(COMTEX)
B: AT&Ts Arapahoe County, Colo., Cable Division to Offer Interactive
Advertising
Nov. 3 (The Denver Post/KRTBN)--Tired of watching countless Ford Expedition
commercials on an Escort budget? Ever wish your children would see more Kool-Aid
commercials than beer ads?
If you're one of AT&T Corp.'s 30,000 cable television customers in Aurora,
you'll get your wish.
AT&T's Arapahoe County-based cable division intends to introduce interactive
advertising to its digital cable customers in Aurora by the end of the year. The
trial project, launched jointly with a subsidiary of interactive software
developer ACTV Inc., is one of several that AT&T plans to conduct before it
unveils full-scale interactive television programming in selected markets next
year.
"We want to see if customers think it is interesting, if the technology works
and if advertisers think it is worthwhile," said Tracy Baumgartner, a
spokeswoman for AT&T Broadband. "Basically, what this trial is going to do is
allow us to change advertising on the household level.
"If you live in a house with kids, you might get a commercial for Kool-Aid. And
if not, you might get one for cheese."
The trial project primarily will deliver targeted commercials in two formats.
Most of the ads will be delivered to entire communities based on general
demographic data. For example, communities with a lot of starter homes will
receive ads targeted at young families.
AT&T will determine where to deliver the commercials by gathering data from
focus groups, product sales and advertisers' feedback.
Less common will be commercials that offer viewers a choice of which product
they want to see. In that case, a prompt will appear on the customer's TV screen
offering a choice of which product appears in an upcoming commercial. The
customer then selects an option with the TV's remote control. If no response is
made, the system selects a choice by default.
Customers cannot opt out of the trial program entirely, but they can ask that
they not receive the commercial prompts.
"Things could get much more interactive," said Bill Roll, a spokesman for New
York-based ACTV, which is 25 percent owned by AT&T's Liberty Media Corp. "We
could allow the customer to click on an (icon) to get a coupon in the mail."
AT&T is pursuing advertisers to participate in the program, but the company did
not identify any Thursday. Nor did it disclose its expectations for the revenue
the project might bring. Roll confirmed that ACTV is drawing fees for providing
the project's technology.
By Kris Hudson
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