Interactive TV News Round-Up (III): Discovery, DVB Project, FremantleMedia

Submitted by tracyswedlow on March 3, 2011 - 11:56pm

--Discovery Launches Social TV-Enabled Companion iPad App for Discovery Channel Programming

--DVB Project Approves GEM v1.3, Incorporating Support for OTT TV and Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband

--FremantleMedia's Screenpop Launches Interactive Soccer Predictions Show on Facebook

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been busy this week working on the TV of Tomorrow Show 2011, we are covering recent news in round-up/summary form. We anticipate that it will take us a couple of days to catch up with all the news we plan to cover: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us.

Discovery Communications has announced the availability of a new Discovery Channel App for iPad in the Apple App store. The free app, which is designed among other things to complement Discovery Channel programming with social-TV check-in functionality, was developed in partnership with Bottle Rocket Apps. "The Discovery Channel App for iPad brings fans greater access to their favorite programs and real-life characters with a collection of video clips from the network's new hit series including 'Gold Rush: Alaska,' 'Sons of Guns,' 'Auction Kings' and 'Flying Wild Alaska,' as well as longtime fan-favorite signature series such as 'American Chopper,' 'Deadliest Catch,' 'Man vs. Wild,' 'Mythbusters' and others," Discovery states in its press materials. "Fans can check in via the 'I'm Watching' button to let their friends on Facebook and Twitter know what they are watching, all while getting the latest social media updates from Discovery and participating in conversations with fellow fans." Key features of the new app, according to Discovery, include: "1) A full, location-based TV schedule and the ability to set up a tune-in reminder. 2) Clips and photos from Discovery's award-winning programming and insider information about the casts. 3) Facebook and Twitter accessibility, allowing fans to chat and keep up with Discovery Channel stars. 4) 'I'm Watching' button for viewers to share what they are watching with friends, family and followers. 5) Discovery News articles and videos featuring current events and the science behind the headlines from the journalists and experts from Discoverynews.com."
International digital TV standards consortium, the DVB Project, has announced that it has approved version 1.3 of its specification for interactive TV, Globally Executable MHP (GEM). "This new version of GEM v1.3 prepared by the ad-hoc group TM-MUG, chaired by Michael Lagally (Oracle), now provides support for Over-the-Top (OTT) television and Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband (HBB)," the DVB Project states in its press materials. "This new version of the Java-based GEM specification defines an OTT device category (target), which addresses media distribution over broadband networks without guaranteed bandwidth such as the Internet. The OTT target complements the existing GEM targets for Broadcast, Packaged Media and IPTV. The OTT target offers new API's to address particular OTT scenarios for content streaming and download and can be used for adaptive streaming deployments. For hybrid broadcast/broadband deployments GEM 1.3 offers API enhancements to synchronize media content over different networks. This feature can be used to offer, for example, additional subtitle languages or audio tracks for broadcast content. The specification is used by entities writing receiver specifications and/or standards based on GEM, and for developers of applications that use the GEM functionality and API's. The GEM specification aims to ensure interoperability between GEM applications and different implementations of platforms supporting GEM applications. This includes interoperability across different middleware specifications, i.e. MHP, Blu-ray, OCAP, ACAP, ARIB, and the Open IPTV Forum's Procedural Application Gateway. GEM v1.3 addresses current business models for delivery of DVB and other multimedia services via broadband IP networks. It offers a field-proven, robust and secure execution environment based on Java that can run multiple concurrent applications under different privilege levels."
FremantleMedia-subsidiary, Screenpop, has announced the launch (today, March 4th) of an interactive Facebook show, called 'Scoreboard," that will be based around predicting English Premier League soccer scores. "'Scoreboard' will be hosted by Douglas Anderson--aka Dougie 'Six Answers' Anderson from BBC Radio 5 live's 'Fighting Talk'--while each week top pundits and ex-pros Scott Minto and Jason Cundy battle it out between them," the company states in its press materials. "Every Friday, the team will preview the weekend's Premier League action--and it's set to be hard-talking, insightful and competitive, as the pundits fight to see who can get the most predictions right. And for the first time ever, fans from all over the world can participate directly in the show via Facebook, by pitting their wits against the pundits and playing the accompanying online 'Scoreboard' game. Over the course of the last 10 weeks of the season, 'Scoreboard' will reveal who knows most when it comes to predicting results--the pundits or the fans; viewers can make their own predictions, play with mates and leave comments on the games, with the best appearing on screen. And during the show, both pundits will compete directly against the crowd by comparing their predictions to the average forecasts of all the online players. The hour-long show will be broadcast live every Friday from trendy media hang-out The Hospital in London's Covent Garden, and will be available to watch--both in full and in match-by-match preview clips--at apps.facebook.com/scoreboardgame."