The Interactive Media Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts Sciences has issued a call for entries for its 2006-2007 Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Television. The Interactive Media Peer Group describes its remit as enabling the Television Academy membership to recognize emerging television programming formats, innovations by television networks, and groundbreaking new television services that include participatory interactive features that enhance the traditional television experience. The Television Academy awarded its first ITV Emmys in 2002.
- Outstanding Creative Achievement for an Interactive Television Program or Series. (Note: for the purposes of the awards, the Academy defines an interactive television program as a single show, originally aired or transmitted during the eligibility year that is delivered via broadcast, cable, satellite, broadband, or mobile networks, and that incorporates one or more participatory interactive features that enhance the viewing experience ; it defines an interactive television series as episodic programming that has been or continues to be available during the eligibility year and delivered via broadcast, cable, satellite, broadband, or mobile networks, incorporating participatory interactive features that enhance the viewing experience. )
- Outstanding Creative Achievement for an Interactive Television Service.
(Note: for the purposes of the awards, the Academy defines an interactive television service as a television network or other distributor of programming offering one or more participatory interactive features that enhance the viewing experience across a range of programs or series, and that have been or continues to be available during the eligibility year and delivered via broadcast, cable, satellite, broadband, or mobile networks. )
during the eligibility year referred to in the Academy's description of the award categories). The deadline for entries is May 31st.
- User experience, by which the Academy says it means visual design, information architecture, and depth of viewer experience enhancement.
- Efficacy, by which the Academy says it means the extent to which an entry realizes stated project objectives and goals.
- Advancement of the state of interactive television, by which the Academy says it means the uniqueness of an entry's features and functionality, whether it is a significant catalyst to future design and development efforts, and whether it provides an impetus for future investment in interactive television programming and services.
The Academy's interactive TV Emmys are overseen and managed by the Interactive Media Peer Group's Primetime Emmy Awards Working Group, which for 2006-2007 is comprised of Geoff Katz and Suzanne Stefanac (co-chairs); Joanna Drake Earl, Alexis Rapo, Richard Cardran, David Feldstein, Adrian Sexton, Suzanne Dunn, Stephen Johnson, Bill Via, Seth Shapiro, Melinda Moore, Brian Black, Jaime Levy Russell, Alex Liston, Ed Davis, Kamron Hinatsu, Bill Niemeyer, John Gilles, Donna Slote, Sanjit Das, Damon Berger, David Gale and Will Kreth.
The Interactive Media Peer Group's co-governors are David Jensen and Marcelino Ford-Livene.
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As you can see from the list of sessions below, the show features an impressive line-up of speakers and panelists that includes many of the key players in the interactive multiplatform TV industry today.
One of our goals in putting together this event was to ensure that attendees would not only be exposed to some fascinating and timely sessions and speakers, but would have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the people most responsible for driving this industry forward. To that end, we have tried to ensure that the event offers ample opportunity for schmoozing and networking.
We also wanted to make sure that the event generates hard news; and we have therefore scheduled Newsmaker sessions at the beginning of each day, in which high-profile industry figures will each present something new: either a new technology, product or service that has not been unveiled publicly before (at least in the US), or a new perspective on the future of the industry that has not been heard before.
Another important goal in putting together this event was to encourage a cross-pollination between the interactive multiplatform TV industry and other areas of human endeavor, such as art and science. Consequently, the event features a curated exhibit of contemporary artwork that we feel exemplifies the theme, the TV of Tomorrow ; as well as a talk by world-famous physicist, Professor Lawrence Krauss (author of the international bestseller, The Physics of Star Trek ), that will relate the themes of television and interactivity to the fundamentals of physics and cosmology.
We also hope that the show will be as fun as it will be informative: see, for example, the interactive balloon debate we'll be holding in the afternoon of the show's second day, in which the audience will be invited to help determine which currently hot topics and trends in the interactive multiplatform TV space are truly significant, and which are just buzzwords.
Finally, please be sure to check the regularly for updates on the event. The site also includes a where you can buy tickets for the show (which, for a few more days, will be available at our special Winter Discount price).
We very much look forward to seeing you at the show.
Tracy Swedlow, Richard Washbourne, and the [itvt] Staff.
8:00-9:00AM: Registration, breakfast, schmoozing and networking (Forum Room).
9:00-9:15AM: Welcoming address by [itvt] (Forum Room).
9:15-10:00AM
Forum Room
Newsmaker Session I
In this session, and in a similar session the next day, high-profile figures from the interactive multiplatform TV industry will each present something new--either a new technology, product or service that has not been unveiled publicly before (at least in the US), or a new perspective on the future of the industry that has not been heard before. Unfortunately, as some of what will be revealed in these sessions is still under NDA, we cannot at this time provide more details; though we plan to do so closer to the event.
Topics to be discussed include the respective ability of each of these platforms to support sophisticated interactive TV services; the current status of the standards that impact each platform; the emergence of consumer electronic devices as programming platforms; the ongoing attempts by satellite TV providers to develop two-way capabilities for their platform; whether emerging delivery platforms present a threat or an opportunity to more established platforms; scalability and flexibility problems that might be faced by some platforms going forward; problems inherent in delivering high-definition video over the open Internet; and how each platform lends itself to being part of a triple-play offering and to the delivery of converged services.
Screening Room
Interactive TV Standards: Development and Deployment
This session will provide an overview of the various standards--including OCAP, ETV/EBIF, MHP, ACAP and WTVML--impacting the interactive TV industry, as well as the inside track on the future evolution of those standards from the people who are developing them. It will also provide reports from the field from the people who are working on deploying them, and from the people who are involved in developing new content based on them.
Topics to be discussed include the current status and future development of the OCAP and MHP standards; lack of consistent standards in the IPTV space, and how this will affect that marketplace; whether the ACAP standard will enable the emergence of a viable and feature-rich digital terrestrial alternative to cable, satellite and IPTV in the US; what obstacles are currently standing in the way of the deployment of the various standards for interactive and multiplatform TV; and what resources are available to programmers looking to develop content to these standards or smaller operators looking to deploy them.
- Don Dulchinos, SVP of advanced platforms and services, CableLabs
- Jonathan Dakss, director of interactive TV product development, NBC Universal 11:20AM-12:20PM
- Tim Hanlon, SVP of ventures, Denuo (moderator)
- Adrienne Skinner, VP of interactive sales, Comcast Spotlight 12:20-1:45PM: Lunch, schmoozing and networking (Forum Room).
- Matt Barthelemy, VP of strategy, Method
- Matthew Huntington, VP of product marketing, OpenTV
- Rebecca Lim, senior director of advanced services, Starz Entertainment (moderator)
- Tad Lowe, CEO, Spin the Bottle 1:45-3:00PM
- Jonathan Dakss, director of interactive TV product development, NBC Universal
- Mike Malcy, VP of marketing and business development, Vidiom Systems
- Doug McGary, president of the Interactive Group, The Media Group (TMG)
- Jeff Miller, president and CEO, ICTV
- Sam Pemberton, CEO, the Softel Group
- Eric Breitbard, SVP and group director, Schematic
- Channing Dawson, SVP of emerging media, Scripps Networks
- Suzanne Dunn, VP of interactive business development, Concrete Pictures
- Lisa Hsia, SVP of new media and special projects, Bravo
- Amos Manasseh, VP of global sales and marketing for participation TV, OpenTV
- Scott Higgins, Director of Interactive Programming, EchoStar
- Matt Cuson, VP of marketing, Minerva Networks
- Bill DeMuth, SVP and CTO, SureWest Communications
- Bryan McGuirk, president of North American media solutions, SES Americom
- Jaison Dolvane, president and CEO, Espial
- Steven Hawley, principal and consulting analyst, Advanced Media Strategies
- Ken Lowe, VP of strategic marketing, Sigma Designs
- Most Significant Impact : the company or organization that has had the most significant impact on the industry as a whole over the past year (i.
e. January 1st, 2006 through March 1st, 2007).
- Most Significant Newcomer : the company or organization that was the most significant newcomer/breakthrough player of the past year.
- Most Innovative Technology : the company or organization that invented the most innovative and disruptive technology of the past year.
- Most Innovative Content : the company or organization that created the most innovative and disruptive content of the past year.
- Most Innovative Business Model : the company or organization that launched the most innovative and disruptive business model of the past year.
- Most Public Spirited : the company or organization that has done the most over the past year to further the development of the industry as a whole through education, support, outreach and partnering.
- Joe Franzetta, SVP of programmer sales, Tandberg Television 10:00-10:20AM: Schmoozing and networking break.
- Erik Smith, VP of content and programming, Metacafe 10:20-11.
- Smith Forte, VP of online, Current TV 11:20AM-12:20PM
- Davina Kent, VP of national advertising sales, TiVo
- Jodie McAfee, SVP of corporate development and marketing, The Media Group
- Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and research, BlackArrow (moderator)
- Phillip Alvelda, chairman and CEO, MobiTV
- Craig Dalton, VP of business development, I-Play
- Brian Mullen, director of content business development, Amp'd Mobile
- Craig Shapiro, head of content strategy and acquisition, Helio
- Duncan Campbell, head of US sales, Two Way TV
- Scott Higgins, director of interactive programming, EchoStar/DISH Network
- Rick Howe, EVP of sales and marketing, Zodiac Interactive
- Brian Ring, VP of strategic business development and GM for interactive VOD, Scope Seven 1:45-3:00PM
- Mike Buckley, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Intel Capital
- Kate Armstong and Michael Tippett (New York, NY), who will present an artwork entitled Grafik Dynamo, which uses RSS technology to load live images from Web-based news sources and from blogs such as LiveJournal into a live-action comic strip.
The images are accompanied by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into speech and thought bubbles and randomly displayed. According to the artists, animating the comic strip using dynamic Web content opens up the genre in a new way, allowing images and narrative…to create a strange, dislocated notion of sense and expectation in the viewer/reader as they are sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes perfectly in synch, and always moving and changing. Armstong, among other things, authored a book entitled Crisis Repetition: Essays on Arts and Culture, served as artist in residence at the Surrey Art Gallery's Techlab, curated the Upgrade 2.
0 exhibit at the Western Front in Vancouver, and runs the media arts organization, Special Airplane. Tippett is principal of NowPublic.com, a venture that uses emerging technologies, such as camera phones, digital cameras, blogging tools and RSS standards, to change the way news is created and distributed, by allowing people to build their own news.
- Melissa Chow (San Francisco, Calif.), who will present a series of photographs entitled inner.outer.
According to the artist, the photographic series captures a sequence of a man karaoke-ing to a video of him and focuses on the narcissistic behavior illustrated by the dialectic between the inner and the outer.
- Deborah Colotti (Sebastopol, Calif.), who will present a sculpture entitled Tar Baby TV.
According to the artist, the sculpture illustrates, among other things, the fact that whether the television is in a room on or off, most people cannot stop themselves form looking at it. More information on Colotti and her work can be found on her Web site, .
- Marque Cornblatt (San Francisco, Calif.
), who will present Sparky, an interactive robot. According to the artist, Sparky exemplifies a concept he dubs autonomous telepresence, via a combination of face-to-face videoconferencing and true wireless mobility. Cornblatt's robots, machine art and video sculptures have been exhibited at the SF MOMA, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Downey Museum of Art, and galleries throughout California and New York.
- Kate Durkin (San Francisco, Calif.), who will present an untitled work. According to the artist, the work brings together a number of conflicting elements, integrating painting, stitching and collage.
- Kayla Garelick, who will present a series of photographs around the theme, the family photo of the future. According to the artist, the series is inspired by a family photo she remembers of three kids staring open-mouthed at the boob tube, which captured the 60's passive TV experience. In contrast, she says, the family photo of the future will capture the immersive experience, drawing us into a complete environment.
- Deborah Hayner (San Francisco, Calif.), who will present a sculptural installation, entitled Terba, that provides a commentary on consumers' relationship to television.
- Zach Layton (Brooklyn, NY), who will present a series of photographs entitled electromagneticselfportrait.
According to the artist, the photographs are a series of self-portraits involving the placement of sartong sare earth magnets around the surface of a television monitor's cathode ray tube with a video camera pointed back at the viewer (myself). Layton is not only a visual artist but a composer, and both his art and his music are derived from his interest in biofeedback techniques, psychoacoustics, perception and generative algorithms. His work has been performed by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and he has performed and exhibited at the International Congress for Performance Art in Berlin, the Bushwick Arts Project, St.
Mark's Ontological Hysterical Theater, the Dumbo Arts Festival, the New York Digital Salon, and multiple other venues in New York and Europe. More information on Layton and his work can be found on his Web site, .
- Sergiu Lupse (Romania), who will present a film entitled Trace and Shadow, which he describes as a montage about the future of TV.
More information on Lupse and his work (including a selection of his films, his blog, and a recent interview with FYLMZ magazine) can be found on his Web site, .
- Mark McGothigan and Beverly Reiser (Oakland, Calif.), who will present an interactive sculpture, entitled The DangerGlow.
According to the artists The DangerGlow is a retro-future Deco Television cabinet which asks two questions: 'What makes you glow?' and 'What dangers do you delight in?' Two computers then record participants' hopes and fears for the future, and the collected recordings are played back in a cacophonous medley of random hopes and fears.
McGothigan is a video artist while Reiser specializes in interactive multimedia installations.
- Mari Naomi (San Francisco, Calif.), who will present an allegorical painting entitled Fetus.
A rising comic book artist, Naomi is the author and illustrator of Estrus Comics and has had artwork published in the Comics Journal, Not My Small Diary, Pet Noir, and Action Girl. More information on Naomi and her work can be found on her Web site, .
- Nate Pagel (San Francisco, Calif.
), who will present a video artwork entitled The Mass Transit Cycle: The Journey Begins. The piece is part of Pagel's epic Mass Transit Cycle, which he describes as a self-enclosed esthetic system consisting of three collaborative sound and video segments that explore processes of connection and movement. Pagel is best known for large-scale installation work that involves public and private spaces--in both urban and natural environments--and that focuses public and personal awareness on social issues.
His artwork has been shown in 16 countries, has been broadcast in Costa Rica, Italy, Australia and the US, and has garnered over 60 awards. He has been commissioned to create work by the United Nations, the Natural World Museum, the SF MOMA, several universities and Planet Magazine.
- Richard Rinehart (Berkeley, Calif.
), who will present his film, gap, which he describes as focusing on gaps in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in order to cast light on the concept of the negative space. Rinehart is digital media director and adjunct curator at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Series stacking could discourage investment in commercial on- demand services and is likely to have an adverse effect on related markets, such as DVD rentals and sales. The regulator therefore proposes that the scale of series stacking should…be substantially reduced or excluded altogether.
- An Internet-based catch-up service that stored programs for up to 13 weeks (as per the BBC's plans) could have negative effects on competition and therefore investment in consumer choice.
Ofcom therefore proposes that this storage window be reduced or removed, and points out that in the event of removal, viewers would still have up to 14 days to download and view the content.
- The ability to download free BBC audio content might have a serious adverse impact on specific markets, notably commercial classical music recordings and audio books. Ofcom therefore proposes that content that competes with audio books be excluded from the proposed services and that the availability of classical music recordings should either be constrained or removed.
- The cost of providing extra broadband capacity to deliver the proposed services is likely to be high; though Ofcom concedes that any additional capacity would also be available for use by a wide range of other services including commercial on-demand services.
- The genre of programming most frequently recorded by Sky+ customers is drama, which accounts for 39.3% of all time-shifted viewing.
Other popular genres are documentaries (14.9%), entertainment (13%), and movies (9.5%).
- Across all channels, time-shifting accounts for an average of 12.2% of total viewing through Sky+ boxes.
- In Sky+ households, time-shifting accounts for 22% of all viewing of programs originally scheduled between 9:00PM and 10:00PM, and for 17% of all viewing of programs scheduled between 10:00PM and 11:00PM.
Forum Room
More than a Pretty Picture: HDTV's Impact on the Future of TV
Over the past few months, the price of HDTV sets has been falling dramatically, putting them in reach of non-early-adopters. This session will attempt to examine how the wide availability of HDTV will impact the future of television in other ways than by simply improving the visual quality of traditional TV programming.
Topics to be discussed include how the wide deployment of large TV screens with sharp text and images will impact the design and functionality of interactive and enhanced TV applications; new, non-traditional programming services that are emerging to take advantage of HDTV; whether, as Marc Cuban and others have suggested, HDTV will serve as a killer app that will allow cable, satellite and IPTV operators to fend off the threat presented by Internet video; strategies for delivering HD programming over the open Internet; and more.
11:20AM-12:20PM
Screening Room
The Bottom Line: The Economics of Interactive Multiplatform TV
A frequent complaint we hear from our readers is that conference sessions rarely focus on the one thing that ultimately drives the interactive multiplatform TV space: the bottom line. This session will therefore examine the economics of the TV of Tomorrow--focusing both on the direct economics (e.
g. how interactive multiplatform TV can generate revenue through advertising-based, pay-per-view, and subscription models) and the indirect economics (e.g.
how interactive multiplatform TV can complement existing business models by reducing churn, building brand awareness, etc.). Specific topics to be discussed include the role of media agencies--should they be considered wise counsel or unnecessary middlemen?
; how to persuade CMO's of the importance of digital spend; how to ensure that consumers will continue to pay for premium content; setting realistic expectations for digital ad sales; and more.
1:45-3:00PM
Forum Room
New User Experiences: Bold Design Strategies for Tomorrow's Multiplatform Interactive TV
With interactive multiplatform TV, good design is not just a matter of visually appealing presentation: it is more appropriately understood as a quest to improve the way that viewers discover, search for, and watch and use TV programming and services.
In short, it is about creating new and better user experiences. Yet creating these new user experiences presents designers with a host of new challenges: how to work around the limitations of still-nascent technologies and platforms; how to use conceptual/design development as a means of advancing our thinking about the possibilities of interactive multiplatform TV; how to maintain consistent branding and look-and-feel across diverse platforms; how to use visual cues to facilitate navigation of complex, multi-level applications; designing to the lowest common denominator (to ensure adoption/deployment within the legacy mass-installed base) versus designing to the capabilities of current and near-future systems; when and how to apply traditional TV design techniques to new programming platforms; and what the role of the designer should be as viewers are increasingly encouraged not only to contribute their own content, but to personalize the applications they use.
In this session, the people who are involved in the creation of new user experiences for interactive multiplatform TV--including some of the world's most prominent interactive TV designers--will not only discuss the emerging principles of and the latest developments in multiplatform ITV design/user-experience creation, but will show several new applications and services that represent multiplatform ITV design's cutting edge and that, in some cases, have never before been publicly shown in the US.
Screening Room
Deploying Single-Screen Interactive TV: Soup-to-Nuts
For the past few years, anyone looking to deploy single-screen interactive TV services in the US has had to overcome myriad challenges: a large installed base of low-resource set-top boxes; slow deployment of standards; and slow-moving and change-resistant corporate cultures--to name but a few. Nevertheless, a number of operators, broadcasters and application developers have succeeded in successfully deploying sophisticated interactive TV offerings on systems large and small throughout the country. In this primarily technology-focused practical-wisdom session, the people who have been at the forefront of deploying interactive TV services in the US will draw on the lessons they have learned in the field, in order to provide attendees with a step-by-step overview of the various stages of the deployment process as it stands today, as well as with an overview of new technological and industry developments that they see beginning to accelerate and simplify that process, and with some thoughts on how the process of deploying ITV apps differs between the US and European markets.
3:30-5:00PM
Forum Room
Planning and Delivering Interactive Programming: Soup-to-Nuts
Increasingly, multiplatform interactivity is being incorporated into programming from the start of the commissioning process, and is no longer being seen as an add-on. This soup-to-nuts, practical-wisdom, primarily content-focused session will draw on the panelists' real-world projects to take the audience step-by-step through the process of planning, developing, producing and playing out multiplatform interactive TV programming.
Topics to be discussed include assembling and managing cross-platform production teams whose members hale from different departments and even from different companies; gaining the support of sponsors and advertisers early in the production process; tracking the effectiveness of each platform on which a program or an element of a program is delivered; maintaining consistent branding and thematic consistency across platforms; identifying and using the best tools for each platform; and developing revenue and audience-building strategies that leverage the advantages of each platform.
Screening Room
The Emergence of IPTV: Challenges and Opportunities
IPTV is enabling telcos to offer interactive TV experiences that place the consumer in control. Yet only around a dozen of the growing number of IPTV deployments worldwide exceed 100,000 subscribers--meaning that the jury is still out.
Unlike cable, IPTV content relationships are more at arm's length, and instead of a single set of unified standards, there are many.
The first part of this session will focus on two deployment models: one from a service provider that adopted IPTV early, and the other from a company that distributes TV content to independent telcos via satellite.
6:00-6:40PM
Forum Room
Future Vision: Tuning in to the Real Universe
--A Presentation by Professor Lawrence Krauss, Author of The Physics of Star Trek
One of our goals, when we conceived the TV of Tomorrow Show, was to promote cross-pollination between interactive multiplatform TV and other areas of human endeavor, including art and science. To that end, we have invited internationally known physicist and astronomer, Professor Lawrence Krauss (author of The Physics of Star Trek and other bestsellers), to give what promises to be a fascinating talk on the first evening of the show.
Beginning with a bang (naturally!), he will take us on a warp-speed journey through the fantasies of science fiction, and the possibilities of the real universe--which he will demonstrate are far more interesting. Using multimedia tools, as well as wit and charm, he will speak on topics ranging from time travel to interactive technologies, and from the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence to the future of communication.
He will also touch on some notable bloopers from TV visions of the future. Krauss is a seasoned lecturer, with vast experience communicating his joy of physics to popular audiences. [itvt] believes that his talk will add a whole new dimension to your appreciation of the universe in which we actually live, and of the possibilities of tomorrow.
6:40-7:30PM
Forum Room
The Awards for Corporate Achievement in Interactive and Multiplatform Television
[itvt] will present our inaugural Awards for Corporate Achievement in Interactive and Multiplatform Television at a Tuesday evening awards ceremony at the TV of Tomorrow Show.
While our prestigious annual Awards for Leadership in Interactive and Multiplatform Television (which for the past three years have been held at the NCTA National Show) recognize individuals who have led the interactive multiplatform industry forward, our new Corporate Achievement Awards will recognize industry-shaping companies and organizations.
You may send accompanying multimedia files (in .avi, .jpg or .
gif formats) as attachments or links in an email to swedlow@itvt.com, or on DVD via snail mail to the following address:
InteractiveTV Today [itvt]
2959 Mission Street, Suite A
San Francisco, CA 94110
8:00-9:00AM: Registration, breakfast, schmoozing and networking (Forum Room).
9:00-9:15AM: Welcoming address by [itvt] and recap of the previous day's events (Forum Room).
9:15-10:00AM
Forum Room
Newsmaker Session II
In this session, and in a similar session the previous day, high-profile figures from the interactive multiplatform TV industry will each present something new--either a new technology, product or service that has not been unveiled publicly before (at least in the US), or a new perspective on the future of the industry that has not been heard before. Unfortunately, as some of what will be revealed in these sessions is still under NDA, we cannot at this time provide more details; though we plan to do so closer to the event.
10:20-11:20AM
Forum Room
Disintermediation : Is Broadband TV a Threat to Traditional Pay-TV Operators?
The past year or so has seen the emergence of programming services on the Internet that some observers believe could disintermediate cable operators and other pay-TV providers, and change viewing habits in general. These services include user-generated content/videoclip-sharing sites such as YouTube; services, such as Blip.
tv and Metacafe, that are designed to empower vloggers and other amateur video producers to widely distribute their work and make money from it; and services set up by broadcasters and other established content companies that make their programs--including both current primetime series and long tail content from their vaults--available directly via the Web. Topics of discussion in this session include: to what extent, if at all, the rise of broadband video should be viewed as a threat to pay-TV operators or to traditional broadcasters; what the advantages and disadvantages for established broadcasters and programmers have been of offering their content online; how consumers are actually using new programming services that deliver content over the open Internet; how upstart programmers can use Internet delivery of their programming as part of a strategy to secure carriage by pay-TV operators; and more.
20AM
Screening Room
Cross-Pollination: Interactive TV Meets Web 2.0
As even the most casual observer can see, a cross-pollination is currently taking place between traditional TV and the Internet: not only is more and more traditional TV programming becoming available on the Internet (a development which has its own consequences in terms of issues like bandwidth, security, relationships between networks, programmers and local TV stations, and Net Neutrality), but the Internet is making new kinds of programming--such as vlogging and video mash-ups--possible, and is enabling programmers to expand their content from a half-hour or hour-long slot to something that can engage viewers around the clock. This session will attempt to examine the future of this cross-pollination process.
Issues to be discussed include how the interactive and social nature of the Internet--in the form of such phenomena as chat, wikis, online video editing tools, blogging, user-generated content and more--is impacting traditional TV programming, and creating new programming and advertising genres; how the growth of online video will impact the future of the Internet; how programmers can leverage the social nature of the Internet as a tool for marketing and as a navigational device; strategies for using the Internet to blow open the restrictions of the TV schedule; and how the traditional television and advertising industries are using the Internet as a source of new talent and new user-generated content.
Forum Room
Red Buttons, Tags, Telescopes and Beyond: Interactive TV Advertising 2.0
Interactive TV advertising, which has been a fixture in the UK since the beginning of the decade, has recently begun to emerge in the US.
Examples of this emergence include interactive ads on satellite, that are broadly similar in concept to the classic red-button i-ads on the UK's Sky platform; interactive sponsored channels; and telescoping ads that leverage cable's VOD capabilities or the DVR hard drive, in order to allow viewers to jump from a 30-second commercial to complementary long-form video on an advertised product. Yet ironically, even as interactive TV advertising appears to be coming into its own in the US, some observers in the UK have begun to voice doubts about the effectiveness and long-term potential of red-button i-ads--pointing to, among other things, the fact that auto manufacturer, Honda, long a strong supporter of i-advertising, recently stated publicly that it is no longer investing in the medium. In this session, a panel of advertising experts drawn from both the US and the UK will discuss such topics as the similarities and differences between the two markets, and what they can learn from each other; what makes for effective i-ads and interactive advertising campaigns; using interactive TV for direct response marketing; tools currently available for i-ad creation; mobiles as a platform for interactive TV advertising; how ad-skipping and the resulting rise of in-program product placement will impact ITV advertising; and more.
Screening Room
Texting and Beyond: Mobile Phones and the Future of Television
For a long time, the mobile phone--in large part due to its broad deployment with consumers--has been closely associated with interactive television. Most notably, it has served as an input device that allows viewers to participate in television programming by having their voice heard in the form of a simple text message. It is also now being used to enable viewers to submit images and even video to live TV shows; and as a backchannel for interactive advertising on resource-limited platforms.
In addition, now that mobiles are increasingly being used as a platform for the delivery of linear and on- demand programming, single-screen enhanced TV applications are starting to be developed that will allow viewers to interact with that programming on their mobiles.
This session will provide an overview of the current status of the relationship between the mobile phone and the interactive TV industry, and will attempt to predict the future of that relationship, touching on such topics as the key role the mobile phone is playing in the participation TV genre, and how new technological developments will expand that role; the future of mobile programming services and of enhanced TV applications for those services; new advertising strategies that bridge television and mobile; integrating mobile-originated video content into traditional TV; the relationship between mobile consumption of video and traditional consumption models; the impact of user-generated content on mobile programming services; and upcoming developments in SMS- and MMS-to-TV services.
1:45-3:00PM
Forum Room
Not Playing Around: Interactive TV Games Today and Tomorrow
Games have always been a staple of interactive TV, and recent developments appear set to only increase their importance to the industry. Topics to be discussed in this session, which will feature panelists from some of the most prominent ITV games companies, include identifying the kinds of games that work best in interactive TV environments; whether cable operators are now taking ITV gaming seriously; best practices in creating multiplatform (i.e.
TV, Internet, mobile) and multiplayer games offerings; leveraging the DVR hard drive to enable more sophisticated games; developing interactive TV games from existing brands; using interactive TV games to enhance programming; server-based versus set-top-based games; incorporating user-generated content into interactive TV games; building communities around ITV games; and effectively promoting ITV games to viewers.
Screening Room
Venture Capitalist Roundtable
A panel of venture capitalists with a track record of investing in interactive multiplatform television will discuss the market and its potential; the current trends they consider the most significant; the kinds of start-up ventures that are most interesting to the VC community; when to seek and when not to seek venture capital; common pitching mistakes; common misconceptions about business models; and more.
3:30-5:00PM
Forum Room
Trend Analysis: Balloon Debate and Open Mic
In this high-tech version (powered by OpenTV's Participate platform) of the classic parlor game, a succession of speakers will each defend a currently hot trend or buzzword--such as user-generated content, the long tail, or disintermediation--and explain why it should not be thrown out of the balloon. The audience will then vote on each of the trends/buzzwords in order to decide which should be kept on board and which should be jettisoned. The game will be highly interactive: in addition to being able to vote, audience members will be able to take advantage of an open mic to provide feedback on the issues that have been raised in the balloon debate and over the course of the past two days.
While this session is designed to provide some fun and relief after what promise to be two days of intensive discussion and learning, it also has a serious purpose: to identify the trends that are considered important by the interactive multiplatform TV industry and to determine which currently popular buzzwords are largely hype.
In order to promote cross-pollination between the interactive multiplatform TV community and other creative communities, the TV of Tomorrow Show will feature a curated exhibit of contemporary painting, photography, film/video and new media artworks that exemplify the theme, the TV of Tomorrow. Exhibiting artists include:
At CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, Paul Allen-owned interactive TV products and services company, Digeo, announced what it termed a new corporate strategy, which, among other things, will see it selling its flagship Moxi digital media recorder in retail later this year (until now, it has only offered the product through cable operators), and licensing the technology that drives the box to consumer electronics manufacturers for incorporation into media centers, TV's and other devices. (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; though it is also defending a patent-infringement lawsuit that was filed against it last fall by Gemstar-TV Guide--see [itvt] Issue 7.
00 Part 1.) As Digeo's executive team mapped emerging forces in the market against the positive consumer feedback we consistently hear about Moxi, we realized that Digeo should extend the reach of its vision for a truly great high-definition television experience, Digeo CEO, Mike Fidler, said in a prepared statement. In the past, we have offered the Moxi technology to people exclusively through our cable operator partners.
The proliferation of HD devices and programming, the growing abundance of digital content, and the increasingly sophisticated expectations of consumers make this a perfect time to offer Moxi more broadly.
In a press release issued during CES, Digeo outlined the three key elements of its new strategic direction: Creating a new line of Moxi-branded products that will be sold directly to consumers through consumer-electronics retailers; licensing Moxi technology to third-party companies as the user interface, application, portal and/or services to drive their products; [and] broaden[ing] the ecosystem of service and content partners to enhance the Moxi experience and improve the platform's attractiveness and value to consumers. According to Digeo, its new strategic direction has been occasioned by a number of changes in the cable industry, including the growing proliferation of HD devices and programming; and the fact that the FCC's mandate to decouple embedded security from cable set-top boxes and equipment goes into effect July 1st, thus facilitating a retail model for the set-top industry.
However, the company says that it will continue to provide its own Moxi-based set-tops to its cable operator customers, which between them have installed the platform in approximately 400,000 US households.
Digeo also used CES to preview two new prototype Moxi-based HD digital media recorders that will be sold at retail outlets. Both boxes incorporate the Moxi interface, an integrated CD/DVD player, and features that allow users to watch, record and play HD programming and stream content from their PC's, and that support Web scheduling.
One of the boxes, dubbed the Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR, will provide multi-room HD recording and playback with an integrated multistream CableCARD (M-Card). The other, dubbed the Moxi Home Cinema Edition HD DMR, is a Linux-based system based on the recently launched AMD LIVE! Home Cinema reference design, which includes advanced audio features, and which, as its name implies, is targeted at home theater enthusiasts.
Digeo says that it plans to make the two new boxes available in retail in the second half of the year.
UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has published a Market Impact Assessment of the BBC's plans to launch new on-demand services. (Note 1: the services in question include a) a catch-up service that would allow viewers to watch any BBC program from the past seven days on Virgin cable, on the HomeChoice IPTV service or on the Internet, and that would also allow series stacking--i.
e. the ability to download, store and view an entire series of programs; b) a simulcast service that would make BBC channels available on the Internet, simultaneously with their broadcast; and c) an audio download service that would make BBC radio programs, excluding full-track commercial music, available for download on the Internet. Note 2: Ofcom Market Impact Assessments of new BBC services are required by the new BBC Royal Charter and Agreement, which went into effect January 1st.
The Charter calls for the BBC's governing body, the BBC Trust, to subject all new BBC services to a Public Value Test, consisting of a Public Value Assessment to be carried out by the Trust itself, and an independent Market Impact Assessment by Ofcom.)
In a communication published on its Web site, the regulator concedes that the proposed services represent an important opportunity for audiences to access BBC content in new and different ways, and have the potential to account for almost 4 billion viewer and listener hours by 2011, a significant portion of which could represent additional viewer and listener activity over and above current levels. Therefore, Ofcom says, the proposed services are…likely to stimulate considerable interest in other new media services to the benefit of all UK consumers and businesses, and thus have the potential to expand growth in UK-based new media industries.
However, Ofcom also says that the Market Impact Assessment has raised a number of concerns:
uk) to the BBC Trust, which is now working on a consultation document setting out the draft findings of the Public Value Test of the proposed services (note: the document will reflect the results of both the Market Impact Assessment and the BBC Trust's own Public Value Assessment; however, critics of the BBC's new Royal Charter have objected that it does not require the BBC Trust to abide by the findings of the Ofcom MIA). The regulator says that if the BBC wishes to alter the proposals in any significant way--for example, by exceeding the service budgets it has put forward or by including non-BBC content, specially commissioned content or full-track commercial music --an additional Public Value Test should be considered.
--BSkyB Previews New Sky+ Features, Shares Sky+ Research
UK satellite TV provider, BSkyB, announced earlier this month that its Sky+ DVR has now surpassed the 2-million-deployment mark, following a 50% increase in deployments of the box in 2006.
The company says that the achievement of this milestone (which it claims means that Sky+ is being used by almost 5 million viewers) puts it on track to pass its target of 25% Sky+ penetration well in advance of its original schedule of 2010. Sky+ has changed the way millions of people watch TV, BSkyB CFO, Jeremy Darroch, said in a prepared statement. In its own way, Sky+ has as dramatic an effect on the experience of TV as the iPod has with music.
There's no going back once you've experienced the ability to take control over the TV schedules….Passing the milestone of 2 million Sky+ boxes keeps us on track to break through our target of 25% penetration well ahead of schedule. The rapid growth of Sky+ shows strong customer demand for additional services and gives us great confidence as our multi-product strategy moves forward this year.
Sky says that it is planning to make a number of enhancements to the Sky+ this year. One enhancement will allow customers to go to Sky's Web site to schedule recordings and program their box remotely over the Internet. Another enhancement will see the box being used as the basis of a push-VOD service which Sky says will give Sky+ customers the chance to enjoy a selection of the week's best programs on-demand, and which will make use of reserved recording capacity on the hard drive of more recent models of the box.
According to the company, the push-VOD service will initially be available to around a million Sky+ and Sky HD customers.
Sky has also just published some new research findings which it claims highlight how Sky+ is changing the TV viewing habits of families around the country. The research is based on data garnered from the company's Sky View research panel (note: for more on the latter, see [itvt] Issue 6.
87 Part 1). Among the research's findings:
A number of senior executives will report to Perrette in his new position, including VP's of new media distribution, Michael Bonner and Ronald Lamprecht; VP of wireless, Salil Dalvi; and VP of VOD marketing, Stacy Melle. Perrette will also lead strategic partnerships and assume responsibility for cable investments, managed by president, Douglas Holloway (note: in this capacity, he will report to Jeff Zucker, CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group). These investments are in such properties as A E Television Networks, Sundance Channel, and NBC Weather Plus.
The company's digital distribution to retail customers will continue to be overseen by Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, who will also continue to oversee NBC Universal's electronic sell-through and VOD distribution of film to Internet portals, emerging digital companies and non-traditional customers. All digital distribution activities with cable, satellite and telco customers will continue to be overseen by Bridget Baker, president of television networks distribution. Perrette and his team will work closely with Kornblau and Baker on digital distribution, NBC Universal says.
Perrette was previously SVP of new media distribution, in which role he led NBC Universal's development of new content distribution businesses, with a focus on on-demand and interactive television (he reported to David Zaslav, who was president of cable, domestic TV and new media distribution, and who recently left the company to become president and CEO of Discovery Communications). He also served as CFO of NBC Universal Cable. According to NBC Universal, Perrette has been a key part of the NBC Universal Cable division since NBC acquired Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004: among other things, he led the integration of the two companies' cable divisions.
Prior to that, he served as CFO of Bravo, after playing what NBC Universal says was a lead role in its acquisition of that channel in 2002. He joined NBC in 2000 as a business development executive.
IPTV technology provider, Tut Systems, has signed a definitive merger agreement with Motorola, under which the latter will acquire all the outstanding shares of Tut's common stock for $1.
15 per share in cash. (Note: other recent acquisitions by Motorola in the digital video space include those of set-top box vendor, Kreatel; and of VOD technology providers, Broadbus and Vertasent.) The deal has a total value of $39 million, on a fully diluted basis.
Tut--whose offerings include end-to- end digital video encoding, processing and distribution products, which support MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC video compression, local ad insertion, forward error correction, and real-time conditioning of video and audio--claims that its products power IPTV deployments for over 160 service providers around the world. Motorola says that the integration of Tut's solutions with its own digital video delivery products will improve its ability to enable service providers to deploy advanced video services over IP, ATM and RF-based network architectures. It claims to have deployed 2060 digital video networks and over 50 million digital set-top boxes worldwide.
This transaction brings together the telco-aware IPTV processing capabilities of Tut Systems with Motorola's proven video delivery expertise, Dan Moloney, president of Motorola's Connected Home Solutions division, said in a prepared statement. Together, our combined portfolio will provide service providers with next-generation solutions for delivering rich video experiences into the connected home--and out into the world. Added Tut president and CEO, Sal D'Auria: Motorola's financial resources and customer relationships will enable us to address larger customer opportunities that were challenging as a smaller company.
My team is committed to working closely with Motorola to ensure a rapid and seamless transition.
The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of this year. Once it is complete, Tut Systems will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola, and will be integrated into the latter's Connected Home Solutions business.
However, Motorola says that it will maintain Tut's operations in Lake Oswego, Oregon; and in San Diego and Pleasanton, California.
--Signs Deal with Wireless Carrier, the 3 Group
TV place-shifting company, Sling Media, has hired two high-profile ex-MTV digital media executives, Jason Hirschhorn and Benjamin White, to head up a newly created Sling Media Entertainment Group. The company says that the new group, which will be based in New York City (note: Sling Media is headquartered in San Mateo, California), will be tasked with creating next-generation entertainment experiences for users of its flagship Slingbox product and beyond.
According to Sling Media, the group will develop new applications and services that are enabled by the Slingbox's marriage of familiar TV programming and richly interactive Web-connected devices. In addition, it will be responsible for managing Sling Media's existing and future collaborative efforts with content creators, distributors and advertisers. Jason and Ben bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and relationships with them and are true thought leaders in the digital entertainment space, Sling Media co-founder, chairman and CEO, Blake Krikorian, said in a prepared statement.
I am thrilled they have joined Sling Media and excited about the direction our company is taking as we leverage the great enthusiasm for the Slingbox and create new wickedly cool experiences for consumers. Jason and Ben were some of the key leaders behind MTV's expansion into the online world and the combination of their experience and forward thinking adds a powerful new dimension to Sling Media.
Hirschhorn, who will serve as president of the new group, joins Sling Media from TripleH Media Advisors, a digital media consultancy that he co-founded after leaving MTV Networks earlier this year.
At MTV, he served as chief digital officer, in which role he was responsible for the company's digital media businesses and interactive strategy. He joined MTV Networks in March 2000, via the acquisition of Mischief New Media, a Web site design and content-development firm that he founded. White, meanwhile, who will hold the title chief creative officer, was previously VP of digital media for MTV Networks, where, according to Sling Media, he was responsible for managing programming, production and product development for the company's digital businesses.
Among other things, he oversaw the launch of its broadband video service, MTV Overdrive.
In other Sling Media news: the company has signed a deal with wireless carrier, the 3 Group, that will enable the latter's customers to use the Slingbox to access their home TV service (including terrestrial, digital terrestrial, cable and satellite services), as well as programming recorded on their DVR, on their mobile handsets over 3's 3G wireless network (note: Sling Media's service allows customers to use their home DVR's trick-play controls remotely). The deal marks the first time that Sling Media has partnered with a major mobile operator.
The companies announced their partnership as part of 3 parent Hutchison Whampoa's international launch of a new mobile broadband service, dubbed the X-Series: in order to use the Slingbox to deliver their home TV service to their mobiles, 3 customers will have to subscribe to the X-Series service (note: the latter is scheduled to be available in the UK this month and in 3's other markets by early next year), and will have to have SlingPlayer Mobile software on their mobile phones. The software is pre-installed on two new handsets offered by 3: the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i. Working together with 3 has enabled us to push the boundaries of TV viewing further than ever before, Sling Media's Krikorian said in a prepared statement.
3 understands the power of mobile broadband to deliver compelling, value-added applications and services like a truly personalized mobile TV experience and we are thrilled to be working with them. The availability of SlingPlayer Mobile for 3 customers is a major b*reakthrough in mobile TV viewing. Customers can now view all the programs they love to watch at home whilst on the move via their mobile phone.
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