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ICTV's ActiveVideo Platform Powers Interactive TV for AccuWeather

AccuWeather has unveiled a channel that uses ICTV's ActiveVideo technology to enable viewer interaction and deliver a range of broadband video from the meteorological programmer's Web site. According to AccuWeather, the new channel, which the company is targeting at cable and IPTV operators, features interactive, real-time forecasts and other weather information, delivered to the television as a single programming stream, enhanced with targeted, interactive advertising. It allows viewers to navigate through such programming as searchable local forecasts, animated satellite-generated weather maps, and local TV weather broadcast programming. "Consumers have learned to count on AccuWeather for immediate access to weather conditions at any particular time," Jim Candor, AccuWeather's SVP of new media, said in a prepared statement. "Our AccuWeather ActiveVideo Channel will allow us to take the information and targeted, interactive advertising opportunities that already have been created for the Web and bring them to the larger audience of television viewers."

The new channel is delivered through ICTV's ActiveVideo Distribution Network. The company's ActiveVideo technology mixes linear and on-demand programming with broadband content from the Internet, and delivers it as personalized MPEG video streams. Because content can be created and modified using standard Web tools and creatives, ICTV claims, network operators, programmers and advertisers can create content once for delivery via the ActiveVideo Distribution Network to any cable or IPTV set-top box, regardless of hardware, software and EPG differences. Viewers can then navigate through, and interact with, the individual elements of the stream, using key clicks of their remote controls. ICTV bills ActiveVideo channels as allowing "network operators and programmers to provide an unlimited variety of content in a personalized experience that includes access to entire libraries of video, navigational elements, channel branding, targeted, interactive banner advertisements, and links to ad showcases." (Note: AccuWeather will be demo'ing its new ActiveVideo channel at the upcoming TelcoTV show in Atlanta, October 23rd-25th.)

In related news: at the recent IBC show in Amsterdam, ICTV demo'd new ActiveVideo channels from Reuters and Fox. Other companies using the ActiveVideo platform include HSN and TAG Networks.

Navic Networks Launches Interactive TV/SMS Couponing Service

--Launches Addressable Advertising Service for "Fragmented" TV Media

Interactive TV and addressable advertising technology provider, Navic Networks, has launched a service that allows viewers to use their remote controls to request that digital coupons and product information be instantly sent, via SMS, to their mobile phones. The company is touting the service--which is offered as an extension to its addressable advertising solutions--as allowing advertisers to build closer relationships with their customers by combining targeted interactive TV advertising with the portability and convenience of SMS coupons and reminders. The service presents viewers with interactive overlays, during 30- and 60-second linear commercials, that invite them to elect to receive an SMS coupon, a message reminding them of a store's location, or product information such as an SKU, UPC or model number. The service can also be used within interactive/on-demand advertising destinations such as real estate listings or used car inventories, Navic says: viewers browsing such long-form content could have data such as the time and location of an open house, or the model and price of a particular car, sent directly to their mobiles. "You don't have to look any further than the voting during an episode of 'American Idol' to see that television viewers are comfortable making the cross-platform jump between TV and their mobile phone," John Hoctor, Navic's VP of business development and marketing, said in a prepared statement. "By marrying the reach and impact of TV advertising with SMS' immediacy and portability, Navic has created a powerful new channel for advertisers. Advertisers are not only able reach customers with a rich video message, but also enable customers to take the message with them."

According to Navic, the new SMS coupon/product information service builds on existing Navic technology that allows viewers to request that an advertiser call them, or to request information through email or snail-mail. The company says that the service can be used in conjunction with its HyperCast Network for campaign management and reporting, allowing advertisers and broadcasters to access usage information.

In other Navic Networks news: the company has launched a media placement service, dubbed Admira, that it says optimizes TV advertising by using census-level set-top box measurement data to increase the value of inventory: by efficiently matching advertisers' desired target audience criteria with media owners' inventory, the company claims, Admira simplifies the buying process while maximizing targeted impressions and providing advertisers with measurement and accountability. Navic claims that Admira--by placing relevant video across multiple programs and markets within linear or addressable programming, switched broadcast, VOD, and DVR-recorded programming--is the first media placement service to address increasingly fragmented television media. The company's press release announcing the new service contained the following quote from interactive TV advertising guru, Tim Hanlon of the Publicis Groupe's Denuo unit (note: for more on Hanlon, see [itvt] Issue 6.90): "As media becomes ever more fragmented and complex, marketers and their agencies desperately need sophisticated tools to help them deliver relevant ad messages to interested audiences. Nowhere is this more necessary than in the fast-niching realm of television, where hundreds of digital channels and countless hours of time-shifted and on-demand content offer seemingly infinite opportunities for advertisers. Admira is a long-overdue solution that gives video advertising planning and buying professionals a fighting chance to keep pace with television's explosive changes by providing a powerful targeting system that helps lift the effectiveness of increasingly complicated video ad campaigns."

According to Navic, Admira is currently undergoing commercial trials in a number of major markets, where it is interoperating with existing infrastructures and business processes, and providing real-time audience measurement using Navic's patented data-collection technologies. "The Admira service brings new efficiencies to buying and selling cable advertising," David Porter, VP of marketing and new media at Cox Media, said in a prepared statement. "It provides the MSO increased control over inventory management and optimization, while at the same time offering marketers unparalleled efficacy and accountability. Cable-enabled television is the only platform that can deliver against the current market pressures and with solutions like Admira we're poised for continued growth and success."

According to Navic, advertisers and their agencies first define the appropriate target-audience criteria, and can then use planning and preview technology included with Admira, together with audience- behavior and real-time viewership data, to optimize their campaigns. The solution matches the defined audience criteria with inventory that yields the highest target-reach efficiency, the company says, and provides the kind of granularity of measurement and accountability commonly associated with Web advertising. Other benefits claimed by Navic for Admira include support for a closed-loop, ROI-based media model that helps agencies and advertisers reduce execution complexity and cost as media become ever more fragmented: the solution, it claims, provides a "practical path" for buying and selling all media formats "including addressable video, as well as DVR and VOD inventory, in an effective and simplified fashion across a unified ad network, while offering a host of features that were previously unavailable, such as measurement, accountability, targeting, and optimization."

BIAP in Interactive TV Deal with Hearst's Talking Phone Book

--Company's Fantasy Football App Available on More Time Warner Systems

Plano, Texas-based BIAP Systems (note: the company, whose name is an acronym for "Broadband Interactive Applications," was founded in 1998 by a group of former NASA scientists who had met while working on the Space Station; late last year, it signed a long-term affiliation agreement with Time Warner Cable, which has deployed its applications in a number of markets--see [itvt] Issue 7.08 Part 2) has signed an agreement with the Talking Phone Book (note: the latter, a Hearst company, is the third-largest independent provider of Yellow Pages books in the US), under which the latter will be the exclusive sales agent for BIAP's Yellow Pages on TV application. As its name suggests, the set-top-based app allows viewers to access Yellow Pages information on their televisions, using a regular digital remote.

Under the terms of the deal, the Talking Phone Book will offer advertisers the opportunity to have their listings, together with links to interactive microsites, on television. In the 28 markets covered by the agreement, merchants will be able to place interactive display ads, which will appear on screen at the top of the listings, when a viewer searches Yellow Pages on TV (note: the results can be viewed from any channel). When viewers click on an interactive display ad, they will be taken to a microsite containing current business and promotional information. The microsite can be updated on-demand at the request of the advertiser, and viewers can also bookmark their "favorites" for easy access. "What we love about this product is that it can do so much and is available on the one device that people still use more than any other, their television," Greg Garrick, VP of marketing at Talking Phone Book's immediate parent company, White Directory Publishers, said in a prepared statement. "The merchant information can be changed daily, so tonight's restaurant specials can run in a crawl on their microsite. If your phone number changes or you are a new business in town, Yellow Pages on TV can accommodate you immediately."

BIAP says that Yellow Pages on TV will begin rolling out across North America in the coming months. In 2008, the company says, it will also offer a VOD feature that will allow viewers who click on a merchant's interactive display ad to watch contextually relevant long-form videos. A "click-to-call" feature is scheduled to launch at the same time.

In other BIAP news: Time Warner Cable will once again offer My Football Tracker, the BIAP-developed interactive TV fantasy football application that it offered in Columbia, South Carolina; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas, during the last football season (the app, which has received two Emmy nominations, was launched in 2005). This year, however, the app will be available in five more cities--Buffalo, New York; Portland, Maine; and Waco, Corpus Christi, and El Paso, Texas--and will feature what BIAP describes as an "upgraded graphics look." Among other things, the app allows fantasy football players to display constantly updated results from their fantasy team as they watch any channel; and to retrieve football news and information. It immediately sends out alerts if a member of a viewer's team has scored a touchdown or accomplished some other critical milestone; and it has embedded in it the nearest NFL team to the viewer--so that, if, say, Buffalo residents access the app, they will find the latest information on the Buffalo Bills already displayed on it. "Time Warner Cable continues to lead the industry in innovation and relevant new products," BIAP CEO, Tim Peters, said in a prepared statement. "Buffalo is the first of many new divisions adding our applications. When we signed our long-term deal with Time Warner Cable only seven short months ago we looked forward to the expansion of interactivity. Buffalo is the first new division to launch and we look forward to many more divisions joining in 2008."

LiveHive's NanoGaming Two-Screen Interactive TV Platform Penetrates US

--Company Signs Deals with Turner Sports, ESPN

LiveHive Systems, an Ontario-based company that specializes in two-screen interactive TV solutions, says that its flagship Web-based NanoGaming platform--which is available in conjunction with US broadcasts of NASCAR racing and NFL football, and with Canadian broadcasts of "Big Brother" and Major League Baseball--is on track to reach a North America-wide audience of over 100 million viewers. "Three major shifts are taking place in the behavior of traditional TV viewers," LiveHive co-founder and president, Dave Bullock, said in a prepared statement. "First, people are multi-tasking and watching TV at the same time that they're on their laptop or wireless network. Second, televised fantasy sports is growing rapidly. And third, viewers want to interact and be engaged. The result? TV networks and advertisers now realize the impact of the changing television viewer, which is why they're flocking to NanoGaming."

LiveHive's NanoGaming platform penetrated the US in July, when the company signed a deal with Turner Sports to add two-screen interactivity--under the brand, "Live Race Trivia Presented by Shell"--to a series of NASCAR Cup broadcasts that will continue into the fall and that have a claimed audience of 75 million. The platform allows viewers of those broadcasts to compete against one another in real time for prizes by answering up to 50 trivia questions; in order to participate, they go to www.nascar.com/promos/liveracetrivia, and click on a registration button. Last month, following a deal with ESPN, NanoGaming also became available in conjunction with NFL Monday Night Football broadcasts, which attract up to 12 million viewers in the US: the deal sees NanoGaming offered with 17 NFL regular-season games, as well as with some playoff games. In order to participate, viewers log onto the platform on ESPN's fantasy football site (www.espn.com/fantasyfootball); they are then invited to make hundreds of real-time predictions during and before each game, and to answer trivia questions about the players, the teams and the game strategy. Viewers can make pre-game, half-time, and in-game predictions: for example, in the pre-game segment, they might predict which team will win, who will score the first touchdown, or how many points will be scored during the half; at half-time, they might predict who will score the next touchdown or get the most rushing yards; and during the game itself, they might predict whether or not a team will score on a particular drive, whether the kicker will make a field goal, or whether a coach's challenge will be overturned. As viewers compete with one another and earn points for correct predictions, they climb a leaderboard and are eligible to win prizes. In addition, LiveHive has signed a separate agreement to offer the NanoGaming in conjunction with the San Francisco 49ers' telecasts. In Canada, meanwhile, the company signed deals for the NanoGaming platform earlier this summer with Global Television Network (which used the platform to offer real-time prediction games and trivia quizzes in conjunction with "Big Brother 8"), and with The Score Television Network (which is using the platform to offer real-time prediction games and trivia quizzes in conjunction with Major League Baseball telecasts, and which reaches around 6 million homes).

Visiware in Interactive TV Games Partnership with ESPN Classic

--UPC Launches Company's Games in the Netherlands

French interactive TV games company, Visiware (note: while best-known for its ITV games, the company has begun pursuing a "triple-play" strategy that sees it offering integrated gaming across ITV, the Web and mobiles), has partnered with ESPN Classic, a channel that has a presence on European cable, satellite and broadband and that showcases great sporting moments and sporting legends, to develop a game called "Rugby Fun." According to Visiware, the game--which is comprised of 10 mini-games (all of which are played using the TV remote), and which is being sponsored and promoted by ESPN Classic (the latter's corporate colors are currently featured in its design)--presents viewers with a series of increasingly "wacky" challenges, which they have to complete in order to gain the coveted title of rugby team captain. It has been released in France on Visiware's ITV games channel, Playin'TV (channel 243 on CanalSat and TPS, and channel 58 or 180 on Numericable), and to the European market in general on ESPN Classic's new Web site. "We are very happy to announce this joint venture with Visiware and Playin'TV, which highlights the importance of reaching out to our public and of strengthening the bond that brings us closer to rugby fans," ESPN Classic managing director, Roch Pellerin, said in a prepared statement. "This cooperation represents a fresh opportunity to create a strong, interactive gaming relationship in an area of sport which currently has the French in a frenzy of excitement. This is also a way of expanding our target market to introduce the network to the mass market; the game can be enjoyed by the family and its three generations (from seven to 77 years old)!"

In other Visiware news: the company's interactive TV games have been launched in the Netherlands by Liberty Global-owned cable operator, UPC. The operator is currently offering four Visiware games in its Vegas Games portal, and plans to launch four more over the coming months. The Vegas Games portal and the new Visiware games, which are priced from 0.50 Euros per play, are located within UPC's interactive TV portal, which is managed by Chellomedia Interactive Services and which is accessed via the "interactive" button on the UPC remote.

DigiSoft.tv, Tech Mahindra Team on ITV App for Tracking Mobile Phones

--DigiSoft.tv Teams with ATCi on End-to-End IPTV Solution

DigiSoft.tv, a Cork, Ireland-based provider of technologies for developing, deploying and managing interactive TV applications, that has hitherto enjoyed a fair amount of success in the Italian market (note: the company is also attempting to penetrate the US market and now operates an office in Louisville, Colorado), and Tech Mahindra, an Indian company that supplies technologies and services to telcos and that formed a partnership with DigiSoft earlier this year (see [itvt] Issue 7.32 Part 2), have released an application called DigiTracker to the global market. The app, which the companies are billing as a "world first for digital interactive TV," is designed to enable IPTV operators to allow their viewers to track family members' mobile phones: parents, for example, could use it to view on their TV screen the current location of their children's mobile phones. The app also allows text or SMS messages to be sent to the phones that are being tracked.

According to the companies, DigiTracker uses integrations with Location-Based Services and mapping systems to enable the plotting of a mobile phone's location on a map and display it on TV. "There is an immense appeal for this type of technology, as parents concerned about the safety, well-being and location of their children can know exactly where they are," DigiSoft CEO, John Allen, said in a prepared statement. Added Shankar Allimatti, Tech Mahindra's VP of next-generation technologies: "This is the start of a whole new age for TV, as the entire interaction takes place from the armchair at home, while watching a TV show, using nothing more than the TV remote control. DigiSoft's platform enables the rapid development of revenue-generating applications for IPTV service providers. DigiTracker is an example of these advanced applications."

In other DigiSoft news: the company has teamed with Antenna Technology Communications (ATCi), a US-based provider of commercial satellite communications systems, on what the companies are billing as a cost-effective and scalable end-to-end IPTV solution for tier 2 and tier 3 telcos. According to the companies, the solution provides all the components needed for an IPTV video headend, including a Simulsat receive multibeam antenna, a satellite subsystem, and MPEG-4 compression; and an application management server and a "dynamic and customizable" EPG from DigiSoft. The solution sees the latter's DigiHost service delivery platform coupled with a new, low-cost Java set-top box that runs the EPG, a VOD interface, an nPVR interface, and an application launcher with a variety of interactive applications. "With our partnership with DigiSoft, ATCi will be able to deliver cost-effective, highly customizable IPTV Ecosystems to our customers" ATCi's Eric Luttermoser, said in a prepared statement. "The DigiSoft platform will allow us to create custom solutions and applications, deliver targeted relevant advertising to consumers, and create a compelling product offering which will increase ARPU and drive customer satisfaction." Added DigiSoft's SVP of business development, Fintan McKiernan: "This is a critical transition point in the IPTV industry: the first generation of IPTV was all about delivery of MPEG-2 standard-definition video; the new generation of IPTV is much more exciting, marked by the roll-out of MPEG-4 high definition video. Telcos and broadband operators are now looking much more closely at the additional services that can be layered on top of the video offering, not just to increase ARPU but to differentiate their service offering from that of cable and satellite operators. We are very pleased with our global partnership with ATCi, who are a strategic part of our channel strategy at this very exciting time in the industry." The companies say that their new IPTV solution will be priced "aggressively."

Gemstar-TV Guide News:

Interactive TV technology and entertainment company, Gemstar-TV Guide (note: the company, which is 42% owned by News Corp., and which is best known for its widely deployed EPG products, also operates two interactive TV channels, TV Guide Network and TVG; it recently announced that its board of directors had authorized it to "explore strategic alternatives intended to maximize shareholder value," including selling the company--see [itvt] Issue 7.36 Part 1), has generated a fair amount of news over the past few weeks:

• The company has officially launched the Online Video Guide service (video.tvguide.com) that it beta-launched in April. The service--which provides end-users with an index through which they can "channel-surf" online video from around 55 broadcaster, cable-channel, and other entertainment-focused Web sites--now offers new features highlighting what the company describes as "the hottest, most timely online videos," including full episodes of high-profile Fall TV shows; and is also more tightly integrated with the company's flagship Web site, TVGuide.com: it is featured prominently on the site's homepage, as well as on pages throughout the site that are tied to popular TV shows. The service additionally now offers an Online Video Daily newsletter. Gemstar-TV Guide bills the Online Video Guide as being focused on professionally produced broadband video in two main categories: full episodes and popular videos (including music videos and clips of TV shows). However, the service also highlights what the company describes as "the very best of viral and user-generated video"). According to the company, the service provides access to around 110,000 broadband videos, and allows one-click searches via topic, show, celebrity, genre and network. It also "cuts through the video clutter," Gemstar says, by organizing video content according to "buzz factor" and popularity. According to the company, its beta-test of the Online Video Guide on TVGuide.com (together with the availability of blogs and other feedback mechanisms on the site) has helped the site post a 69% year-over-year (August, 2006 vs. August, 2007) increase in uniques.
• The company has convinced Qualcomm's mobile TV subsidiary, MediaFLO USA, to sign a patent license agreement. The multi-year agreement covers patent license rights related to EPG's for MediaFLO's FLO TV service, and is Gemstar-TV Guide's first such agreement in the mobile TV space in the US. "We are very pleased that MediaFLO USA's industry-leading FLO TV mobile entertainment service will benefit from our video guidance patents," Gemstar CEO, Rich Battista, said in a prepared statement. "This agreement with MediaFLO USA builds on our successful mobile activities in Japan, and further signifies the value of our intellectual property to traditional and emerging platforms, including online, IPTV, and mobile."
• The company says it has secured new distribution and advertising partners for TV Guide Broadband, the broadband video service of its flagship linear-TV channel, TV Guide Network. Its new distribution partners are Comcast, which will offer the service on its portal site, and Hulu, the new broadband video joint-venture between Fox and NBC, which will offer the service at launch (note: the service is also available through YouTube, AOL Video, Yahoo!, Brightcove, Veoh and Vuze). The company has not disclosed the identities of TV Guide Broadband's new advertising partners, but says that there are three of them and that it has also recently re-signed Keebler's Cheez-It brand, which was one of the service's first advertisers. Gemstar claims that in August, TV Guide Broadband generated over 2 million impressions, across the various Web sites where it is available; its most popular content that month was the reality series, "America's Next Producer," which was supported by promotions on AOL Video, MSN, Yahoo!, Veoh and MySpace.
• The company's TV Guide Online arm has signed a deal with Glam Media, a media company that targets a female demographic, that gives the latter the right to use its interactive program listings grid on its flagship site, as well as on its over 370 "lifestyle"-oriented sites. Among other things, the deal will also see TV Guide Broadband providing Glam with short-form broadband video programming.
• The company has signed a deal with Spanish digital terrestrial broadcaster, Veo Television (note: the latter's DTT platform offers a number of free-to-air channels), that will enable it to incorporate the latter's programming data into its GUIDE Plus+ EPG. The GUIDE PLUS+ EPG is an EPG for consumer electronics devices, that has been incorporated into products from such companies as Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Sharp. The new deal with Veo marks the launch of Gemstar's digital EPG service in Spain. "This announcement reinforces our commitment to be at the forefront of guidance technology and services as Europe transitions to a digital future," Lydie Levy, COO of Gemstar's consumer electronics business, said in a prepared statement. "Veo Television has greatly contributed to the implementation and development of digital terrestrial services in Spain. We have enjoyed a very positive working relationship with them and look forward to a long and successful partnership moving forward."
• Top-10 cable MSO's, Mediacom and Insight, have launched the company's Listings2Go online EPG application on their respective portals. The application is one of the first components of My TV Guide, a suite of cross-platform, viewer-personalizable guidance tools and services that Gemstar announced this spring (it plans to license the tools and services to cable and satellite operators, telcos, consumer electronics companies and wireless operators, including companies that are already employing its i-Guide, Passport and consumer-electronics EPG product lines--for more on My TV Guide, see [itvt] Issue 7.32 Part 3). The application allows the MSOs' subscribers to search their local TV listings and personalize their grid views; it presents them with 14 days of programming data, genre and HDTV filters, and detailed episodic information. According to Gemstar, the app can be customized to present users with programming information for every channel line-up and service provider in the US; or just for a specific channel line-up and a fixed set of providers. "We are pleased to be working with Mediacom and Insight to help them bring customized local TV listings solutions for their online customers," Tonia O'Connor, Gemstar's EVP of distribution, said in a prepared statement. "These Listings2Go launches are particularly important as they mark the initial phase of the roll-out of the My TV Guide cross-platform tools and services, including remote recording capabilities offered to TV Guide's interactive program guide affiliates, as part of our upcoming i-Guide release."
• The company has tapped veteran awards show producer, Bob Bain, to executive-produce its first TV Guide Online Video Awards event (see [itvt] Issue 7.36 Part 1). He has served for a number of years as executive producer of the Fox Network's Teen Choice Awards and of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and has produced a number of other events, including several Miss America pageants and the Billboard Music Awards. Gemstar-TV Guide's new awards will be presented on December 1st at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif.; and the event will be broadcast on a two-hour special on TV Guide Network. The awards will recognize professionally produced programming and other entertainment content that aired online, or in other digital media, between January and October, 2007. Starting next month, visitors to the TV Guide Web site will be able to access clips of nominations in all award categories, and their online votes will determine the awards' winners (note: TV Guide editors will select the nominees and a handful of special honorees). Award categories include Best Original Comedy Series, Best Original Drama Series, and Best TV Parody.
• The company has persuaded Decisionmark to sign a multi-year patent license agreement pertaining to the latter's TitanTV programming guidance Web site. The agreement provides Decisionmark with license rights to Gemstar patents that Gemstar believes are used by interactive programming guides (IPG) offered on TitanTV, and by IPG's provided by Decisionmark to various broadcasters for use on their Web sites. "We are pleased to have this patent license agreement in place with TitanTV, as it represents another example of industry leaders recognizing the value of our intellectual property in the online space," Gemstar-TV Guide COO, Mike McKee, said in a prepared statement.
• The company has amended its licensing agreement with Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. The revised agreement will continue to give Mitsubishi the rights to incorporate Gemstar's consumer electronics EPG's into its products, and will also now allow it to incorporate the company's newest EPG, TV Guide Daily, into select digital TV sets in its portfolio in the US market, including its diamond and non-diamond LCD televisions. TV Guide Daily is a simplified version of Gemstar's full-scale EPG. According to the company, it features 24 hours of program listings that populate much more quickly than the full-scale guide; the listings include full program descriptions, ratings and HD icons. The guide provides listings data for antenna and cable services, and requires no phone connection, as the listings arrive daily, via an over-the-air signal.

Gotuit Powering Interactive Broadband Video for Fox Reality Awards

--Also Powers Video for Sports Illustrated, Capitol Records Nashville

Gotuit--which 1) has developed a search/navigation system that combines segment metadata with VOD content, allowing viewers to use their remote control to quickly access the specific parts of an on- demand show that interest them (the company has used the system to power VOD services that have been deployed on a number of Time Warner Cable and Comcast systems in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio); and which earlier this year, launched a suite of software tools, dubbed the Gotuit PowerVideo Suite, that is based on its metadata-driven technology and that is designed to power video libraries across broadband and mobile platforms (see [itvt] Issue 7.32 Part 2)--has been tapped by Fox Reality Channel to power the interactive broadband video service that the latter is offering for its Fox Reality Channel Really Awards 2007 show.

The service, located on Fox Reality's Web site, currently offers coverage of last year's awards ceremony, and allows viewers to vote for The Most Memorable Reality TV Star of 2007 (note: the winner will be announced October 13th, during the channel's broadcast of its awards). Once the 2007 awards have aired, Fox Reality will use Gotuit's metadata-based technology to index its coverage of the event (as well as exclusive red carpet coverage) and make it available on the new service. The technology will allow viewers to navigate directly to their favorite award category, character, presenter, musician and so forth. "Fox Reality quickly recognized how enhanced video navigation and discovery is ideal for reality TV and award show programming," Gotuit CEO, Mark Pascarella, said in a prepared statement. "Having playlists devoted to the major award categories, characters, presenters, et cetera, allows the viewer to choose how they want to watch the video. The result is a more engaged audience that will spend more time watching video and sharing the best segments across the Web."

In other Gotuit news:

• The company's existing customer, Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated, has tapped it to power a new, free, advertising-supported broadband video site focused on college football's 25 greatest rivalries. Dubbed "College Football's Greatest Rivalries," the site offers video highlights of the top 25 NCAA football rivalries, accessible by rivalry, conference, team or best game; highlights from games from the 1950's to 2006; and "deep" video search and navigation capabilities. "This is another great example of the benefits of wrapping a video archive with rich metadata," Dan Gill, Gotuit's VP of business development, said in a prepared statement. "By providing multiple paths for the viewer to take through the library, and using the Gotuit advertising logic that optimizes the amount of video ads served, SI will enjoy longer session times and better content monetization than competing video sites."
• The company has been tapped by EMI-subsidiary, Capitol Records Nashville, to power a service called "Luke Bryan Remixed," that expands on the eponymous country music singer's official MySpace site. The free service allows Bryan's fans to watch and remix his single, "All My Friends," using footage from the song's original music video, live concert footage, interviews with the singer, and other video content. The fans can either choose pre-defined scenes from the content the service presents to them or define their own scenes, and then edit them into their own music video. "We are excited to see how the fans remix their favorite scenes to create their own versions of the music video, and then embed them across the Web," Dawn Gates, director of new media at Capitol Records Nashville, said in a prepared statement. "We are already planning for a 'Best User-Generated Remix Contest,' to take the concept to the next level when the second single 'We Rode In Trucks' goes for airplay in October. This will drive an even deeper connection between Luke and his fans." Added Gotuit's Pascarella: "By using Gotuit VideoMixer, each remix is actually a new metadata set. The viewer is only 'virtually' editing the video. The patented Gotuit technology never alters the original source videos, but instead uses metadata to jump inside the videos from scene to scene. The result is a terrific video experience that is highly scalable to millions of remixes from the same original source videos."

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conVISUAL, Qualcomm Demo Interactive TV on MediaFLO

German mobile interactive TV specialist, conVISUAL, says that it has partnered with Qualcomm to demo live, broadcast-synchronized interactive TV on the MediaFLO platform. According to the companies, their proof-of-concept demo showcased live SMS events sent to mobile viewers via MediaFLO IP datacasting, that were tightly integrated with the storylines of a number of well-known TV shows. Using a split screen on their mobiles, viewers could watch TV while participating with the shows and with other viewers via SMS, the companies say. conVISUAL's servers processed the SMS traffic in real time and displayed such information as poll results and chat sessions on the viewers' mobiles, using MediaFLO IP datacasting and an integrated player. "The convergence of mobile TV and user interactivity is a major leap forward for the mobile media industry--one that will redefine how mobile TV is consumed by providing an enhanced and more personalized television viewing experience," John Elliott, senior director of product management for Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies, said in a prepared statement. "By combining conVISUAL's expertise in the interactive television field with the inherent advantages of the open MediaFLO broadcast platform, we can offer an array of interactive features to the growing MediaFLO community. We believe this marks an exciting new development that will provide new opportunities for both broadcasters and mobile operators to create highly attractive, revenue-generating mobile TV services." Added conVISUAL co-founder and CTO, Joao Gonzaga: "The technology does not require users to switch menus or even leave the mobile TV screen on their phone to access the interactive options. This translates to users enjoying more mobile TV, and actively participating in the content, without any interruption in programming."

Cellcast Launches "3D" Interactive TV Show in Malaysia

--Merges Asian Subsidiaries into New Company, Plurality-Owned by Canaan

Cellcast South East Asia (note: the company, which has since been merged into a new entity--see below--was a joint-venture between Cellcast, a UK company best known for its SMS-based participation TV products and services, and mTouche Technology Berhad) recently launched an interactive TV series, "CelebMania," on TV3, the largest of Malaysia's terrestrial networks (note: another Cellcast ITV show, "Insomnia," aired on the network earlier this year). According to the company, "CelebMania" uses a real-time 3D-rendered "virtual-reality" set featuring high-tech graphics, and blends popular entertainment, including comedy sketches, musical acts and celebrity gossip, with interactive "participation-TV" brain-teasers and quizzes. "Entertainment choices are evolving throughout the region with the rapid consumer take-up of new technology," Mahesh Ramachandra, Cellcast's VP of international and product development, said in a prepared statement. "Mobile phone and Internet penetration in South East Asia continues to soar, and as a consequence, the demand for high-quality multiplatform content and services is very strong. Cellcast South East Asia is well-positioned to cater to this need, by providing leading-edge television-driven entertainment products that tap into the behavior and lifestyle of today's youth." Like "Insomnia," "CelebMania" uses mTouche's SMS and IVR technologies.

In other Cellcast news: the company has consolidated its two Asian subsidiaries into a new company, Cellcast Asia Holdings, in what it describes as a bid to meet the strong demand for interactive digital entertainment in the South Asia and South East Asia regions. It is injecting its 100% holding in Cellcast India and its 50% holding in Cellcast South East Asia into the new venture; and has also agreed to issue $5.25 million of Series A preferred stock to venture capital firm, Canaan Partners. The preferred stock issue values the enlarged share capital of Cellcast Asia at $13.5 million. Cellcast will hold 37.5% of the fully diluted share capital of Cellcast Asia, while Canaan will hold 38.9%; the remaining shares will be held by a trust that will administer share option plans for existing and future employees of Cellcast India. "The investment by Canaan, a specialist investor in the information technology sector, confirms the strength of our commercial proposition," Cellcast CEO, Andrew Wilson, said in a prepared statement. "The opportunity in this region is of such a size that it exceeds Cellcast's ability to realize it alone. The investment by Canaan Partners is a strong endorsement of Cellcast's market-leading proprietary technology and applications, and recognition of the proven skills and sector experience of its established Asian-based management team. The establishment of this dedicated regional operation and its independent funding through Canaan Partners, is the most effective way for Cellcast to realize its growing Asian ambitions whilst retaining resources for reinvestment in other technological and geographical areas."

Cellcast Asia will be headed up by Pankaj Thakar, who was previously CEO of Cellcast India. It will be headquartered in Mumbai, and will target the television markets in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines. "By combining the resources of Cellcast India with the strong market position of our partner mTouche, we are creating a powerful regional distribution capability with a combined network of relationships with over 20 leading regional broadcasters and over 30 telecoms operators," Thakar said in a prepared statement. "The exciting participation of Canaan Partners will enable us to accelerate growth through investment in new formats and applications and the expansion of our management team to support our regional initiatives."

S4C Taps emuse for Freeview Digital Text Service

Dublin Ireland-based interactive TV technology and services provider, emuse, has developed a bilingual digital text service on the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, for Welsh-language public-service broadcaster, S4C. The service, dubbed S4C Digital Text on Freeview, closely resembles the digital text service that S4C already offers on the Sky satellite platform. Viewers access it by pressing either the red button or the "text" button on their remotes; they are then taken to the main menu, which offers information in such categories as "Programmes," "Weather," "A to Z," "Children" and "Learning Welsh." The service's content has been prepared for S4C by Testun and Acen. "Working with S4C always allows us to put our technology to great use," emuse CEO, Patrick Rainsford, said in a prepared statement. "There was a hugely positive response to the interactive services offered for the first time on S4C's coverage of the 2006 Royal Welsh Show. This latest new service sees S4C delivering offerings to its audience consistent with those of the biggest broadcasters in the world."

GalleryPlayer Launches 80 New Blocks of HD VOD Programming

--Launches Broadband Service for Cable Operators, Signs Blu-ray Deal

GalleryPlayer, a company perhaps best known for the on-demand galleries of high-definition imagery it offers on Comcast's HD VOD platform (note: earlier this year, the company announced that consumer electronics giant, Panasonic, is incorporating support for its service into its entire 2007 line of plasma and HD TV sets--see [itvt] Issue 7.24), recently announced the availability of 80 new half-hour blocks of HD programming, containing ultra-high-quality static imagery from such sources as National Geographic and the Museum of Modern Art. Previously, the company's portfolio consisted of 40 hour-long programming blocks. "Now GalleryPlayer has even more content for consumers who are seeking the latest in high-quality HD programming," GalleryPlayer founder and president, Paul Brownlow, said in a prepared statement. "Not only do our programs deliver terrific responses from viewers, but they also provide our cable partners with fresh content that can be updated every few weeks, adding incredible value to their HD offerings."

In other GalleryPlayer news:

• The company has launched a new broadband service targeted at cable operators that carry its VOD service. The new service will allow cable subscribers to purchase and download images to their PC's from their operator's home page. Cable operators will be able to brand the service, which GalleryPlayer will operate and maintain. "Cable subscribers want to be able to own what they see on TV," GalleryPlayer's Brownlow said in a prepared statement. "GalleryPlayer broadband for cable enhances our current cable offerings to allow viewers direct access to a wide range of high-quality HD image downloads. Now our cable partners can take advantage of GalleryPlayer's expertise within the ever-expanding HD market to further optimize revenue streams and draw consumer attention to their signature services."
• The company has signed a deal with Image Entertainment to release four new collections of HD imagery on Blu-ray disc later this fall. The collections are entitled "1000 Places to See Before You Die: 50 Favorite Destinations," "The Amazing World of National Geographic," "Art Wolfe: Vanishing Act," and "50 Paintings from the Museum of Modern Art."

iN DEMAND Launches Free HD VOD Service, "MOJO Mix"

Cable industry-owned VOD content aggregator, iN DEMAND (its owners are Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Advance/Newhouse), has launched a free, all-HD VOD service featuring both short- and long-form content. Dubbed MOJO Mix, the new service features music videos, original series from the MOJO linear-TV channel, specials, and short-form content such as sneak previews and bonus and behind-the-scenes footage. Time Warner Cable has launched MOJO Mix--which is available to any iN DEMAND affiliate that carries the MOJO linear channel--across its entire footprint (note: Comcast has been carrying another MOJO VOD service, that features just music videos and that has now been relaunched under the brand, MOJO Music, for over a year now). The service offers five hours of content, all of which is refreshed on a monthly basis.

ExpoTV in Deals with Tremor Media, FUSA, Charter

--Receives New Funding from DFJ Gotham Ventures

ExpoTV, a company which operates an eponymous online and cable VOD service that features two- to three-minute consumer-generated product reviews (which the company dubs "Videopinions"), is partnering with video advertising network operator, Tremor Media, on a new project that sees the companies embedding user-generated product testimonials into video ads distributed across Tremor's network (note: according to Tremor, its network features advanced targeting capabilities, covers over 800 Web sites, and reaches over 92 million unique visitors per month). "We're excited to join forces with Tremor Media and help to showcase a more stimulating and fun way to promote products in an authentic and unbiased forum," ExpoTV CEO, Daphne Kwon, said in a prepared statement. "Tremor Media's advertising expertise will enable ExpoTV to provide a unique blend of online media that will take user-generated content and use it to merge the voices of advertisers with that of real-world consumers."

According to the companies, embedding amateur product reviews into ad units enables advertisers to leverage user-generated video in their marketing efforts "in a way that is safe for their brands by ensuring a positive brand message and experience." In addition, the companies claim, ExpoTV's "Videopinions" reviews "offer advertisers ready-to-use video assets with full usage rights, which is a boon for advertisers who don't have creative assets for the online environment." The companies say their partnership will allow consumers to click through multiple video reviews for each advertised product.

In other ExpoTV news:

• FUSA Capital Corporation, a developer of multimedia search engine technologies for consumers and digital content providers, has indexed ExpoTV's user-generated video reviews, so as to make them discoverable via its searchforvideo.com Web site. In addition to including ExpoTV's content in the searchforvideo index, FUSA is offering an ExpoTV page on its site that displays the most recent ExpoTV videos and facilitates searches by keyword. "The popularity of searchforvideo.com is a good fit for us to further expose our unique and fast-growing community of word-of-mouth brand influentials," ExpoTV's Kwon said in a prepared statement. "Through this partnership, we are excited that many more viewers will be exposed to our content."
• The company recently teamed with MSO Charter Communications on a summer-themed user-generated video contest entitled "Beat the Heat!" Starting in late July, residents of the St. Louis area were invited to submit "Videopinions" on ExpoTV's Web site, showcasing their favorite products for beating the summer heat (which could include anything from a brand of sorbet to a convertible automobile). Charter then made an approved selection of the videos available through its "iWant More!" VOD destination on channel 999, while ExpoTV offered them in a special "Beat the Heat!" category on its site. The author of the winning video received a grand prize consisting of a Panasonic wide-screen camcorder and Power Director 5 video-editing software. "The Beat the Heat contest allows our customers to interact with television in a unique way," Mike Szczechura, Charter's VP of ad sales and operations, said in a prepared statement. "Programs like 'Beat the Heat!' continue to demonstrate how our cable platform is a superior venue for consumers to get what they want, when they want it. By adding user-created videos, we are continuing to define cable as a safe, fun, interactive place for consumers to engage."
• The company says it has received an undisclosed amount of new funding from New York-based DFJ Gotham Ventures, which has made its investment via its DFJ Gotham Venture Fund (note: the company's other venture capitalist backers are Masthead Venture Partners and Prism VentureWorks). It says that it will use the infusion of capital to accelerate the growth of its video contributor community and to improve its publishing and content-management technology, which enables it to syndicate content to such portals as Yahoo!, AOL and Google.
• The company says that it saw a 132% quarterly growth rate in video submissions in the second quarter, and surpassed a milestone of over 100,000 "Videopinion" reviews, making its service the largest available catalog of video product reviews.

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