mike; News - your IATV dream is coming true; Motorola using their technology:
Monday February 28, 8:15 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Motorola's Broadband Communications Sector Integrates ACTV's Innovative Technology Into Headend Equipment & Encoder Lines
Expands Opportunities for Delivering Targeted, Addressable Advertising and "Individualized Television" Programming
NEW YORK & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2000-- Motorola, Inc.'s (NYSE: MOT - news) Broadband Communications Sector (formerly General Instrument Corporation (NYSE: GIC - news)) and ACTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: IATV - news) today announced that Motorola will integrate ACTV's unique technologies into Motorola's headend equipment and encoder lines. The companies will unveil the integrated systems at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, April 10-13, in Las Vegas.
The arrangement, which builds upon Motorola's and ACTV's long-term relationship, is a major step towards the delivery of highly targeted, addressable digital television advertising and programming content to individual households. In addition, the headend and encoder integration makes ACTV's ``Individualized Television' capabilities available to digital broadcasters and program originators for use when distributing their digital programming.
``As an integrated part of Motorola's digital transmission and reception systems, we can steer and route television commercials based on the geographic location of the headend,' said Kevin Liga, Chief Technology Officer, ACTV. ``We can offer advertisers pinpoint accuracy and maximum effectiveness when delivering commercials - based on the general demographic profile of a region enabled by the headend integration, or based on the specific profile of an individual household generated by our software within the digital set-top located in the home. Additionally, it allows for local advertising insertion into digital programming feeds.' He concluded, ``The integration is also significant because broadcasters can now create and deliver content that leverages ACTV's powerful technology for interactive digital TV.'
ACTV's ``Individualized Television' enables TV programmers and advertisers to deliver individualized, targeted programming via digital cable, digital broadcast or digital satellite television. The ``Individualized Television' software - which is already integrated into Motorola's digital set-tops - remembers viewer commands and responses to on-screen prompts, enabling an unlimited number of viewers to individually-tailor the TV program they are watching. ACTV believes ``Individualized Television' is the only technology that enables viewers to instantly and seamlessly customize their viewing experiences.
``We are excited to provide the technology path necessary to bring ACTV's 'Individualized Television' applications to market,' said Marty Stein, Senior Marketing Director of Motorola Broadband Communication Sector's Satellite & Broadcast Network Systems business unit. ``ACTV's aggressive timetable serves to galvanize our internal initiatives to introduce MPEG-2 and SMPTE compliant splice point processing into our headend, encoder, and digital set-top product lines,' added Stein.
The integration opens new opportunities for Digital ADCO, Inc., a subsidiary of ACTV, Inc. Motorola is an investor and partner in Digital ADCO, which offers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for delivering highly targeted, addressable interactive advertising via digital cable, digital satellite, and digital broadcast television. In addition, Digital ADCO offers e-commerce and interactive advertising opportunities, such as couponing and other permission-based marketing initiatives. The company will provide services 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. Full-scale implementation is expected to begin in the second half of 2000.
To date, Motorola has shipped over six million interactive digital cable set-top terminals to over 100 broadband network operators. Working with these 100 MSOs, Motorola has deployed over 1,000 interactive digital headend systems passing over 41 million households. As digital television proliferates, Digital ADCO's service will vastly improve the effectiveness of TV advertising for marketers, while making TV commercials more relevant to individual consumer households. |
