Broadband Week for February 1, 1999
ACTV Gains Foothold in S-A's Explorer
By DAVE ILER February 1, 1999
ACTV Inc. took a major step toward making its enhanced-TV service available to cable subscribers by porting its programming to Scientific-Atlanta Inc.'s Explorer 2000 advanced-digital set-top.
ACTV becomes the latest in a growing list of enhanced/interactive-TV services available on the Explorer platform. After more than 10 years in business, the company has finally established a firm foothold in the competitive interactive-TV arena.
"To create a subscription service, you have to have the technology in the set-top box," said Michael Shronstrom, director of research for Denver-based investment-banking firm Neidiger/Tucker/Bruner Inc.
ACTV previously forged a relationship with General Instrument Corp., making its programming available on that vendor's DCT-1000 digital set-top.
"For our company," said David Alworth, executive vice president of ACTV, "it's important that our programming be able to be received on all platforms."
The announcement comes as ACTV prepares to launch its service in Tele-Communications Inc.'s Dallas service area this year, in conjunction with Fox Sports Southwest.
ACTV's service -- which, according to Alworth, will be priced at $9.95 per month -- will be an enhanced rebroadcast of Fox Sports events. It will give viewers options such as "Star Cam," which focuses on a featured player; instant-replay capabilities; statistical summaries; and pertinent stories and interviews.
The service has been in a "friendly" technical deployment in Dallas since early last year, Alworth said, adding that ACTV has a seven-year agreement with Fox Sports to rebroadcast the network's programming.
ACTV hopes to expand its programming into other areas outside of sports, including national pay-per-view programs, although Alworth declined to discuss specifics, other than describing them as "marquee events."
Last year, Liberty Media Group purchased a 10 percent stake in ACTV, opening the door for other applications of ACTV's technology.
"What subscribers care about is content," said Bob Van Orden, vice president of product marketing, digital-subscriber networks for S-A, adding that ACTV is "yet another service that can be hosted on the Explorer 2000 platform."
Integrating ACTV into the Explorer 2000 involved creating a simple, driver-level software component to the platform, Van Orden added.
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