Cut-n-Paste copy of March Pay-Per-View news release.
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Tuesday March 17, 6:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: TelVue Corporation
TelVue Announces Cable Pay-Per-View Orders Can be Taken Over the Internet
MT. LAUREL, N.J., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- TelVue Corporation (Pink Sheets) announced that it has developed a system that will allow cable TV pay-per-view orders to be processed over the Internet. TelVue Corporation currently processes over 3,000,000 pay-per-view calls per month for over 700 cable affiliates using ''ANI'' (Automatic number identification) telephone processing.
The ''ANI'' pay-per-view ordering process involves reading codes imbedded in telephone calls by local telephone companies. Cable subscribers who want to order a pay -per-view movie or event from their local cable TV company call an ''800'' telephone number designating their movie or event choice. The telephone orders come to TelVue's centralized processing center where TelVue answers the call on an automated basis, ''reads'' the ANI codes and relays the order information to each cable company via a data link. The cable company then accepts or rejects the order, turns on the movie and bills the customer.
TelVue Corporation's Internet pay-per-view ordering system eliminates the telephone call and ''ANI'' processing by substituting a centralized Internet web server operated by TelVue Corporation. However, the Internet system retains TelVue Corporation's existing database order processing platform and uses the existing data links to the cable company affiliates. The new system can process telephone and Internet orders simultaneously.
According to Frank Carcione, President of TelVue Corporation, ''The real breakthrough is the fact that we have been able to retain our existing ordering infrastructure and interface with the cable operator. The cable operator will not have to spend the money to independently develop an Internet ordering system or expend the capital for additional hardware or software either at his location or through his billing vendor. In fact, Internet ordering will be transparent to the cable operator and his billing vendor since both the telephone and Internet orders arrive at the cable operator's billing vendor's port using the same computer protocol. We, of course, will be able to track which orders came from the Internet or telephone.''
TelVue Corporation has developed several formats for sending pay-per-view orders over the Internet and the cable operator will be able to choose which ones he wants to have his customers use. All orders eventually arrive at TelVue Corporation's website ppvorder.com. Subscribers ordering over the Internet receive a text acknowledgment of their order indicating that it has either been accepted or rejected and at what time and on which channel the movie will be shown. The message also includes the telephone number of the cable company. Cable operators can choose to include a pay-per-view ordering page on their own website using computer programming supplied by TelVue Corporation or have TelVue Corporation host a ''system specific'' page on its own web server for them. As a result, even cable companies without a website of their own can present their subscribers with a system -- branded means to order pay-per-view over the Internet.
In addition to direct cable company ordering pages, TelVue Corporation is working with third party Internet content providers such as TV listing companies to allow orders to go directly from their websites to TelVue's www.ppvorder.com site. These third party providers can add enhanced features such as giving a customer the ability to just ''click' on a movie title to order it.
Joe Murphy, Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations at TelVue Corporation said, ''We don't expect cable subscribers to log onto the Internet just to order a movie. The reverse will be the case. When subscribers are already on the net surfing movie sites and film reviews with their computers they will be able to order without logging off the web, hanging up their modem and making a telephone call. With technologies like WEB TV and Worldgate's Internet converter box more web surfing will be taking place right on the consumer's TV to begin with and we have the perfect complement to that technology. Finally, all of those slick studio Internet movie sites will be able to become point of sale advertising and TelVue Corporation will allow for the immediate impulse purchase of the product.''
According to Mr. Murphy, TelVue Corporation will be introducing and demonstrating the Internet ordering service at the CTAM National Pay Per View Conference New Media Lab in Century City, CA, March 18, 1998 where they will be signing up affiliates for a late spring -- early summer launch.
SOURCE: TelVue Corporation
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