on-screen "L-wrap" that allowed them to see scores from other games in progress and cycle through all the current-round match-ups, four at a time. All the interactive features were available in HD: viewers were automatically tuned to the HD game channel if they had an HD receiver.
--In January, the company announced that it would be offering interactive TV coverage of all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments this year, in partnership with ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel. For the first eight days of the Australian Open, the company offered a six-screen mix channel, featuring the main network feed of the event and five live court channels. Viewers could use their remotes to highlight any of the channels in order to hear its audio (each of the channels featured natural sound, as well as commentary from tennis experts and former touring pros, including Jeff Tarango and Doug Adler); and could also select any of the channels in order to watch it in full-screen mode. Each of the event channels featured an interactive application menu, accessed via the red button. Apps on the menu included 1) MatchGuide, which provided a view of the score of the current match on each court channel; 2) Recent Results, which offered real-time scoring of in-progress, completed and upcoming singles matches; 3) Women's Draw and Men's Draw, which provided the complete draw from first to final round, along with scores; and 4) Tune To, which enabled viewers to tune directly to the mix channel or the network feed. The Recent Results and Draw features could also be accessed from all live coverage of the Australian Open on ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel throughout the tournament. The mix channel, its component channels and the interactive application were all offered (for the first time) in HD. "We are aggressively ramping up our interactive coverage of major tennis and golf events in 2009," Eric Shanks, EVP of DirecTV Entertainment, said in a prepared statement. "Tennis and golf fans are unique because they actively participate in their sport and that drives their passion for major tournaments like the Australian Open. Our interactive, expanded coverage is designed for them and makes DirecTV a must-have if you're a fan and an active tennis player or golfer."