GTE is currently using GI/Next Level boxes. Who's going to make their propriatary box next year???????????????????
mediacentral.com
A GTE MainStreet Update
Target: 20,000 subscribers by 1998
By Alan Breznick
GTE MainStreet, the interactive TV service that GTE Corp. is rolling out in Florida and California, says it wants to sign up to 20,000 cable subscribers by year's end.
With 6,500 to 7,000 customers now - most of them are in Clearwater, Fla. - GTE MainStreet has no plans to expand beyond its current two markets until new digital cable set-top boxes equipped with its software are deployed in mid-1998. Now, GTE MainStreet subscribers in Clearwater and Thousand Oaks, Calif., need a proprietary set-top box to receive the premium service, which costs up to $12.95 a month.
Bob Regan, the senior VP-programming at GTE MainStreet, says sports, educational and other interactive TV games continue to be the channel's most popular feature. The service recently added electronic chat functions to its games.
"People want to chat," Regan says. "People want to bond."
Next, GTE MainStreet intends to add Internet access to its programming lineup at no extra charge. Regan says the service will begin to offer "a family-friendly Web browser" this autumn with access to about 100 World Wide Web sites selected by GTE MainStreet.
Plans call for upgrading the Internet service to unlimited Web access by Jan. 1, probably for an extra charge. GTE also will offer an e-mail service with the full browser.
Besides adding new features to the interactive channel, Regan says the Web browser will help GTE MainStreet extend its programming schedule throughout the day.
"It's like a vast black hole for us," he says. "We can't possibly fill it up."
(September 8, 1997) |
