HITS AxIS Launches Commercially, Providing Interactive TV Apps for Small and Mid-Size Cable MSO's

Comcast Media Center (CMC) said Tuesday that its HITS AxIS service is now ready to support the commercial deployment of interactive TV services by cable operators. HITS AxIS--whose name stands for "Headend In The Sky Advanced Interactive Services," and which was developed in collaboration with Vidiom and TVWorks--is a centralized platform that operates on the NAS and DAC headend-management platforms and that is designed to facilitate the deployment and management of ETV/EBIF and OCAP/tru2way applications on cable systems serving small- to mid-sized markets. CMC bills the service as providing cable operators with additional revenue opportunities and the ability to achieve a "more competitive profile" by offering interactive TV applications without incurring significant capital outlays. The service--which uses the TVWorks ETV platform and Strategy & Technology's TSBroadcaster 2 object carousel playout servers for delivering open-standards applications--has been tested for several months now by several cable operators, including Bend Broadband, Buckeye CableSystem, Metrocast Communications and Sunflower Broadband.

According to CMC, in addition to supporting cable operators, HITS AxIS's centralized infrastructure is stimulating the development, launch and operation of interactive TV apps: the company says that over 20 leading developers are currently using one of the platform's product development services, which encompass business modeling, licensing and application testing. Among the applications that are now ready for commercial deployment through HITS AxIS are apps that use icueTV's tcommerce platform (note: icueTV bills its platform as supporting click-to-email, voting, polling, lead generation, data analysis, RFI's, audio and video downloads, and product purchases) and a Yellow Pages on TV app from FourthWall Media (formerly BIAP--see the article published on itvt.com, October 26th). "The field trials with our Beta MSO affiliates have allowed us to test a variety of revenue-driven ETV applications over a wide range of cable system architectures," CMC SVP and COO, Gary Traver, said in a prepared statement. "Thanks to the technical and consumer knowledge we acquired during the trials, we are ready to support the rollout of ITV applications that can enhance the video experience for digital cable customers and net additional revenues for cable operators and their interactive content providers." Added icueTV founder and president, Michael Huegel: "This is the natural progression of icueTVs relationship with CMC. CMC has lab tested our technology, we collaborated at April's NCTA and successfully demonstrated our platform at the recent CableLabs summer conference. We are now at the point of our collaboration to move forward with the deployment to CMC and its partnering MSO's. This platform makes true interactivity real." And added FourthWall Media CEO, Tim Peters: "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with HITS AxIS as they continue to drive the advancement of EBIF. FourthWall Media's Yellow Pages on TV application truly delivers on the promise of interactive TV by enabling the successful Internet search advertising model on television for the first time. Yellow Pages on TV will allow local cable operators to tap into the huge Yellow Pages book revenue stream and bring advertisers on board that typically have not utilized television before. It is easy to install, is proven in the marketplace and opens the door to an untapped revenue stream."

Deployment services available from HITS AxIS, according to CMC, include configuration, hosting, affiliate sales, contract management and product launches. The service also provides operator customers with application and network monitoring, updates and upgrade management, billing services and customer support, security, 24/7/365 tech support, training and disaster recovery services, the company says.

Fourthwall Media contacted [itvt] Tuesday to provide us with some additional information about its EBIF-based Yellow Pages on TV application. According to the company, the app offers a comprehensive list of local merchants available to consumers, and allows business owners to integrate video advertising with their listings. In addition, the company says, it offers a full range of reporting capabilities, so that businesses can track the performance of their ads. The company claims that, in initial testing, 56% of homes with access to Yellow Pages on TV used it at least once, and that a quarter of those were repeat users, and that 15% of users clicked through to retrieve business details from specific businesses. As part of Fourthwall's deal with CMC, HITS AxIS will handle all of the distribution and launch management needed to make Yellow Pages on TV operational, the company says.