2nd Annual tru2way Developers Conference Scheduled for May 17th and 18th

The second annual tru2way Developers Conference will be held in New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior to the NCTA Cable Show. The conference is produced by the NCTA, in partnership with CableLabs (the originator of the tru2way/OCAP standard) and premier sponsor, Vidiom Systems, a company that specializes in tru2way/OCAP technology and that has a long track record of offering not-for-profit classes and other educational events on the standard. According to the organizers, the conference will provide a forum for cable operators, content providers, Java developers, and interactive TV developers and companies to share ideas and information about the latest tools and trends in the roll-out of the tru2way platform. They promise it will offer a full agenda of business and technology sessions, as well as hands-on workshops designed to promote "further developments in the Java-based tru2way universe." Areas of discussion will include programming, platforms, consumer electronics, application development, and retail opportunities. Confirmed keynote speakers include CableLabs president and CEO, Richard Green, and Panasonic CTO, Paul Liao; other speakers and panelists include John Collins (Time Warner Cable), Mark DePietro (Motorola), Anne Dirkse (Vidiom), John Hashimoto (Weather Channel), Sherisse Hawkins (Time Warner Cable), David Housman (Vidiom), Chet Kanojia (Navic), Mike LaJoie (Time Warner Cable), Arthur Orduna (Advance/Newhouse), Sam Pemberton (Softel), David Preisman (Showtime), Gary Schanman (Comcast), Jeff Seebeck (Cisco), Bill Sheppard (Sun), Gary Sohmers (IMAGE), Tim Spencer (Sigma Systems), So Vang (CableLabs), and Andrew Ward (Comcast Spotlight). Detailed information on the conference's speakers and sessions can be found at: http://2008.thecableshow.com/Attending/tru2waySchedule.aspx

CableNET Line-Up Announced

The NCTA and CableLabs have announced the line-up of companies that will be participating in CableNET, their annual showcase of new cable technologies and products at the NCTA's Cable Show (takes place May 18th-20th in New Orleans). A number of participating companies, including UniSoft/Strategy & Technology, Sigma Designs and Zodiac Interactive, will be demo'ing tru2way-based technologies, and several other companies, including Digeo, Motorola, Pixel3 and Symmetricom, will be demo'ing other advanced video technologies. In addition, there will be a number of presentations on tru2way at a CableNET Theater.

CableNET participants that will be demo'ing interactive TV-related technologies include:

• Digeo, which will be demo'ing its latest DVR for cable, the Moxi HD DVR 3012. The demo will feature the box's Emmy-winning interface, its dual digital tuning capability, and its integrated CableCARD. According to Digeo, the new DVR includes a streamlined processor and a high-capacity hard drive.
• Digital Fountain, which will be demo'ing DF Splash, billed as an end-to-end solution that streamlines the most complex elements of delivering and measuring a high-quality video experience. According to the company, the technology provides viewers with an instant-on, full-screen, TV-quality experience, and significantly improves "the way we watch streaming video over the Internet."
• EchoStar Technologies (i.e. the company that was formerly the hardware arm of the satellite TV provider now called DISH), which will demo SlingModem, a product it acquired through its recent purchase of Sling Media. According to the company, the product is the first DOCSIS cable modem to fully integrate the place-shifting capabilities of the original Slingbox. It is billed as allowing viewers to watch and control their TV programming on any Internet-connected computing device just as they would in front of their livingroom television set.
• Motorola, which will be demo'ing its MTR700 Tuning Adapter. According to the company, the product connects unidirectional UDCP's (in this case, a TiVo device) to a cable network, accessing multimedia content in the cable network's switched digital video tier. It says the demo will showcase "seamless tuning of the TiVo device across both broadcast and SDV tiers."
• Oversi, which will be demo'ing its OverCache multi-service caching and content delivery platform for Internet video and P2P traffic. According to the company, the platform enables cable operators to relieve heavy network congestion, while improving customers' quality of experience and monetizing over-the-top video traffic.
• Pixel3 (formerly Clique Communications), which will be demo'ing ImageIQ, an application which is billed as taking SD video and upgrading it to HD quality. The company claims that the resulting video "is not just a scaled-up version of low-definition content, but an actual, full-bandwidth 1080p image" with high-frequency detail.
• Samsung, which will be demo'ing downloadable conditional access, and digital program insertion for advertising.
• Sigma Designs, which will be demo'ing an integrated, tru2way-based set-top box that features four narrowband tuners that can display three video channels (HD as well as SD). According to the company, the tuners can be linked to enable channel bonding based on DOCSIS 3.0, enabling high-speed throughput.
• Softel-USA, which will be demo'ing its MediaSphere TX carousel playing both tru2way and ETV applications, as well as what it describes as the "flexibility and ease-of-use" of the system's Web-based configuration tools. According to the company, the carousel has been integrated with Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta headends and set-tops, and with various automation, scheduling and billing systems. The company also bills its MediaSphere product line as fully supporting DSG delivery via GigE and ETV I04 updates.
• Symmetricom, which says it will be demo'ing "the importance of video QoE from a viewer's perspective." According to the company, mean opinion scores from a streamed video signal, along with video quality results, will be displayed to indicate perceptual video quality, and validate video quality as perceived by end-users.
• Synacor, which will be demo'ing various new features of its consumer portal, including Web DVR scheduling.
• thePlatform, which will be demo'ing an integrated delivery framework, jointly developed with Cisco Systems, that it claims gives service providers a mechanism for seamless delivery of broadband video to multiple screens. The company says it will also be exhibiting technology that allows cable operators and programmers to create a branded, customized broadband video channel "in minutes," and that can also manage the entire logistics process and enhance the overall online video experience.
• UniSoft/Strategy & Technology, which will be demo'ing various aspects of tru2way and ETV application creation, testing and delivery. The demos will include the company's TSBroadcaster 2.0 delivering multi-service transport streams containing a number of OCAP and ETV applications; ETV-based ad insertion and splicing; validation of ETV and OCAP applications using XFSI's XAV; OCAP benchmark testing using Sofia's OCAP Benchmark system; and generation of authenticated OCAP applications using UniSoft's OCAP Security File Generator.
• Zodiac Interactive, which will be demo'ing its tru2way Zidget framework, which utilizes a plug-in architecture to support such applications as local search, weather, traffic, sports scores, and local news, without disrupting the TV viewing experience.

International Interactive Emmy Award Winners Announced

At the MIPTV conference in Cannes earlier this month, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners of its International Interactive Emmy Awards (note: the awards, which were organized in partnership with Reed MIDEM, were hosted by UK comedian, Brian Conley). The winners (together with descriptions of their winning projects, provided by the International Academy) were:

• Best Interactive Program: Finland's Invisio for "Staraoke" ("'Staraoke' is an interactive cross-media concept, which combines a TV show for kids with a karaoke-type PC game and a Web community. The Staraoke PC game is a singing game where the player controls the game character on the screen with the pitch of his/her voice. The software recognizes the pitch and gives points accordingly. Kids are instructed to download a demo of the Staraoke game from the show's Web site, record their performance, and send the file to the show's producers. Every third competitor of the Staraoke TV show is chosen from online submissions.")
• Best Interactive Channel: the UK's JD Project Ltd. for WeDigTV ("WeDigTV is the world's first TV2 network. TV2 is a platform which allows viewers to dictate the terms of their interactive video experience. By delivering seemingly linear broadcasts to the user that are in fact fully interactive, TV2 makes the format-type show compelling and relevant in an age of true video-on-demand. In each show, the user is able to engage with the host and ultimately decide the fate of their experience within the show itself. WeDigTV brings the user as close as possible to being in the contestant's chair without actually sitting there.")
• Best Interactive Television Service: Sweden's Sveriges Television and The company P for "The Truth about Marika" ('The Truth About Marika' is a participation drama--a production created to enrich a drama series through the participation of viewers. The story takes place on television, national radio, the Internet and mobile phone. Every week theories are discussed live in a show that has been enhanced with participatory content that exposes the truth about Marika in the end. Viewers are directly involved in the plot and its conclusion. Mobile phones become an important tool in the twilight zone between fiction and reality and bring the story out on the street into a fiction without limits." For more on "The Truth About Marika," see [itvt]'s recent interview in Issue 7.74 with Magnus Eriksson and Christian Bjorkman of Mindark, the company behind the virtual world, Entropia, which also played an important role in the alternate reality game that enhanced the show.)

BBC Issues Tender for Interactive Services Management

The BBC recently issued a tender for a five-year (with a two-year optional extension) contract for interactive services management. The contract, which is worth up to £25 million, covers such areas as interactive TV playout, systems management, online publishing and monitoring of service levels. The BBC is seeking a single company to fulfill all the areas described in the contract. The services covered by the contract are currently provided to the BBC by Red Bee Media, under an earlier contract that is currently in its final year. However, that contract cannot be automatically renewed: under EU guidelines, large contracts issued by publicly funded organizations have to go through a public bidding process.

AFI Digital Content Lab Developing Prototypes with PBS, ABC, Earth Echo

The American Film Institute Digital Content Lab has announced the companies, organizations and media properties that will be participating in its next production cycle: PBS ("NewsHour"), ABC.com ("Grey's Anatomy"), and Earth Echo. The Lab, now in its tenth year (note: it was originally known as the Enhanced TV Workshop, but subsequently changed its name to reflect a focus on a broader range of interactive media), brings together media companies/properties and volunteer "mentors" (i.e. individuals and companies with extensive experience in interactive media), in order to create innovative interactive prototypes. "The new slate of prototypes promises to be one of our most exciting and challenging to date," Digital Content Lab director, Suzanne Stefanac, said in a prepared statement (note: for an in-depth interview with Stefanac, see [itvt] Issue 7.42). "Digital media has finally evolved to a point where art matters more than traditional technology plays. We're pleased to help today's top media creators and artists not only come together, but stay ahead of the curve, no matter which screen or platform."

The prototype that the Lab is developing with ABC.com will consist of a real-time "viewing party" application that will allow fans of "Grey's Anatomy" to invite friends to join them online as they watch the show in real time. Among other things, the app will enable viewers to comment and share opinions within private groups, and also to view topics of interest among other viewing parties.

The "NewsHour" prototype will be an online election-year application that encourages viewers to critique and fact-check candidates' statements. It will also provide viewers with various research tools and tutorials.

The third prototype will center on EarthEcho, an environmental education effort launched by the grandchildren of environmentalist, Jacques Cousteau, and the Vans Warped Tour, a series of events devoted to music and extreme sports. According to the AFI, the prototype will provide ecology-based information and activities for attendees in a live setting.

Ofcom Moves to Tighten Regulation of Participation TV

Following the UK's recent participation TV scandal, that country's broadcast regulator, Ofcom, has proposed new rules to tighten regulation of TV and radio programs that rely heavily on premium-rate telephone services (PRS). The body says that its proposed changes to the UK's Broadcasting Code will "ensure that programs that invite viewers and listeners to interact or participate are not vehicles for promoting commercial, revenue-generating services," and will also "ensure that viewers are adequately protected and that advertising is kept separate from editorial content, as required under European legislation."

The new rules state that when PRS is used in a program for audience participation:

• it must not be given undue prominence within the program;
• the program must consist primarily of content other than the promotion of the PRS;
• the primary purpose of the program must be editorial, and any commercial activity associated with the PRS, such as generation of call revenues, must be secondary to that purpose;
• broadcasters may only charge viewers via PRS call charges, and not by other means, such as credit card or direct debit.

Ofcom states that the new Broadcasting Code rules take into account an October, 2007 ruling by the European Court of Justice that a quiz TV show could be classified as teleshopping (defined as "a particular form of advertising involving the broadcast of direct offers to the public with a view to the supply of goods or services in return for payment"). According to the regulatory body, participation TV services will have to either 1) ensure that they comply with the new rules in order to remain classified as editorial services (Ofcom points out that "quiz, psychic and adult chat TV as currently broadcast will need to change significantly in order to comply"); or 2) be reclassifed as teleshopping--which will make them subject to advertising minutage rules and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) Advertising Standards Code which is enforced by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority. However, Ofcom points out, "services which fall into a prohibited advertising category, such as adult chat on unencrypted channels and psychic practices, cannot be broadcast as teleshopping"; which, in turn, means that "unless such services change to comply with the new Broadcasting Code rules, they can no longer be broadcast." The deadline for responses to Ofcom's new rules is May 22nd. More information on the body's regulatory proposals can be found on its Web site.

Ofcom's proposed Broadcasting Code rules for participation TV are part of a two-pronged attempt to regulate the genre. The other prong, which was announced earlier this year, imposes new, mandatory license conditions on television broadcasters. According to the regulatory body, the new license conditions will "ensure that audiences, including those who choose to participate in programs, are adequately protected and will help restore trust in participation TV by allowing early detection of compliance issues." The new conditions state that:

• Where broadcasters invite viewers to participate in programs, they are directly responsible for the handling of all communications--whether by phone, email or regular mail--from viewers;
• Broadcasters must obtain independent, third-party verification of all systems used in PRS voting and competitions. In order to enforce this, Ofcom plans to undertake an initial 12- to 18-month program of unannounced spot-checks to ensure that broadcasters are complying with this requirement.

Ofcom says that it expects all broadcasters using PRS voting and competitions to have third-party verification arrangements in place by the end of June. "Viewers must be confident that they will be treated fairly and consistently when interacting with television programs," Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, said in a prepared statement. "These measures will ensure that broadcasters are directly accountable and give greater protection for all. Ofcom will not hesitate to take firm action with broadcasters who step out of line and mislead people." As an additional element of the UK's regulatory push against participation TV, PhonepayPlus, the agency that carries out day-to-day regulation of the PRS market on Ofcom's behalf, now requires that service providers looking to offer PRS to broadcasters must first seek its permission, and must meet a number of conditions, including ensuring that lines are closed promptly.

CTAM Survey Casts Light on Teens' Cross-Platform Viewing Habits

CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, earlier this month released the results of a survey of the video viewing habits of teenagers across traditional television and other platforms. Survey participants were asked what types of video content they view on any device: user-generated video clips ranked highest at 76%, followed by comedy clips (69%), music videos (65%), full-length movies (63%), movie trailers or previews (60%), sports (52%), sitcoms (44%), documentaries and educational video (44%), news and political clips (42%), dramas (36%) and celebrity/gossip clips (25%).

The survey also asked participants about the devices on which they watch video: 83% reported still viewing content on a television set, 44% on a desktop, 24% on a laptop, 15% on a portable media player, and 8% on a cell phone. Of participants who described themselves as early adopters, there was a 37% increase in those watching video on laptops, CTAM says, and a 28% increase in those watching video on portable media players. According to the organization, this shows that "broad acceptance of mobile viewing is on the horizon."

The survey also found that two-thirds of teenagers have their own personal Web page, 71% have played multiplayer online games, and 34% have created their own videos to share online. The survey, which was conducted by ICR, was based on telephone interviews conducted between February 6th and 10th with a randomly selected group of 512 12-to-17 year-olds.

Nielsen: DVR's Increase amount of Time People Spend Watching TV

--Company Launches VOD Measurement Service

Audience measurement company, Nielsen, recently announced that its research shows that DVR playback is actually increasing the amount of time people spend watching TV: by comparing total TV usage (live viewing plus DVR playback) for 18 to 49-year-olds in November, 2007 to total TV usage in November, 2005 (before Nielsen measured DVR households and when, the company says, DVR penetration was very low), the company says it found that viewing had increased slightly throughout the day, and was 3% higher at 9:00PM and 5% higher between 11:00PM and midnight. The company says that these findings have implications for primetime viewing levels in the future, because, as the number of DVR households in the US grows, DVR primetime viewing levels will likely rise as well.

Nielsen says its research also shows that the traditional primetime period (8:00PM to 11:00PM) is expanding, because people are watching shows they recorded later the same evening. In fact, the company claims, by creating their own "personal television schedules," viewers are pushing primetime as far back as midnight. Nielsen says that DVR playback peaks between 9:00PM and 10:00PM, with 11% of 18-to-49 year-olds in DVR households playing back recorded programming on their DVR's, while between 11:00PM and midnight 7% of that demographic are playing programming back. "Consumers are increasingly making time-shifted viewing an important part of their overall television experience, and are beginning to change traditional TV models," Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's SVP of insights, analysis and policy, said in a prepared statement. "DVR playback has added to TV usage, particularly during the most watched hours of the day, as viewers take advantage of their ability to watch their favorite shows according to their own schedules."

Nielsen also says it has identified three distinct groups of DVR users, based on how much they time-shift:

• Heavy Shifters, who are primarily middle-income women, aged 18 to 49, and who record and playback nearly 26 hours of television (i.e. around half of their TV viewing) per week. 18-to-34 year-old males are least likely to fall into this group, the company says.
• Medium Shifters, who watch somewhat more television than the average person and about a third of whose viewing is time-shifted.
• Light Shifters, who account for nearly 70% of all persons in DVR households and who watch less television than the average viewer. While the most likely to own an HD television set (their incomes generally exceed $100,000 a year), they spend only around 10% of their television time viewing time-shifted programming, watching shows they otherwise would have missed.

According to Nielsen, time-shifting is not evenly distributed by genres of programming: most viewers prefer to watch news, sports and movies live, the company says, while general dramas, such as "House," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Heroes" account for one-third of time-shifted content. Other types of programming that are heavily time-shifted include talk shows, soap operas and reality TV shows, the company says.

In other Nielsen news:

• Earlier this year, the company commercially launched a new measurement service that aggregates and anonymously reports on VOD usage, based on real-time transactions collected at the set-top box level. Dubbed NORA (Nielsen On Demand Reporting and Analytics) and offered as part of Nielsen's DigitalPlus service, the new Web-based tool also provides integrated data sets from other Nielsen measurement services, including Nielsen EDI and Nielsen VideoScan. The new NORA offering is intended to complement Nielsen's existing panel-based National People Meter VOD Audience Measurement service. Comcast is the first MSO to sign up for the new service, providing it with VOD data and using it to analyze trends in VOD usage, based on such factors as programmer, program distributor, program category (e.g. if the program is free, part of a subscription- based premium programming service, or offered on a pay-per-view basis), and box-office revenue. According to Nielsen, by providing set-top box-level data on actual VOD selections, NORA will enable its clients to interpret VOD viewing trends, as well as analyze the impact of VOD usage. Nielsen says it is also working on the integration of additional data sets into NORA, such as those from Nielsen Media Research, Claritas, ACNielsen Homescan and Nielsen Online.
• The company recently signed a deal with Charter that will see the latter supplying it with anonymous, aggregate minute-by-minute set-top box data from around 330,000 households in the Los Angeles area.

AFDESI Expands its Scope to the UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany

AFDESI, which was launched in 2000 as a professional body for the French interactive TV industry, is expanding its scope to additionally represent the ITV industries of the UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. While the organization will continue to be called AFDESI (which originally stood for the Association of French Developers and Editors of Interactive Services), that acronym will now stand for the Association for the Development of Enhanced TV Services and Interactivity. AFDESI says that the goal of the expansion of its mandate is to "create a strong, independent professional association in each territory that can act together, collaboratively when necessary, to provide a clear voice for the interactive television industry within the EU as well as internationally." Its stated objectives include "gathering and disseminating information and enabling dissemination of knowledge and sharing experiences, methods, business models and other aspects" of the ITV industry; formulating industry consensus on issues, and then representing the industry before regulators and legislative bodies; and identifying and publicizing the availability of EU funding and grants that are applicable to ITV projects.

Two-Screen ITV Company, Desktopbox, Acquired by Harris Corp.

Toronto-based two-screen interactive TV technology provider, Desktopbox, has been acquired by international communications and information technology company, Harris Corporation. Harris says it will integrate Desktopbox's technology into its H-Class software product line and market it worldwide. The Desktopbox platform enables a two-screen enhanced TV and radio model in which content providers can send URL's synchronized with a live or pre-recorded program to viewers' Web browsers. During a program, URL's providing show-related information are automatically displayed on viewers' PC's or laptops: thus, for example, when a baseball player comes up to bat, viewers might see a Web page at which that player's statistics are displayed; or, when a car commercial airs, they might see a Web page for a local dealer. Likewise, music programming might be enhanced by broadband VOD content, blogs, lyrics, album notes, fan Web sites, concert schedules or CD ordering information. The platform allows viewers to access programming-synchronized Web content either during a show's live broadcast or during playback from a DVR, a VOD server or a DVD (note: for an extensive overview of Desktopbox's technology from the company's founder and president, Mike Church, see [itvt] Issue 7.32 Part 3).

According to Harris, Desktopbox's technology is being integrated into a range of its products, including its ADC and D-Series broadcast automation products, its Vision scheduling system, and its Landmark, OSi and Novar traffic and billing systems. "We've been working with Desktopbox since early 2007 on the application of their technology into our content-management platforms," Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications, said in a prepared statement. "By bringing the technology of Desktopbox into Harris, we're able to more rapidly and extensively integrate their Internet synchronization technology into our media solutions." Added Desktopbox founder and president, Mike Church: "Since our Desktopbox platform allows for an advertiser-supported model, interfacing with Harris' traffic and billing systems will allow us take advantage of Harris automated electronic billing features, making it easier for our users to generate incremental ad revenue and monetize the system. Ultimately, the ability to track consumer dual-screen usage allows networks, stations, MSO's and content producers to increase advertising revenue for a given program."

France Telecom-Subsidiary, Viaccess, to Acquire Orca Interactive

Israeli IPTV middleware and applications provider, Orca Interactive, is to be acquired by France Telecom-subsidiary, Viaccess, in a deal that values it at approximately $21.4 million (note: for more info on recent product announcements by Orca). The deal is subject to various conditions, including approval by an extraordinary general meeting of Orca Interactive. Viaccess is a provider of content-protection technology, that claims to have deployed its conditional access and DRM solutions in over 30 countries, and to serve over 1.2 million active IPTV subscribers around the world. The companies say that the acquisition will enable them to improve their respective market positions and enhance their ability to "smoothly deliver innovative solutions" with an integrated IPTV platform. "Viaccess's investment in Orca proves that we are standing at the brink of a new era, firmly cementing IPTV's role in the consolidation of telecommunications services," Orca CEO, Haggai Barel, said in a prepared statement. "As a true industry pioneer, Orca Interactive has continuously led the IPTV revolution with cutting-edge technology and a flexible middleware platform designed to make next-generation TV services a reality. Today's announcement represents a significant milestone both for Orca and for the IPTV market at large."

Founder, Jasper Smith, Reacquires Static 2358 (PlayJam) from OpenTV

--OpenTV to Retain 19% Stake in the Company
--Static 2358 Unveils Plans for PlayJam-Branded Freeview Set-Top Boxes

Founder, Jasper Smith, has reacquired Static 2358, the company which operates the PlayJam interactive TV games service and which was acquired by OpenTV in 2001. Static 2358 is now 81% owned by Smith's newly established holding company, General Entertainment & Technology Corporation (GET Corp.), and 19% owned by OpenTV: according to the companies, this shared ownership structure will cement a "global alliance" between them. (Note: Smith is also the founding director of Electra Entertainment, a company that has developed a new interactive TV middleware--see article in this issue; and of Fluorescent Media, a company that specializes in developing cross-platform participation TV formats and technology.)

PlayJam originated as a side project of Static 2358 during the early days of interactive TV in the UK. PlayJam channels launched on BSkyB and France's Canal Sat in 2000, and offered a mix of free and pay-per-play prized games. Static 2358 went on to develop branded games for such clients as Disney, Universal, the BBC, MTV and Channel 4, and PlayJam games, of which there are now around 800, are currently available in around 55 million TV households around the world, through deployments with such operators as Sky, EchoStar (US), Dish TV (India), Sky Italia, Multichoice (South Africa), UPC (Netherlands) and Astro (Malaysia). The company claims that its games have seen over 8 billion downloads over the past five years. In its role as the operator of OpenTV's content business, it also claims to have built, tested and delivered over 3,000 applications, to be able to support all major operating systems, and to have worked with 46 pay-TV operators and 62 broadcasters across the world. Its central network operations are based in London, and it maintains offices in Denver and Bangalore.

According to Smith, his reacquisition of Static 2358 "will mark a shift towards a stronger general entertainment theme centered on free and skill-based games through interactive and video content," and the company will work with various partners to "seamlessly bring...together games, user-generated content and social networking across interactive TV, mobile telephony and the Web, ensuring that the PlayJam Games Network delivers the next phase in IPTV entertainment." "We're developing the holy grail of casual gaming," Smith said in a prepared statement. "PlayJam will become the best ITV games service in the world where anyone can join. Empowering users to publish video content on the Web and TV simultaneously creates a unique offering benefiting both broadcasters and brands."

In related news: Static has announced plans to launch PlayJam-branded set-top boxes for the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial service, Freeview. The new "PlayBox" set-tops will make the PlayJam ITV games portal available via DTT for the first time. According to the company, PlayBox-branded Freeview receivers will be driven by its Trove platform, which is based on proprietary middleware from its sister company, Electra Entertainment. Electra claims that the middleware "brings fast, efficient and content-rich interactivity to mass-market set top boxes, PVR's and IDTV's, requiring less than 1% of the bandwidth needed by other middleware solutions" (note: for more on Electra's new middleware platform, see article in this issue). According to Static, PlayBox receivers will offer over 50 PlayJam-branded games, updated on a daily basis, as well as Freeview's 40 channels, a seven-day EPG, and a range of interactive services delivered by the Trove platform, including news, weather, reviews and travel. "PlayJam's games have proven to be hugely popular for all the family and have the added benefit of driving pay-per-play, subscription and advertising revenues," Static's Smith said in a prepared statement. "With nearly 10 million Freeview products sold in the UK last year, the PlayBox will create substantial differentiation in the marketplace through its packaging and added-value content." According to Static, it is currently in the process of finalizing licensing agreements with Freeview set-top manufacturers. The company says that the PlayBox will retail for around £20.

Digeo Restructures, Focuses Development Efforts on Fewer Products

Shortly after unveiling a new "featured services" strategy at CES 2008, and announcing alliances with four companies--Flickr, Finetune, Accedo Broadband and CloverLeaf Digital--that it said would be providing content services for its flagship Moxi platform, Paul Allen- owned Digeo announced a major restructuring that saw CEO, Mike Fiedler, leave the company, along with half of its staff, and president and COO, Greg Gudorf take over his role. (Note: the Moxi platform allows end-users to store, access and manage a variety of entertainment content through a single, unified menu. The platform is notable for its interface, which won Emmy awards in 2004 and 2005, and which replaces the standard "spreadsheet" EPG interface with a so-called "cross-hairs" configuration, consisting of two intersecting animated lines at right angles to each other: customers use the left and right arrow keys on their remote control to scroll through a series of customizable categories--dubbed "filters" by the company--on the horizontal line: e.g. HDTV, sports, news, movies, photos, games, MP3 Jukebox, etc.; they then use the remote's up and down arrow keys to scroll through the sub-listings of the currently highlighted category, which appear as a vertical line intersecting the line of categories. Digeo has secured a number of patents for the technology, and recently settled a long-running patent-dispute with Gemstar-TV Guide.

Digeo says that it will now focus its product-development efforts on fewer platforms: it has abandoned plans to release a number of previously announced retail products, including its Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR and its Moxi Home Cinema Edition DMR. Instead, it plans to focus its efforts 1) on its "next-generation consumer DMR," which it says has been in development for some time now, is targeted for retail, and will be announced later this year; and 2) on the Moxi HD DVR for Cable, which is targeted at cable operators, and which it says is currently in trials and should be released as planned. The company claims that all its current content and development partnerships, including its product collaboration with Monster Cable, will remain in place, and that the employees whom it let go were "not critical to development of the new products."

Digeo's corporate reorganization has also seen it restructure its development team: three new engineering groups now report directly to the office of the CEO, in order, the company says, to ensure greater accountability and transparency. "As we assessed our situation, it became clear that the best action for Digeo was to focus our work on the next-generation product for the retail market," Gudorf said in a prepared statement. "Building the software and hardware for this category is a complex endeavor, with dynamic technical standards, regulatory issues and content considerations. Previously, we were spreading our energies across too many platforms. This focused strategy promises to bring a set of advanced and compelling DMR features to consumers, at the right cost and at the right time. We remain committed to bringing the best television experience to our customers and we are confident that we'll emerge even more successful as a result of this focusing effort."

Cellcast's SUMO.tv Gets a Less Prominent Sky EPG Slot

--Deal Nets Company £1.4 Million
--Company in Deal with Gaming Ventures

UK-based interactive and participation TV specialist, Cellcast, says that it has agreed to an exchange of its two channels on the Sky satellite platform (one of which it says is "surplus to its requirements," the other of which serves as an outlet for user-generated programming from its UGC/video-sharing service, SUMO.tv) in exchange for a new channel (in a less favorable EPG slot) and a cash consideration of £1.4 million; the net book value of the two channels was £304,936. The company says it will use the cash for general working capital, and to repay £500,000 outstanding under an existing credit facility provided by Headstart: it has entered an agreement with the latter to pay the amount outstanding in full before December; in return, Headstart has agreed to waive its rights of conversion subject to the repayments being made. (Note: Cellcast bills SUMO.tv as "the world's first media network to seamlessly integrate user-generated content into television programming, Internet and mobile services," using a "proprietary technical services architecture"; according to Cellcast, SUMO.tv users have now created over 3,000 "alternative online channels," and the service now attracts over 5 million uniques per month.)

Cellcast has also provided a "trading update" on its various operations:

• It says that its core business continues to "do well in a challenging consumer environment."
• It says that "significant benefits" are flowing back from its investment in content and technology for SUMO.tv, particularly in regard to its core participation TV applications and formats, and that it is developing new revenue streams from the Internet and from 3G mobile services. According to the company, its interactive 3G mobile video products "saw a 400% increase" over the past 12 months, as a result of growing 3G handset penetration, increased familiarity with video calling in general, and the ease-of-use of 3G video calling services. It says that, over the course of this year, it has integrated its 3G video calling products with its portfolio of TV channels and Web sites in order to offer "yet another level of interaction to existing formats," and that a "fully integrated interactive online and mobile chat and messaging platform, incorporating video calling between online Webcam users with 3G video callers" is the latest addition to its suite of products. It also claims that its 3G traffic and revenue have "more than doubled" since last October, and that, in February, for example, that revenue amounted to over £35,000 per month (it says its 3G revenues are increasing an average of 25% per month).
• It says that Cellcast Asia Holdings, its joint venture with Canaan Partners, is "progressing well," having recently secured agreements with BSNL and Tata Telecom, as well as with new broadcaster clients, Zoom and B4U. In February, Cellcast says, Cellcast Asia achieved profitability at a gross margin level.
• It says that it is satisfied that SUMO.tv is "now very much less dependent on its position on Sky's EPG to sustain and build its user base."
• It says it believes future operating and development costs for SUMO.tv will be significantly reduced, now that the first phase of its development strategy for the service has been completed.
• It says that, now that SUMO.tv is established in the UK market, it is fully engaged in licensing the platform and its aggregated content and formats to broadcasters and distributors internationally. According to the company, SUMO.tv is now being distributed on the European IPTV platform, Zattoo; and on the Vingo.tv platform, which has an audience base in over 100 countries. In addition, it says it is currently distributing--or will shortly be distributing--SUMO content on a number of third-party Web sites, including YouTube, Joost and Blinkx.com. It also recently signed a deal to offer SUMO content on social networking site, Bebo. In addition, in January, it signed deals to distribute SUMO content on the Orange mobile networks in France and Israel, and it says it is engaged in discussions to launch the service in other markets, including Australia, Malaysia and South Africa.
• It says that it continues to enhance the proprietary technology that underlies the SUMO platform. Recent enhancements include "Sumo TeleConferencing," which allows viewers to use regular Webcams or 3G phones to interact live with a TV host and with one another.

In other Cellcast news: Earlier this year, the company signed a joint marketing agreement with gaming and entertainment company, Gaming Ventures. According to the companies, the deal will allow Gaming Ventures to offer its full range of products to viewers and users of Cellcast's UK and international satellite TV, streaming video, Internet and mobile channels, including the SUMO.tv network; and Cellcast's participation TV model will enable Gaming Ventures to create product sets for Cellcast that "will not be constrained by the limitations of the 'red button.'" Gaming Ventures' mobile gaming platform is currently available in nine major languages. "We believe the ubiquitous nature of satellite TV and mobile phone technology has created opportunities that we will be able to leverage for the mutual benefit of both companies," Gaming Ventures COO, David Abbott, said in a prepared statement. "We have been trialing Gaming Ventures' products on several of Cellcast's services for some months. The demographics are outstanding and the geographic reach of Cellcast is a huge opportunity for us. We will be launching a number of initiatives for execution in the coming months that should create new viewers and revenue streams for both companies." Added Cellcast CEO, Andrew Wilson: "Gaming Ventures has a compelling portfolio of games that range from traditional casino, through skill games, to new lottery variants that can be tailored to the various demographics of our channels. As an adjunct to these activities, we are also in the process of aggregating gaming-related short form video content and developing a gaming-related vertical on SUMO.tv."

Ashley Highfield Named CEO of Kangaroo

--Company is a VOD Joint Venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4

Ashley Highfield has quit his post as the BBC's director of future media and technology to become the CEO of Kangaroo, a VOD service that is a commercial joint venture between the BBC, ITV (i.e. the UK's largest commercial broadcaster, the Independent Television Network) and Channel 4, and that is set to launch later this year (note: the launch of the service--which will initially be available via the Internet--is expected to take place in June). He succeeds Lesley MacKenzie, who has been leading the venture as interim CEO. His new role will see Highfield leading negotiations with content owners and potential distributors of Kangaroo's service (note: "Kangaroo" is a working title). During his stint at the BBC, Highfield oversaw the launch of the BBC iPlayer and presided over significant growth of the Corporation's Web site (now ranked as the UK's third most popular). "This is a fantastic opportunity," Highfield said in a prepared statement. "Kangaroo is a historic partnership with a combination of innovative technology and terrific content and I'm looking forward to transforming the way audiences watch television." The service is expected to offer around 10,000 hours of free and paid content.

BlackArrow Appoints Larry Kramer as Chairman, Tracy Martin as CFO

BlackArrow, a company that specializes in providing advertising-management systems for on-demand video on multiple platforms, has appointed Larry Kramer as chairman of the board and Tracy Martin as CFO.

Kramer is currently a senior advisor at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm with around $3 billion under management. Notably, from March, 2005 through November, 2006, he served as the first president of CBS Digital Media, a new division he created in order to integrate all new media operations for the eponymous network; and, prior to that, he founded and served as chairman and CEO of MarketWatch until its sale to Dow Jones in January, 2005. His resume also includes stints as a VP at Data Broadcasting Corp, after its acquisition of his company, DataSport, and as a reporter and editor at the San Francisco Examiner, the Washington Post and the Trenton Times.

Martin, meanwhile, was previously VP of operations for finance at Yahoo! His resume includes stints as SVP of operations and CFO at Knight Ridder Digital, as CFO at Red Herring Communications, and as corporate controller at NeoMagic.

Navic Names Alec Gerster Chief Marketing Officer

Interactive TV and addressable advertising technology provider, Navic Networks, has named advertising-industry veteran, Alec Gerster, to the newly created position of chief marketing officer, in which role he will be tasked with broadening industry awareness and usage of the company's enhanced and addressable advertising technologies. "Navic's work with key North American cable operators has set a solid foundation for advertisers to leverage the full potential of enhanced television advertising in the growing digital TV environment," Gerster said in a prepared statement. "It's exciting for someone with my background and experience to be an integral part of a company demonstrating the real, tangible benefits of a digital television environment to advertisers, media owners and viewers."

According to Navic, Gerster, who will be based in New York, has established deep contacts in the media and advertising industries during his 35-year career. He most recently served as worldwide CEO of Initiative, a media service company owned by Interpublic, where he oversaw operations in 58 countries and a workforce of 3,000. He left that position earlier this year, Navic says, in order to focus on his interest in the growing potential of the digital television industry. Prior to joining Initiative in April, 2002, he spent 30 years at Grey Global Group, rising to CEO of Grey's media service arm, MediaCom Worldwide. According to Navic, his stint at Grey Global Group saw him taking on an important role in that company's entrance into the digital media space, as well as participating in the foundation of its Grey Technologies Group.

Mirada Taps Antonio Rodriguez to Head its Interactive Media Division

--Neil MacDonald Quits as COO
--Company Secures Deal with Spanish Cable Operator, Cableuropa

Mirada, the Anglo-Spanish company that was recently formed via the merger of YooMedia and Fresh IT (for extensive background on the merger, see [itvt] Issue 5.78 Part 1), has appointed Antonio Rodriguez to head up its interactive media division, Mirada Media. Rodriguez--whom Mirada describes as "one of the few individuals in Europe to have successfully overseen the launch of a functioning IPTV platform--previously oversaw the development and launch of a VOD-enabled IPTV service for Spanish telco, Jazztel, where he held the title, engineering manager for telco platforms (in which role, he also oversaw the company's voice and data products). According to Mirada, his previous experience also includes a stint at Madritel where he headed the launch of Spain's first digital cable platform, implemented that country's first pay-per-view offering, and had technical responsibility for the company's first near-VOD offering.

At Mirada, he will be tasked with leading the expansion and internationalization of the company's interactive media business: the company bills Mirada Media as providing a "full suite of interactive, transactional and gaming end-to-end services to enhance broadcast and on-demand TV content irrespective of the access platform." "It is a natural move for me to go from a client-side engineering role into a technology development role," Rodriguez said in a prepared statement. "As a company, Mirada understands the challenges that the operators face, which gives us an insight that few other digital specialists can match. We are also one of the few companies with extensive experience of both the broadcast and gaming sectors, which means we can provide significant assistance to broadcasters and content providers looking to take advantage of the deregulation of gambling in Europe."

According to Mirada, its Mirada Media division offers products that enable broadcasters and operators to add interactivity to their existing offerings, and products that enable non-broadcaster/operator brands to develop their own broadcasting and interactive TV capabilities. The company's other divisions are Mirada Touch (billed as delivering "products for brand owners, advertisers, retailers and their agencies to create and deliver innovative digital and mobile marketing services to their customers"), Mirada Gaming (billed as "a cross-channel gambling platform provider which offers long-term, risk-free gaming products, and a robust platform from which clients can operate their gaming business"), and Mirada Connect (billed as providing B2C solutions "covering mobile, IVR, the Web and interactive kiosks").

In other Mirada news:

• In a March 27th regulatory filing, the company revealed that Neil MacDonald has resigned as its COO "to pursue other business interests." His duties are being taken over by Aldo Campinos, who recently joined the company as VP of sales and business development and who will now be tasked with leading the company's global expansion efforts. Campinos will not, however, be joining Mirada's board "at this point in time," the company says. Campinos' resume includes stints at NDS, OpenTV and Thomson Multimedia.
• The company says that it has entered into an agreement with Spanish cable operator, Cableuropa, to supply the latter with its starTV product. It claims that the deal, whose financial terms have not been disclosed, is the largest commercial contract yet for starTV and will enable it to "achieve its targeted income for starTV of £1.4 million for the present year." According to Mirada, starTV is the "core software" for its Mirada Media set of products, and allows end-users to search for, navigate through and purchase live, recorded and on-demand programming. The deal will also see Mirada providing Cableuropa's entire digital subscriber base with both bound and unbound interactive TV services, the company says. "Mirada is in active negotiations with a number of potential customers and partners for the expanded range of products and services born from the recent merger of Fresh and YooMedia," Mirada CEO, Jose Luis Vazquez, said in a prepared statement. "The agreement with Cableuropa is a tremendous endorsement of our presence in the field of interactive media."

Ben Bennett Named OpenTV CEO

--Paul Woidke Expected to be Named Company's GM of Advanced Advertising

Interactive TV software provider, OpenTV (note: voting control of the company was acquired last year by content-protection specialist, the Kudelski Group), last month appointed Ben Bennett as CEO. Bennett, who has been at OpenTV since March, 2000, has served as the company's acting CEO and as its COO since August 29th, 2007. Prior to that, he served as managing director of OpenTV's European operations, overseeing operations and relationships with European network operators, broadcasters and set-top box and conditional access vendors; and before that, he served as SVP and general manager of the company's Worldwide Professional Services, Consulting and Support Group, managing product deployment and integration teams in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. "Since his appointment as acting chief executive officer, Ben has demonstrated strong leadership skills and has focused OpenTV on growing its core businesses of middleware and advanced advertising solutions and realigning its organization to achieve its goal of sustainable profitability," OpenTV executive chairman, Andre Kudelski, said in a prepared statement. "The Board of Directors has full confidence in Ben and believes that he is the right person to lead the company forward." Added Bennett: "I have always been excited by OpenTV's people, products and our market opportunity, and I am delighted to assume the role of chief executive officer in a permanent capacity. Over the past few months, we have made good progress in realigning our organization and refocusing our efforts around our core businesses. However, we still have a great deal of work ahead of us innovating and evolving our technology and services such that we can compete aggressively in this global, digital economy. OpenTV will focus on creating and delivering innovative and high-quality solutions for our customers in conjunction with sensible cost control to enable the company to meet its goal of sustainable and scalable profitability."

In late-breaking related news: OpenTV is expected to announce on Monday that it has tapped Paul Woidke, SVP of technology at Comcast Spotlight, as its SVP and general manager of advanced advertising.

Mondor Replaces Trimm as Concurrent CEO

VOD technology provider, Concurrent, has appointed Dan Mondor as CEO, effective April 23rd; he will also take a seat on the company's board of directors. Mondor replaces Gary Trimm, who is retiring both from his CEO role and from the company's board, but who will continue to serve as a part-time consultant for the company. Trimm has been Concurrent's CEO since summer of 2004.

According to Concurrent, Mondor has over 28 years of experience with prominent global corporations in general management, sales, marketing and strategic planning. He was previously president of Mitel Networks, with responsibility for the company's US operations; prior to that, he spent a 16-year stint at Nortel Networks, eventually becoming the VP and general manager of its global cable MSO business; and prior to that, he spent a six-year stint at Siemens. He began his career at Bell-Northern Research. A native of Canada, Mondor has a masters of engineering from the University of Ottawa, and a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba. "I am excited that Dan will be leading Concurrent," Concurrent chairman, Steve Nussrallah, said in a prepared statement. "He brings tremendous industry experience and business leadership to the company that we expect will launch Concurrent to a new level. Gary Trimm did an excellent job turning the business around and built a strong foundation that we believe Dan Mondor will be able to capitalize upon for the benefit of our employees and shareholders. We believe Concurrent has a great future with an excellent lineup of next-generation products in our video-on-demand and real-time businesses. We have a great team in place to address these and our new initiatives in advanced advertising, high performance storage, and audience measurement."

Expo Communications Names David Rubinstein VP of Media Sales

Expo Communications, a company which operates an online and cable VOD service, called ExpoTV, that features two- to three-minute consumer-generated product reviews (which the company dubs "Videopinions"), has appointed David Rubinstein as VP of media sales. He will be responsible for all the company's interactive media, sponsorship and cable VOD sales. "David measures success by the impact he delivers to his clients," ExpoTV CEO, Daphne Kwon, said in a prepared statement. "He will leverage our unique community of influentials, thousands of product videos, in-depth ownership research and original programming to invite clients into our robust consumer conversation."

According to Expo, Rubinstein has significant expertise in developing and executing account strategy for such brands as HP, Dell, Kodak and AT&T. He most recently served as a senior category director at Yahoo!, where he oversaw the company's relationships with various technology and telecom advertisers and was tasked with identifying opportunities to drive category revenue growth. While at Yahoo!, Expo says, he released several research studies that "are considered must-reads for executives seeking to understand the impact of online advertising on offline sales." Prior to his stint at Yahoo!, he developed and executed account strategy for wireless carriers and manufacturers at Current Analysis. He has a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Babson.

In other Expo news: The company recently tapped one of its consumer-reviewers, Adam Barrera (known as "highmileage" to ExpoTV visitors), to serve as the on-camera host for its coverage of the 2008 New York Auto Show (note: that coverage is part of ExpoTV's ongoing series, "Press Pass," which provides coverage of industry tradeshows). According to the company, Barrera's videopinion reviews have garnered nearly 10,000 views, and its decision to use him as a "consumer reporter" is part of its efforts to "draw on the passion and talents of its user base." (Note: Expo also recently signed a VOD distribution deal with TVN Entertainment--see article in this issue.)

Ensequence-Commissioned Survey Shows Consumers Ready for Interactive TV

--Company Forms Blu-ray Java Partnership with Sony

Earlier this year, Portland, Oregon-based interactive TV authoring solutions provider, Ensequence, commissioned a survey from Harris Interactive, which it says shows that US consumers are "ready to change the way they interact with their televisions in 2008." According to the survey, 72% of viewers are currently using their remotes to perform simple interactive TV operations, such as finding their favorite programs through the EPG, scheduling and selecting DVR recordings, and accessing on-demand content (note: the survey, which was conducted online in the US between November 29th and December 3rd, 2007, questioned 2,959 adults, of whom 2,877 stated they watched TV; the survey weighted respondents' age, sex, ethnicity, education, region and household income, where necessary, in order to reflect demographic divisions of the population as a whole; it also used propensity score weighting, in order to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online). Those viewers, the survey claims, are now eager for exponentially more interactivity across every genre of programming and advertising. According to the survey:

• 70% of viewers would consider switching to a different cable or satellite TV provider, if the latter offered advanced ITV services at no extra charge.
• 72% of those who watch reality TV shows want to interact with those shows.
• 65% of those who watch sporting events on TV want to interact with event coverage.
• 66% of viewers want to interact with advertising.
• 50% of those who watch drama programming would be interested in interacting with that programming.

In a prepared statement, Ensequence CEO, Dalen Harrison, hailed the results of the survey (note: Harrison recently received an "ITV All-Star" award at the [itvt] Awards for Leadership in Interactive and Multiplatform Television, which were held at the TV of Tomorrow Show in San Francisco): "The TV has always been the focal point of every home. As consumers spend big money to upgrade their TV's, they want to be able to do more with the programming and advertising that they watch. This study confirms that consumers have higher expectations and want to vote for contestants, get additional product information during commercials, purchase tickets for live events or get scores and statistics during sporting events--all using their remote controls."

Ensequence itself has, of course, been responsible for a number of high-profile interactive TV projects in the US. Last year, for example, it developed an application for the Bravo reality series, "Top Chef 3 Miami," that allowed viewers to, among other things, use their remotes to vote for their favorite contestants and download recipes; and in December, it created an application for the Spike TV Video Game Awards that allowed satellite viewers to access exclusive content and unlock cheat codes for video games. It also recently developed an ITV advertising campaign for Reebok that allowed viewers to make purchases with their remotes, and worked with Nike's advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy, to create an ITV ad for the Nike Zoom shoe that used DVR's to deliver 22 minutes of interactive content, and allowed viewers to watch exclusive video, get customized retail locations, and access product information.

In other Ensequence news: The company recently announced a strategic partnership with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, under which the latter will license and resell Ensequence's on-Q Create suite for Blu-ray Java (BD-J) to major studios and independent Blu-ray developers. According to the companies, their partnership will result in Blu-ray Disc developers worldwide using on-Q Create for Blu-ray Java to develop advanced interactive features for Blu-ray Disc titles.

According to Ensequence, while Java opens up new creative possibilities for Blu-ray Disc authors, the Java component of BD-J authoring can be challenging for traditional DVD authors. The company touts the on-Q Create suite as reducing the learning curve by allowing creatives to design and develop interactivity for Blu-ray Discs without advanced knowledge of Java and the BD-J specification. The product features a drag-and-drop authoring environment, Photoshop integration, and a Blu-ray Disc wizard that Ensequence says offers built-in Blu-ray Disc functionality "out of the box." "The Ensequence on-Q Create suite has drastically reduced the complexity of authoring Java content on Blu-ray Disc titles, enabling content developers to create compelling, rich and dynamic interactive experiences in a WYSIWYG environment--and in drastically reduced timeframes," SPHE's EVP of advanced technology, Don Eklund, said in a prepared statement.

Ensequence and SPHE say they worked together to make significant integration changes, enabling "seamless workflow" for Blu-ray authoring and the creation of complex user interfaces and animation for Blu-ray Discs. They also claim that the on-Q Create suite enables compatibility across various players, and supports current and next-generation Blu-ray Disc features, including advanced picture-in-picture functionality (e.g. director's commentaries overlaid on top of the video), purchase functionality, and bonus content. "We were able to apply our expertise in the television set-top box market and create interactive television experiences for multiple platforms to address the complexity of Blu-ray authoring, which is just being recognized in the packaged media community," Ensequence CEO, Harrison, said in a prepared statement. "With the on-Q Create suite for Blu-ray Java, our customers and resellers are able to take advantage of the advanced capabilities made available on the most cutting-edge consumer devices today."

Ensequence, TVonics, ALi Corporation and Zinwell Join IMPALA

The International MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA), an organization that was set up in 2006 by Strategy & Technology, Cabot Communications and EchoStar Europe to promote use of the MHEG-5 standard outside the UK (note: MHEG-5 is the middleware standard upon which the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial service, Freeview, is based; it was developed and standardized in the mid-90's as part of the DAVIC standardization effort to support interactivity and navigation for VOD services; over 23 million Freeview receivers that employ the UK MHEG-5 profile have been deployed to date), has announced four new "supporter members": Ensequence, TVonics, ALi Corporation and Zinwell. "MHEG-5 has proven itself as the most successful interactivity standard for digital TV with more than 20 million deployments in six years," Alp Somyurek, VP of sales and business development at TVonics, said in a prepared statement. "It is easy to use and affordable, thanks to the fact that it requires very little system resources. MHEG-5 is also a scalable and flexible technology that is continuously being expanded in its capabilities. TVonics currently supplies Freeview set-top boxes and digital TV recorders and plans to supply a full range of Freesat products and iDTV's with MHEG-5 technology in 2008." Added Roger Demuth, Ensequence's VP of European business development: "MHEG-5 provides a true standardization of technology across multiple geographies, therefore simplifying the creation of dynamic interactive TV experiences with Ensequence software." Other companies and organizations that have joined IMPALA within the past year include Finlux, Freeview (New Zealand's free-to-air digital television consortium, not to be confused with its UK equivalent), Hitachi, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and TopUp TV.

Ustream Secures $11.1 Million in Series A Funding

--Company Offers Interactive Web Broadcasting Platform

Ustream--a company that offers a platform billed as "allowing anyone with a camera, computer and Internet connection to broadcast live to the world" (note: the platform supports chat rooms and other interactive and social features)--says it has secured $11.1 million in Series A funding from venture capital firm, DCM, and existing investors, Labrador Ventures and The Band of Angels. The company says it will use the new funds to accelerate product development. "A few years ago, it was unimaginable to have interactive broadcasting on the scale that Ustream delivers today," DCM's Gen Isayama said in a prepared statement. "This marks a major shift of online entertainment and it reflects a new desire to interact and be a part of the show, rather than to just consume it. Investing in Ustream was a decision based on the company's technology, pioneering vision, and track record for consistently delivering enhancements that are attracting broadcasters and engaging millions of viewers." Added Ustream founder and chairman, John Ham: "Live, interactive broadcasting is an emerging form of media on the Web. Ustream is bridging the gap between the content creator and the audience by allowing the audience to interact and be a part of the show--a clear evolution from the traditional mode of passive content consumption."

Ustream claims to have registered over 260,000 "broadcasters"--including Barack Obama, John McCain and Johnny Knoxville ("Jackass")--since its platform's beta-launch around a year ago, and has partnerships in place with Bebo, Veoh, Digg, Meebo and Sun Microsystems. Other statistics touted by the company include: 2.2 million unique viewers per month; 75,000-120,000 viewer hours per day; 10,000+ hours of live streaming content per day; 350,000+ hours of live streamed programming per month; 8,000-10,000 broadcasts per day; and 400-600 concurrent streams at any given moment.

Move Networks Secures $46 Million in Series C Funding Round

--Hires Thomas Morgan as Chief Strategy Officer, Opens New Offices
--Plans to Integrate with Microsoft Silverlight

Move Networks, a Utah-based company that offers patent-pending technologies for delivering live and on-demand HD-quality broadband video (its technologies are used by, among others, ABC, Discovery Communications, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros.), said last week that it has secured $46 million in a Series C funding round that was led by Benchmark Capital and that saw the participation of Cisco, Comcast Interactive Media and Televisa, as well as previous investors, Steamboat Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. The company has now raised a total of $67.3 million. "Rarely have we seen a company take market share at such a dramatic pace in an emerging industry," Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark Capital, said in a prepared statement. "The key stakeholders of the world's best video content are voting by choosing Move Networks as their online video solution. Move offers a unique and obvious quality advantage compared to other video delivery options. The best brands with the best content want full control of their experience and their advertising relationships. The Move platform is the only choice on the market that optimizes this strategic imperative."

The day after it announced the closing of its Series C funding round, Move revealed some of the ways in which it is using the new cash infusion:

• It has opened four new US offices: in Los Angeles and San Mateo (near Silicon Valley), Calif.; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and New York City.
• It plans to expand its global footprint by opening offices in Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region later this year.
• It has added two senior executives: 1) Thomas Morgan, who joins the company as chief strategy officer, and who is tasked with developing strategic initiatives focused on client revenue opportunities and with extending the company's business model for broadband TV. Morgan, a 25-year industry veteran, was previously founder and CEO of BlackArrow, a company that specializes in ad-management technologies for viewer-controlled video. Most recently, he worked at digital media consulting firm, MediaD.tv, where he led business development efforts for VOD and broadband TV. 2) Paul Ptaschne, who joins the company as VP of sales for Latin America. Ptaschne has worked in advertising sales and operations roles at Fox Latin America, Bloomberg International, and Cisneros Television Group, and has also participated in TV network launches in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

In other Move Networks news: Last month, the company announced that it plans to partner closely with Microsoft to integrate its video streaming technology with Microsoft Silverlight, the software giant's recently launched multiplatform, cross-browser plug-in for delivering multimedia content and rich interactive applications on the Web. "Silverlight is focused on delivering the most flexible cross-platform development environment for creating rich applications online," John Case, general manager of Microsoft's Developer Division, said in a prepared statement. "The era of static Web pages is well behind us. Media companies are intent on delivering video-rich, interactive experiences for users. Working together enables us to offer those media companies Move Networks' video streaming technology within the flexible Silverlight development platform." The companies claim that utilizing Move's video streaming technology within Silverlight's development platform will, among other things, enable media companies and advertising agencies to develop new, interactive advertising elements for broadband video.

SeaChange to Repurchase up to $20 Million of its Common Stock

VOD technology provider, SeaChange International, has announced a stock buyback program that will see it repurchasing up to $20 million of its common stock. The program was launched last month, following the company's release of its fiscal fourth quarter results. It will be funded from the company's current cash and investments (which it says total more than $80 million), and will take place in open-market, negotiated and block transactions. The company says it does not plan to repurchase shares from its management team or other insiders. It also says it may enter into Rule 10b5-1 plans to facilitate repurchases (would permit it to repurchase shares at times when securities laws would otherwise prevent it from doing so), and stresses that the program does not oblige it to acquire any specific number of shares and that it can be suspended at any time. Repurchased share will be accounted for as "authorized but unissued shares" of common stock.

White-Label Social TV Company, Reality Digital, Raises $6.3 Million

Reality Digital, a San Francisco-based company that offers a "software-as-a-service" platform (dubbed Reality Digital Opus) that allows companies to set up brand-focused social media networks around broadband video and user-generated content (note: the platform can be launched either as a brand-new Web environment or within an existing Web domain), says it has secured $6.3 million in Series B funding from OpenView Venture Partners. As part of the deal, OpenView's managing partner and senior managing director, Scott Maxwell, and venture partner, Mark Barry, are joining Reality Digital's board of directors.

Reality Digital, whose customers include MTV Networks, ITV Local and Lonely Planet, says it will use the new funding to expand its presence in the US and Europe. "We are pleased to have the support of a well-respected investment firm that purposely selects only a small number of expansion-stage companies and provides enhanced value to dramatically accelerate their growth," Reality Digital founder and CEO, Cynthia Francis, said in a prepared statement. "It's clear OpenView Venture Partners understands the enormous market potential of online video and social media and believes in our ability to lead in this market. Our customers realize that they can best optimize their brand's identity through best-in-class hosted offerings that leverage social media tools to connect with end-users. OpenView Venture Partners provides us with the resources needed to continue our growth in sales, marketing and product development, while meeting and exceeding our customers' needs."

OpenTV Reports Increased Q4 Revenues, Swings to a Profit

On February 21st, Interactive TV software provider, OpenTV (note: voting control of the company was acquired last year by content-protection specialist, the Kudelski Group), released financial results for the fourth quarter and for 2007 as a whole (notes: 1) following the company's sale of its PlayJam unit, it has reclassified all historic PlayJam-related revenues and costs as a discontinued operation; 2) as a result of the PlayJam sale, and the company's prior exit from its NASCAR and betting and gaming product lines, it has organized its financial reporting into two main reporting segments: Middleware Solutions and Advertising Solutions; the product lines that were previously part of its Applications and BettingCorp segments now form the basis of its Advertising Solutions segment):

• Q4 revenues totaled $38.2 million, compared to $25.1 million for the year-ago quarter. The company said that the increase was driven primarily by the recognition of $10.5 million of previously deferred revenue from UPC Broadband.
• Q4 EBITDA totaled $12.1 million, compared to $1 million for the year-ago quarter.
• Q4 net income totaled $11 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.4 million, or $0.02 per share, for the year-ago quarter.
• Q4 Revenues from the company's Middleware Solutions segment totaled $35 million, compared to $21.3 million for the year-ago quarter.
• Q4 Revenues from the company's Advertising Solutions segment totaled $3.2 million, compared to $3.8 million for the year-ago quarter.
• Annual revenues totaled $110 million, compared to $95.2 million for the previous year. The company ascribed the increase to "gains in the middleware and advertising product lines that were partially offset by declines in the NASCAR, Participate and betting and gaming product lines."
• Annual adjusted EBITDA totaled $8.3 million, compared to $5 million for the previous year.
• Annual net losses totaled $5.2 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to losses of $10.8 million, or $0.08 per share, for the previous year.
• At the end of the year, the company had deferred revenue of $24.1 million, compared to $25.6 million at the end of the previous year; and cash, cash-equivalents and short- and long-term marketable debt securities totaling $81.8 million, compared to $64.9 million at the end of the previous year.

"2007 marked an important year for OpenTV as we refocused our business strategy on our core middleware and advanced advertising businesses and took steps to move the company closer to achieving sustainable profitability," CEO Ben Bennett said in a prepared statement issued with the company's earnings press release. "We streamlined our business, disposing of unprofitable operations and consolidating business units to effect a more efficient and nimble operating structure. The deployment of more than 100 million OpenTV-enabled digital devices clearly demonstrates OpenTV's leadership position. As we move into 2008, we are committed to further growing our business by expanding our distribution channels, remaining focused on the provision of end-to-end turnkey solutions, and continuing to penetrate rapidly growing digital television markets worldwide. In addition, we look to broaden the range of capabilities and technologies supported by our middleware as well as our advanced advertising solutions, in order to continue capitalizing on the growing industry interest in these products."

Yahoo! Acquires Maven Networks for $160 Million

Maven Networks--a company which 1) offers a software platform, dubbed the Maven Internet TV Platform (it was previously called the Maven Media System), that is designed to allow content providers and brand marketers to create interactive broadband VOD channels; and which 2) offers a dynamic advertising insertion engine, inventory management systems, reporting tools, and various broadband video ad formats--has been acquired by Yahoo! for approximately $160 million. Yahoo! says that the goal of the acquisition--which sees Maven become a wholly owned Yahoo! subsidiary--is to expand consumer video and advertising experiences on its own site and on its network of video publishers across the Web; and that the acquisition will enable it to offer publishers a "full portfolio" of technology and media solutions. According to the Internet portal operator, that portfolio will include Yahoo!'s own large library of professionally produced, licensed video content; its video advertising relationships with TV advertisers (it claims to have such relationships with over 75% of the top TV advertisers); its advertising relationships with such premium publishers as eBay, Comcast, Newspaper Consortium, and Forbes.com; and, of course, Maven's platform, which is currently used to manage, distribute and monetize broadband video for over 30 major media companies (and several hundred of their affiliates), including Fox News, Sony BMG, CBS Sports, Hearst, Gannett, Scripps Networks, and the Financial Times.

Yahoo! says that it plans to invest in the growth of Maven's overall video business, continuing to provide premium publishers with broadband video publishing solutions, as well as new advertising solutions (note: for more on Maven's efforts to encourage the development of new broadband video advertising formats beyond the pre-roll, see [itvt] Issue 7.60). It also says it plans to expand Maven's existing offering with video monetization services that will allow publishers to take advantage of Yahoo!'s own display sales force and its "advanced technologies for delivering consumers more relevant advertising experiences." The company says that its expanded video solutions complement its full search and display offering, and will make for more inventory and more diverse choices, both on its own portal and on its advertising network, increasing its audience reach and making its advertising offerings more appealing to consumers. With Maven, it says, advertisers will be able to buy across Yahoo!'s premium content library, as well as across those of other publishers, simply and efficiently. "Video is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the online ad market, and Maven will significantly help advance Yahoo!'s strategy, expanding the video opportunity for publishers and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness for advertisers," Hilary Schneider, Yahoo!'s EVP of global partner solutions, said in a prepared statement. "This is a big win for publishers, advertisers, consumers and for Yahoo!"

Television Academy Issues Call for Entries for Interactive Media Emmys
--For Discussion of this Development, See [itvt] Issue 7.75
Channel 4 Launches £50 Million Public Service Digital Media Fund
VTran Files VOD Patent-Infringement Lawsuit against Midcontinent
--Has Previously Sued Bright House, Comcast, Cox and other Cable MSO's
UK Broadcaster, Five, Abandons Red-Button Interactive TV and i-Ads
--For Discussion of this Development, See [itvt] Issue 7.69
Joost Denies Sunday Times Report of a "Major Retrenchment"
--Concedes that it has Reduced its Employee Rolls
Bravo Names Lisa Hsia SVP of New Media and Digital Strategy
--Will Now Lead Channel's Overall Digital Strategy
Personal Broadcasting Company, Kyte, Raises $21.1 Million
Current TV Plans $100 Million IPO
--Launches User-Generated News Show
--Signs Deal with Sky Italia
Next New Networks Raises $15 Million
--Signs Deal with MySpaceTV
P2P-Next Receives 14 Million Euro Grant from the EU
--21-Company Conglomerate is Researching Uses of P2P for Internet TV
NDS Reports Higher Fiscal Q2 Revenues, Higher Profits
--Claims 76.4 Mil Middleware Deployments, 10.4 Mil DVR Deployments
TiVo Reports Lower Q4 Revenues, Lower Losses



up to headlines

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