NEWS - NETP and Interactive digital TV
Net Perceptions and ACTV, Inc. To Enhance Interactive Television and AdvertisingServices; Net Perceptions and ACTV Pioneer Use of 1:1 Personalization forTelevision Thu Jul 20 06:15:00 EDT 2000
MINNEAPOLIS & NEW YORK, Jul 20, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Net Perceptions (Nasdaq: NETP), a leading supplier of realtime, enterprise-wide personalization and precision marketing software and services, and ACTV, Inc. (Nasdaq: IATV), a leading digital media company commercializing proprietary technologies for interactive digital TV and Enhanced TV, today announced an agreement that will bring Net Perceptions' 1:1 personalization capabilities to the television landscape.
ACTV's Digital ADCO, Inc. subsidiary will integrate the Net Perceptions for E-Commerce and Net Perceptions Intelligence products into its SpotOn(TM) digital TV addressable advertising service. ACTV also plans to integrate Net Perceptions' products into its One To One TV(TM) digital TV programming capabilities.
Initially, ACTV will use Net Perceptions' personalization software to enhance SpotOn, a new service that offers advertisers the ability to deliver targeted TV ads to those individuals most likely to be interested in their products. ACTV will use Net Perceptions' technology in a manner similar to many online and offline marketers, e.g. "Thanks for purchasing your new compact disc.... Other people who enjoy that artist, also enjoy ...". For example, when SpotOn delivers a TV commercial for diapers to a targeted household, the Net Perceptions technology will enable SpotOn to immediately extend the advertiser's relationship with the consumer by making complementary offers for related products and promotions.
"Combining ACTV's and Net Perceptions' capabilities will help fully realize the investment in the digital TV and broadband infrastructure that the cable and satellite industries have made during the past few years," said Steve Larsen, Net Perceptions' senior vice president. "With the addition of our technology,ACTV's clients will have a service that almost intuitively understands and delivers programming and advertising that will be most relevant to the consumer.
With the myriad of programs and advertising currently available, this represents an extremely valuable service to the TV and advertising industries, and ultimately, to the consumer. We're excited to be aligned with an industry leader like ACTV to introduce our technology to television."
Said Gary Arlen, president, Arlen Communications, Inc., a Bethesda, Maryland, research firm, "The Net Perceptions-ACTV agreement fulfills the long-promised dream of personal television services. The combined expertise gives TV viewers a truly personalized programming, promotional and commerce experience -- a great formula for advancing the digital TV industry. The collaboration of these two companies opens the door for even more interactive services, tailored to individual viewing and transaction patterns."
"The unique ability of Net Perceptions' technologies to know, act, and report on an individual's preferences -- working in conjunction with the system technologies that are at the core of SpotOn -- will be a valuable addition to ACTV's industry-leading services and to the entire interactive TV sector," said Kevin Liga, Chief Technology Officer of ACTV, Inc. and iCEO of Digital ADCO. "We are thrilled to be working with Net Perceptions to be the first company to bring these capabilities to TV."
SpotOn is the only comprehensive, software-based and TV-centric system that enables the delivery and accounting of highly targeted and interactive advertising via digital cable, digital satellite, and digital broadcast television. SpotOn allows viewers to choose and interact with commercials; it empowers advertisers to deliver commercials to households most likely to respond to them (based on demographic or household- specific profiles); and it allows TV network operators to generate new TV commerce revenues.
SpotOn is expected to be compatible with all of the leading digital interactive platforms and digital set-top terminals. SpotOn services will be provided to MSOs, cable and satellite system providers, advertising interconnects, broadcast and cable television networks and programmers, and leading consumer product advertisers, advertising agencies, and media buyers.
Net Perceptions for E-commerce interacts with customers much like a company's best sales representative would. Working one-to-one in real-time, it gets to know an individual customer's wants, needs and preferences, then makes specific recommendations to each individual customer based on that knowledge. In addition, the technology keeps learning more about each customer, and dynamically pools that knowledge with relevant learnings from other customers to make ever-smarter recommendations.
Net Perceptions Intelligence is a software program that collects and analyzes a wide array of retail data to help determine the most effective approach for promotional advertising. It identifies which featured items increased profits most; which ads drove traffic to stores; and which advertised items generated the greatest movement of higher-margin, non-advertised merchandise.
ABOUT ACTV, INC.
ACTV, Inc. (Nasdaq: IATV), with headquarters in New York City, pioneered Enhanced TV programming with its patented HyperTV(R) software solution. The company also created interactive one-to-one digital television with its proprietary One To One TV(TM) software and programming capabilities.
ACTV has relationships with many of the dominant players in the Internet, television and digital technology fields, including key strategic relationships with Liberty Digital, Inc. (Nasdaq: LDIG), Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) Broadband Communications Sector, Liberty Livewire Corporation (Nasdaq: LWIRA), and OpenTV (Nasdaq and AEX: OPTV). For more information, visit ACTV's Web site at actv.com or visit hypertv.com.
ABOUT DIGITAL ADCO, INC.
ACTV, Inc. (Nasdaq: IATV) created its Digital ADCO subsidiary in late 1999 with Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) Broadband Communications Sector to redefine and revolutionize traditional TV advertising. Digital ADCO's SpotOn service is founded on an array of system technologies, including ACTV's One to One TV(TM) software and Motorola's digital interactive platform.
ACTV, OpenTV (Nasdaq and AEX: OPTV) and Motorola Broadband Communications Sector announced in May 2000 plans to create a new subsidiary, named Digital ADCO International, for the worldwide deployment of SpotOn. According to the letter of intent, OpenTV will invest in Digital ADCO, Inc. and assist in porting ACTV's One to One TV(TM) software application (formerly "Individualized TV") onto OpenTV's operating system, which has an installed base of more than 7.8 million digital set-top boxes worldwide. |