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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: coopie who wrote (26926)	12/19/1997 3:48:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Open TV in France........................................... mediacentral.com OpenTV and Interactive Channel: Tale of Two Interactive Players (Cable World) Interactivity is still being defined both as a technology and as a service offering, especially in overseas markets, as it inches into the U.S. limelight. "This thing has gone from being very dormant to extremely hot," says Mitchell Berman, marketing VP at OpenTV. The reason, he said, is implied in its name: "Our technology is so flexible and so open." While OpenTV hasn't yet announced any U.S. customers, its European track record, including 300,000 homes in France served by Television Par Satellite, is opening some eyes. In general, Berman believes that interactivity requires more than access to the Internet, although that's in the mix. "People are watching television for entertainment purposes, not for information or education or e-mail," he said. "If you're going to do interactive, in my opinion, you don't want to leave the broadcast that you're watching." To make that happen, OpenTV works with pull-down menus that overlay on the screen and let subscribers interact with the programs. "The consumer is in charge as to whether or not they want to leave the broadcast," Berman says. "Even when they do, they still hear it. But most of it is overlays of the actual broadcast." Another interactive programming provider, Interactive Channel Inc., has been honing its game with Century Communications Inc. for more than a year. The Colorado Springs, CO-based service has learned that while subscribers appreciate the interactive offerings, they also want Web access. "Our customers steadily identify that they would like to get access to the Internet," said Tom Oliver, the president-CEO of the Interactive Channel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Source Media Inc. "I want to underline access. They don't say anything about usage and I haven't a clue." However, he interprets "access" as e-mail and chat rooms. Unlike OpenTV, Oliver's service doesn't depend on next-generation digital boxes. In fact, he says he recently talked to a leading vendor "on a business proposition that will take us to dumb analog, as well." Interactive Channel would "like to be the HBO of interactivity," said Oliver. "We're an information, entertainment service for television viewers who I call 'intelligent couch potatoes' -- people who want to know things, but don't want to work too hard to find them out." Another important element of the equation, according to Oliver is local content. That's why he said the Interactive Channel retrieves and repurposes Web content and repurposes it for television. The Interactive Channel's next launch will be Cablevision of Boston, where it will be marketed as a tiered service next year. Oliver doesn't set prices for end users, but does demand 50 cents per basic subscriber from cable operators, plus a 50-50 split of incremental advertising-transaction revenues. While OpenTV is enjoying success in the U.K., Europe and Japan and aims to enter the U.S. in '98, the Interactive Channel has been and will continue to be a home-grown service. (Jim Barthold)