Mag Rack Entertainment Rebrands as Interactivation

Mag Rack Entertainment, the company which was formed last year when Rainbow Media Holdings sold its Mag Rack free-VOD niche-magazine properties to media and technology entrepreneurs, Joe Covey and Matthew Davidge (see [itvt] Issue 8.23, Part 1) and which also acquired the free VOD service, Concert.TV, announced Monday that it has changed its name to Interactivation.

According to the company, the new name more accurately reflects its strategy of delivering interactive and personalized content to consumers via TV, mobile devices and the Internet. "Traditional 'one-way' media, like TV and print will be increasingly transformed and enhanced by real-time two-way communication," Davidge said in a prepared statement. "Ad buyers will always count gross impressions but interaction and activation will become increasingly important advertising metrics. Hence our new name, Interactivation. With technology such as our Dialog Engine that helps brands start conversations with customers through TV and outdoor billboard ads, Interactivation is leading the way to that future."

According to the company, its Dialog Engine platform was initially conceived as an interactive speech and texting project for MTV Networks. The technology has been implemented on Concert.TV, which runs calls-to-action inviting viewers to interact with content (for an example of how Concert.TV is using the technology, see the article published on itvt.com, August 13th). Interactivation says that in March and April, the technology was used to invite viewers of a Motley Crue concert to text in to win tickets, and that approximately 1.5% of viewers responded.