Interesting post from OPTV at Clearstation--comments on ACTV
below:From : BullMarket Nov 25 1999 10:36PM
Title : Interactive Television. (Long Recommendation)
Picking up shares of recent high profile IPO OPTV.
Let begin the discussion of the implications of Interacive Internet Television now. Someone recently asked what is the difference between WebTV and a company like OPTV, IATV or LBRT? From my perspective the difference is overwhelming. WebTV does not fully integrate the Television content with Internet content. Meaning you cannot surf the world wide web and watch Television simeltaneously. The software platform that companies like OPTV, IATV and AOL are looking to provide supply a seamless integration between the Television and the Internet. This step should mark the emergence of the Internet into the lives of every American and eventually every citizen of this planet who have the resources to afford a television. It will steamline marketing for large corporations and allow the consumer to instanteously purchase an item the moment they see it on their favorite TV programs. For instance, if a woman watching TV likes a purse that her favorite actress is toting; she can instantly call up information on the purse, the company offering it and if so inclined, order it immediately.
In my opinion this sector - The Internet Television Conversion - will launch the Internet AND Television into the next generation of information, marketing, entertainment and sales. I also believe it will change the current shape of today's Internet. This coming step should prove to be the filter of the 'cans' and 'cannots' of modern Internet based ecommerece business. Look for the cash rich comapnies with bottomless pockets for marketing dollars to win the ecommerece game.
The majority of my investment capital is leaning toward IATV emerging as the industry darling and coincidently they are selling at the least in market capitalization. It looks as if their technology is the 'front office' application to this industry shift. They own the software that the consumer interacts with. Like AOL's software dominated the ISP space, my bet says IATV's matches then dominates AOL's current penetration when this industry begins to take shape and begins its inevitable rollout into the homes of every American and International citizen. They also have the backing of Liberty Digital (LDIG) which is a incubator-holding company for network and entertainment assets.
In the onset of this tsunami all the player will see parabolic growth in valuation and therefore I will aggressively adding on all dips in IATV, OPTV, LBRT, WINK, SEAC, TIVO and LDIG. If anyone knows of anyother possible players please list them here.
In the meantime here's some nuggets of information to chew on:
"ACTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: IATV) today announced it has acquired all the assets of CatchTV. Included in the assets are the rights to proprietary and patented technology that enables a television viewer to "bookmark" information from the Internet that is related to a TV program or advertisement (U.S. Patent No. 5,907,322). The "bookmarking" technology, along with other elements of CatchTV's service, will be incorporated into HyperTV(TM), ACTV's patented software solution for the creation and delivery of TV-Internet convergence programming. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The announcement was made by William C. Samuels, chairman and chief executive officer, ACTV, Inc.
The "bookmarking" technology enables viewers to save addresses of Web pages (URLs) that are related to TV programming, and view them BEFORE, DURING or AFTER the TV program has aired. By incorporating these capabilities into HyperTV, ACTV can offer TV networks, programmers and advertisers the ability to more effectively extend their brands to the Web and create new e-commerce revenue streams, without pulling viewer "eyeballs" away from the TV programming. HyperTV enables TV networks, programmers and advertisers to automatically deliver to consumers compelling interactive Web content, Web-based advertising messages, e-commerce, and community chat features that are synchronized to correspond with a live or pre-recorded television program."
"Earlier this year, ACTV (IATV) acquired U.S. Patent No. 5,761,606 (aka "The Wolzien Process") from Wall Street media analyst Tom Wolzien. The patent covers a proprietary process for allowing consumers to "pull" information from the Internet that is synchronized to a specific video program, audio program, commercial message or news story delivered via broadcast television, cable, satellite or pre-recorded media. [A MAJOR PATENTED TECHNOLOGY] The Wolzien Process was a key addition to ACTV's intellectual property portfolio for HyperTV, helping to position the software as a leading solution for TV/Web convergence."
"According to a survey by Paul Kagan Associates and Showtime Networks, nearly one in five U.S. households currently exhibits convergent behavior, simultaneously viewing television and accessing the Internet, representing more than 20 million convergent households in the U.S -- a number that continues to rapidly increase."
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