If they can do limited wagering horseracing, why not all sports?
With the limits it will be alot less risky than stocks. And good way to take your mind off of them.
DTV, this is worth read again.
SI Inbox (0) | Folders Bookmarks | People Hot | New Subjects Options | Profile
1 - 1 - stocks 1 - stocks 2 - [New]
Talk : $5 and Under : IATV - ACTV Interactive Television
| Previous | Next | Respond |
To: +anthony karpati (3368 )
From: +dtvfreak Monday, Nov 23 1998 7:19PM ET
Reply # of 3859
From The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS....
November 23, 1998
Digital cable technology puts viewers at controls
ACTV's interactive technology allows viewers to control events on TV screen
By Michael BeDan
Special to the News
---------------------------------------------------------------
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 commando into 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 fromhis 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."
And advertisers, afforded the opportunity to let viewers choose the
spots they see during normal commercial breaks, find the approach
innovative, Reece said.
"When it's time to break for commercial, you'll get the commercial you choose," Reece said. "As simplistic as that seems, we've shown there is an approximate 300 percent increase in unaided recall simply because people feel better about an advertisement if they have some stewardship over it."
ACTV's collaboration with FOX Sport Net was born of FOX's regionalized sports coverage. ACTV can provide enhanced FOX Sports Net programming to any Fox Sports Net affiliate whose cable distributor carries the network's channel.
Liberty paid $5 million to ACTV in September, taking a 10 percent stake in the company, and has the option to invest an additional $5 million. ACTV is using the investment to drive the expansion of regional individualized television. With TCI heavily marketing its digital cable boxes, individualized programming
is on the cusp of national expansion.
"We chose to go to Dallas first, and we chose to go to Los Angeles
second because those are the two largest regional sports networks in the FOX family," Reece said. "FOX Sports Southwest, which is headquartered in Dallas, has about 5.3 million homes served. And FOX Sports West is about 4.5 million homes served.
"Luckily on our part, those two markets were markets that TCI initially targeted for digital cable deployment."
Reece said sports-rabid Denver will be a perfect match for the service.
"As you get a greater number of (digital) sets deployed in this area,
we'll come to this area," Reece said. "We already have a contractual
agreement to start here. We just haven't set a start date."
Liberty Vice President David Jensen said it will cost about the same as adding a premium channel to a basic cable subscriber's bill, though distributors will set the price in each area.
"I think in Dallas they sell it for $10," Jensen said. "(With) 30 to 40 events per month, that's less than 50 cents an event."
Though sports programming is the initial venture, ACTV's big-picture
plan includes educational programming for children. ACTV Entertainment Vice President of Operations Kevin Liga said children's shows could become a whole new experience.
"When children can sit there and interact with Sesame Street and Barney and the other shows ... then be talked back to as an individual, the social impact of the programming in an educational type basis is incredible," Liga said.
Next
Previous
| Previous | Next | Respond | View 2 replies to this message
Quotes - 100-Day Chart - News - Discussion - $5 and Under
View SubjectMarks Bookmark this Subject
ACTV INC (NASDAQ: IATV) Date: Jan 08
Last Trade
3 31/32
Change
- 3/16 (-4.51%)
Bid
3 15/16 Ask
3 31/32
Volume
0263,1000
Prev.Close
4 5/32 Open
4 5/32
Day Range
3 29/32 - 4 3/16
Last Tick
0-0
Avg.Volume
0257,8000
52-week range: 1 3/8 - 4 1/2
Discussion | People | MetaCrawler
Subject Titles Only
Full-Text
This Subject Only
Send questions and feedback to webmistress@techstocks.com
Terms of Use
|
