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Tracy Swedlow's
*I N T E R A C T I V E TV T O D A Y*
An Email Publication
August 24, 1999 Issue 2.23
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*Recent ITVT Poll Question: "How did you hear about ITVT?"
Results show that ITVT gets passed around a lot by email or
mentioned in discussion. Here's what hundreds told us:
-- 45.6% of respondents said: "Someone forwarded ITVT to me"
-- 34.7% of respondents said: "Word of mouth"
INDUSTRY
Steeplechase Produces First Enhanced TV Infomercial
TECHNOLOGY
OpenTV Studio Re-Packages SDK & Author
ACTV Sets Up Server Headquarters for HyperTV Programming
TeleCruz Integrating ITV Chip Into Japanese TVs
USA Video Interactive Providing VOD to 1.5 Mil Apartments
OTHER HEADLINES
EVENTS
Many new ones
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Bob Gold & Associates is a fast-growing interactive TV
and broadband public relations agency seeking a
compulsively organized Media Relations Publicist
with technical savvy who likes to work in a fast-paced
atmosphere with lots of busy people depending on them!
Torrance, CA - Good benefits, lots of opportunity to learn
the hi-tech biz for the Right Person. Fax cover letter and
resume to Marcia at (310) 320-2002 or email to
marcia@bobgoldpr.com
Say you heard about this job on "InteractiveTV Today"
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*I N D U S T R Y
Steeplechase Produces First Enhanced TV Infomercial
Enhanced TV production company, Steeplechase will
produce ATVEF-compliant interactive elements for the
first interactive infomercial from Television Marketing
Group and hosted by 80's prime time soap opera star,
Morgan Brittany. Showcasing Swiss Balance Golden
Drops, the ITV infomercial will enable viewers to purchase
any quantity of products on the spot - just as they can
today on TV - however, this time, viewers can access
more information about the product, chat to others, get
answers about the products from producers, and purchase
what they want quickly. When broadcast sometime in
September, the infomercial will be seen over WebTV
platforms, Wink, and Intel's Intercast PCTV tuner card.
No doubt, interactive infomercials, like this early one,
will enable producers to develop loyal and dynamic
relationships with remote groups of people interested
in particular products, the show, it's producers, and Ms.
Brittany, of course. Producers won't be managing just
sales anymore, but entire communities. Surely,
infomercials and shopping channels will eventually
transmogrify into "intermercials" or "entermercials".
*T E C H N O L O G Y
OpenTV Studio Re-Packages SDK & Author
Today, software developer, OpenTV, announced the
bundling of their existing Software Development Kit
2.0 and OpenAuthor Professional packages into
OpenStudio. SDK version 2.0 is an ITV development
environment for C programmers who want to create
ITV broadcast-quality applications. It also allows for
the development of reusable libraries, says the company,
called "gadgets". OpenAuthor Professional 2.0, on the
other hand, is a visual authoring tool for creatives who
don't want to code. These above-named tools will run
on top of Sun Solaris and Windows NT/95 platforms.
ACTV Sets Up Server Headquarters for HyperTV Programming
ACTV has set up its POP server headquarters at
Exodus' New York office for its synchronized TV-PC
service, HyperTV. HyperTV, which requires a browser
plug-in for it to work, enables Web and video content to
be broadcast and change in synchronization with a
regular television broadcast. For example, a broadcaster
is able to send additional Web elements and info at key
points in the show. During a commercial, he/she can send
a relevant Web page from an advertiser. Much recent
research has shown many people use their PCs while
watching TV. Eventually, when interactive television
becomes more widely available through set-top box and
digital TV deployments, the company intends to integrate
it with their proprietary multi-camera ITV switching system
called "Individualized Television" (now testing with Fox
Sports in the American Southwest and other locations). The
HyperTV Network, itself, will now support over 100,000
simultaneous users, according to a company rep. Plans
to increase that allotment are in place. The likely first
project for HyperTV is MTV's The Box Network - a 24
hour video-on-demand cable music television channel in
which viewers can request the video they want to see. Only
recently, ACTV and The Box made a deal to feature the
technology as part of channel programming available this
Fall.
TeleCruz Integrating ITV Chip Into Japanese TVs
San Jose, California ITV chip-maker, TeleCruz will be
plugging their TC701 (Internet access over a TV) with
Japanese language software into unnamed analog Japanese
TV sets targeted towards the U.S. market this spring, says
an EE Times article. The TC801 targeted towards digital
sets will follow next summer.
USA Video Interactive Providing VOD to 1.5 Mil Apartments
USA Video in partnership with IC One (set-top boxes)
intends to provide video-on-demand services to 150,000
apartments within 12 months and then to 1.5 million units
over the next 3 years, says a company release. USA Video
will install and integrate several video server clusters at
apartment buildings within IC One's distribution network
in Nevada, Arizona, and other unspecified locations.
USA Video prefers Wavelet compression technology to
MPEG for efficient video streaming. Check out USA Video's
Web site for a complete explanation as to why in "Technical
Info" and under the "Examples" banner at usvo.com
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Your Comments:
"For the last several months I have read your email newsletter
and think it's great. As a producer of interactive TV content,
it's great to get the scoop on all the activity in the ITV world.
Keep up the good work."
-- Spencer Brooks, Producer
Interactive "Wheel of Fortune"
for Columbia TriStar coming out
early September 6th on WebTV.
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*O T H E R H E A D L I N E S
Australian Pay TV Austar Working with Chello for ITV Services
Motorola Develops Better Chip (MCT2100) for DTV Reception
Steve Case Talks About Possibility of an AOL TV Channel
Japan to Offer DSL & Wireless Broadband Later in Year
NTN Buys 4 million Shares of eBet (Horseracing)
Cocom A/S Distributing Com21 DBC Cable Modems in Europe
MaxPlanet Acquires VOD Agregator, Planet Digital
Cable Business Draws $4 Billion Ad Revenues First Half '99
*E V E N T S
Aug. 17-19 Kagan's Digital Household Summit II, New York, NY
pkbaseline.com
Aug. 24-25 Digital Television Systems, Santa Clara, CA.
knk.mpeg.com
Aug.29-30 DVD Forum, Rancho Las Palmas, Palm Springs, CA
dvdforum.org
Sep. 8-9 Digital Coast '99
digitalcoast99.com
Sep. 10-14 International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), Amsterdam
ibc.org.uk
Sep. 13-15 eTV World, Silicon Valley Breakfast Club, New York, NY
etvworld.com
Sep. 15-18 Digital Storytelling Festival, Crested Butte, Colorado.
dstory.com
Sep. 16-18 Variety's ShowBiz Expo, New York, NY
reedexpo.com
Sep. 26-28 Antennes '99, Paris, France
http:/antennes.reed-oip.fr
Setp 27-29 Digital Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA.
digitalhollywood.com
Sep. 28 Convergence '99: The Five Burning Questions, Santa Clara
carmelgroup.com
Sep. 30 Global Convergence Summit, Marriott, New York.
pwcgobal.com
Oct. 4 Digital and Interactive TV, Washington, D.C.
ibcusa.com
Got an event? Submit it to: itvt@itvt.com
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*W H A T I S INTERACTIVE TV TODAY?
An email publication, InteractiveTV Today (ITVT) covers the
emerging interactive television industry. The goals of ITVT are
to report on the latest business developments and related
technologies; feature the companies and people building the
marketplace; investigate new content forms, and integrated
electronic commerce projects.
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*ITVT FACTS
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production companies, Internet Service Providers, ITV networks,
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developers, video-on-demand firms, new media centers, angel
investors, and of course, creatives, and entrepreneurs. Who are
you? Write in to swedlow@itvt.com and let us know more about
you and your interests - this will help us shape this publication.
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CONTACT
Tracy Swedlow
Business & Editorial
President, Editor-in-Chief
415-824-5806
swedlow@itvt.com
Oliver Chin
Advertising & Job Listings
415-452-8646
itvt@itvt.com
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InteractiveTV Today does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and
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Feel free to distribute ITVT everywhere in its entirety.
Copyright 1998-1999 ITVT | Swedlow. All rights reserved.
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