UK Broadcaster, ITV, Claims Success for its Interactive TV and Broadband Tour de France Coverage

UK commercial broadcaster, ITV (note: the name is an acronym for Independent Television Network), says that its broadband video and red-button interactive TV coverage of the recent Tour de France bike race proved popular with viewers. According to the broadcaster, its red-button Tour de France coverage, which, among other things, allowed viewers to access live streaming video of the race, generated approximately 500,000 interactions, around half of which were video views--representing a 250% year-over-year increase. It says that its Tour de France Web site, meanwhile, which offered video highlights alongside news, podcasts, galleries, athlete profiles and more, generated over a million video plays (up 714% from last year), 324,000 unique visits (vs. 205,000 last year) and around 1.7 million page views (up 17% from last year) in July. (H/T New Media Age.)