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Technology Stocks : IATV-ACTV Digital Convergence Software-HyperTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Atheist who wrote (577)	3/9/1999 7:29:00 AM
From: Steve Hausser	Respond to of 13157

HITS Sports Tier Has Limitless Potential By R. THOMAS UMSTEAD March 8, 1999 Tele-Communications Inc.'s recently announced sports pay-per-view tier may not quite measure up to DirecTV Inc.'s PPV-sports offerings, but it's a start. The new, eight-channel Headend in the Sky platform is the closest thing that the industry has to matching the very popular and attractive direct-broadcast satellite multichannel lineup of National Basketball Association, National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League out-of-market games. The HITS tier will offer ESPN's college football, college basketball and Major League Soccer PPV packages, as well as a sports barker channel to tell subscribers what's coming on each channel and how much it costs. The barker will also keep information-hungry sports fans up-to-date with a feed directly from ESPN's online site. Of course, TCI and other cable operators are hoping that the tier will eventually entice the professional leagues to distribute their games to cable. With the multichannel-digital-PPV sports tier, the leagues' argument that cable lacks a uniform PPV platform with enough channels to offer as many as eight games per day is now rendered mute. Also, with only 1.5 million subscribers currently deploying HITS, the tier has fewer subscribers than DirecTV, and it poses little threat to national and local broadcast-network ratings. But the tier's greatest revenue and competitive potential may not lie in its ability to challenge DBS for professional-league packages. Rather, its ability to offer exclusive and unique sports programming may prove to be the tier's most attractive calling card for operators. The tier will feature a stand-alone PPV channel, on which ESPN will initially offer live international events, as well as archival programming, on a PPV basis. A European soccer tournament or the X Games' greatest hits will undoubtedly draw decent buy-rates. But the greater opportunity may be to find new and innovative PPV-sports programming that could be exclusive to HITS. There's no reason why ESPN -- or an outside PPV-event distributor -- couldn't access those channels to create and build sports events that would define digital PPV, much like the pro league out-of-market packages have helped to characterize DirecTV. ESPN, for example, could offer its X Games on a TripleCast-like basis, with three or four channels covering each event live and in its entirety to complement the network's basic-cable coverage. Or Showtime and TVKO could generate additional PPV revenues for their boxing shows by offering next-day PPV replays of big Oscar De La Hoya or Evander Holyfield fights, complete with different camera angles so that viewers can choose which angle to view the big knockout punch from. The revenue and image potential for PPV sports is limitless if the industry is willing to take a few risks and experiment with different ideas. DirecTV took full advantage of its channel capacity to build awareness for its PPV business, which helped to sell dishes. Now it's cable's time to make the best of its newfound PPV and sports opportunities and to get digital boxes into the home.

To: The Atheist who wrote (577)	3/9/1999 10:43:00 AM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13157

David Reese Appointed President & Chief Operating Officer of ACTV, Inc. Will Play Key Role in Expanding HyperTV(TM) to Entertainment Market NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9--ACTV (NASDAQ: IATV - news) today announced the appointment of David Reese as president and chief operating officer of ACTV, Inc. Mr. Reese was previously executive vice president of ACTV, Inc. and president of ACTV Entertainment. He will continue as a member of ACTV, Inc.'s board of directors. In his new position, Mr. Reese will play a major role in the strategic direction of HyperTV(TM) in the entertainment market. He will continue to lead all aspects of business development, programming and day-to-day operations for ACTV Entertainment and its ''Individualized Television'' digital cable programming services. ''David has earned the respect of our industry by concentrating on how to bring real value to our partners,'' said William C. Samuels, chairman and chief executive officer of ACTV, Inc. ''It is with great pleasure that we recognize David's accomplishments.'' Mr. Reese joined ACTV in 1988 as chief financial officer and was promoted to president of ACTV Entertainment in 1994. He has secured key strategic partnerships for ACTV with Liberty Media Corporation, FOX Sports Net, General Instrument Corporation and others. Prior to joining ACTV, Mr. Reese specialized in the consumer electronics field with Deloitte & Touche, and served a number of industry-leading clients, including Toshiba and Panasonic. ABOUT HYPERTV(TM) & ''INDIVIDUALIZED TELEVISION'' HyperTV, the company's patented software application, represents a core breakthrough for the convergence of television and the Internet. HyperTV enables television programmers and advertisers to --simultaneously, directly and in real time -- ''push'' to consumers compelling Internet content that directly corresponds to a video program. Using ACTV's proprietary and proven methods, HyperTV permits the simultaneous and synchronized delivery of streamed video and Web URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) to users. HyperTV users can receive enhanced content, chat, play games, even shop online, all in synch with a live or pre-recorded television program or other video-based program. Today, HyperTV users can watch video on a standard television set while viewing synchronized web content and interacting with other users via their computer. As broadband technology and digital cable become pervasive, users will be able to enjoy a HyperTV experience with video, synchronized web content and chat simultaneously delivered to a TV. ACTV's ''Individualized Television'' digital programming capabilities take traditional television programming into the digital age by allowing viewers to switch seamlessly among multiple, real-time feeds of video, audio and data. ACTV believes ''Individualized Television'' is a third, more powerful alternative for the digital spectrum than the improved picture quality offered by ''HDTV'' (high definition television) or the increased quantity of programming made possible by ''multicasting.'' ''Individualized Television'' can enhance a variety of television genres, including sporting events, news, game shows, music, children's programming and advertising. New York-based ACTV, Inc. uses proprietary software technologies to create state-of-the-art programming for the rapidly emerging digital television and Internet platforms. ACTV has relationships with many of the dominant players in the Internet, television and digital technology fields, including: Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LBTYA - news, LBTYB - news); General Instrument Corporation (NYSE: GIC - news); Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.(NYSE: SFA - news); Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW - news); FOX Sports Net; Tele-Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCOMA - news); TCI Music's The Box Music Network (NASDAQ: TUNE - news, TUNEP - news); TV Guide, Inc. (NASDAQ: TVGIA - news); SkyConnect, Inc.; Cablevision's (AMEX: CVC - news) Rainbow Sports; and The Sarnoff Corporation. Earlier this year, ACTV Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation formed a joint venture, LMC/IATV Events, LLC. ACTV Entertainment and HyperTV Networks, Inc. (formerly ACTV Net) are subsidiaries of ACTV, Inc. NOW it's nice to see all these names on all the releases...this guy sounds like a WINNER! chris