IATV news from Rocky Mountain Conference. This was on the IATV message board on Yahoo. I haven't seen an official release.
Excellent Article from Rocky Mountain News
by: WhitePhosphorus 4446 of 4455TELEVISION YOUR WAY ACTV'S INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS VIEWERS TO CONTROL EVENTS
ON TV SCREEN
Sleek remote controls, resplendent pictures and state-of-the- art sound - standard in the television-junkie community.
ACTV Inc.'s Individualized Programming is coming soon to a TV near you and could send a couch commandointo rapture.
In conjunction with FOX Sports Net and Liberty Media Corp., ACTV is putting sports fans at the production console. The
technology, already launched in Tele-Communications Inc.'s digital cable systems in Dallas, lets viewers control instant replay
and camera angles and call up statistics and player profiles during games. At halftime, viewers can analyze the game with
sportscasters or analyze choreography as cheerleaders gyrate through intermission.
All with four big buttons on a stock digital cable TV remote control.
''We are trying to create a more enjoyable television experience,' ' said Brent Imai, vice president of ACTV Entertainment.
''It's very user-friendly for something people already enjoy watching. We're not pioneering some new weird programming
genre. We're doing sports.''
A theoretical basketball fix:
Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan is lighting up the Denver Nuggets in the first half. Jordan, tongue wagging, twists down the
lane, shifts the ball from his right hand to his left and spins a soft lay-up off the glass for his 32nd and 33rd points. At home, Joe
Blow, who was twisting the cap off the second bottle in a six-pack, misses the play.
No problem.
Button on the left: replay.
Button on the right: isolation camera, pointed right at No. 23.
Button on the bottom: could be statistics, could be a game recap.
Top button: back to the network feed.
And when showing replays, statistics or game recaps, a separate picture showing the live action appears in the left corner of the
TV screen.
ACTV applies the technology to major sports such as basketball, football, baseball and hockey.
''We're not going to do enhanced tractor pull,'' Imai said.
ACTV began testing Individualized Programming at TCI's Ventura County, Calif., system in 1996.
''The genre we wanted to focus on was sports for a number of reasons, '' said David Reece, ACTV Entertainment president.
''One, male heads of households are not averse to technology. Two, some of the highest rated programming on the cable
system is local sports.'' |
