In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” a panel of interactive TV
experts–Steve Borelli, VP of marketing and business development at
Integra5; industry analyst, Leslie Ellis (author of the popular
Multichannel News column, “Translation Please“); Will Kreth, director


of product management for interactive TV at Time Warner Cable; Alex
Libkind, founder and COO of Zodiac Interactive; Mike Malcy, VP of
marketing and business development at Vidiom Systems; and Gary
Sohmers, chairman and president of Interactive Meet and Greet
Entertainment (IMAGE)–review the 2008 NCTA Cable Show which
took place earlier this week in New

Topics discussed include the very well-attended tru2way Developers
Conference that immediately preceded the show; what the cable
operators were saying about their plans to support the ETV and
tru2way standards; noteworthy interactive TV applications on the show
floor; the emerging popularity of social-networking ITV applications;
what should have been discussed and showcased at the show, but
wasn’t; and much, much more.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Richard Baker, EVP of sales
and marketing at UK-based interactive TV software provider, ANT
(note: Baker, who joined the company earlier this year, was previously
general manager of technology products and services for the EMEA
region at RealNetworks), discusses the company’s new multiplatform
application development strategy, its experimental Twitter ITV application,
its new proof-of-concept EPG application which displays up to 45 channels
on a single screen, the importance of developing hybrid solutions
(e.g. DTT and IPTV), and much more.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of
Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Silicon Valley pundit and
author, Andrew Keen (”The Cult of the Amateur“), discusses his

skeptical take on user-generated content and other participatory media,
why he is not a fan of the Creative Commons movement, his views on
the economics of broadband video, and more.

The second annual tru2way Developers Conference will be held in
New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior
to the NCTA Cable Show.

The NCTA and CableLabs have announced the line-up of companies
that will be participating in CableNET, their annual showcase of new
cable technologies and products at the NCTA’s Cable Show (takes
place May 18th-20th in New Orleans).

At the MIPTV conference in Cannes earlier this month, the
International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the
winners of its International Interactive Emmy Awards (note: the
awards, which were organized in partnership with Reed MIDEM, were
hosted by UK comedian, Brian Conley).

The BBC recently issued a tender for a five-year (with a two-year optional extension) contract for interactive services management.

–Also Signs Deal with Gannett
–Company Offers Interactive Web Broadcasting Platform

At the NAB show in Las Vegas earlier this month, Sun Microsystems
announced that it is expanding its Sun Streaming System product
portfolio to create what it claims is the only IPTV platform that can
scale “seamlessly and cost-effectively” from 100 to 160,000
simultaneous streams.

–Features Content from CBS, MTV, PBS, Scripps and Others

–Signs Deals with Bebo, Meebo, RockYou, Slide, Veoh, Gruner + Jahr
–Helps Power Showtime’s 2008 Primetime Emmys Campaign

–Deal Targets China and other Asia-Pacific Markets
–Company Appoints New VP’s of Programming and Business Development

–Player Version 2.7 Integrates Microsoft Silverlight, Atlas Ad Server
–Appoints New President and COO
–New Deals with tvtv, CAN Communicate and FIFA, Fox Intl’s BabyTV

–Company Launches New Version of Playin’TV on New Zealand’s Sky TV
–Forms ITV Poker Partnership with Bluff Magazine

NBC Universal’s Digital Distribution arm has redesigned its Universal
Studios VOD and PPV site (www.universalvod.net).

Earlier this month, Viacom, its Paramount Pictures unit, MGM Studios
and Lionsgate announced that they have formed a joint venture that will
launch a premium VOD service and linear-TV channel in the fall of
2009.

PlayCafe, a company that bills itself as “the first Internet TV network
for game shows” (note: its Web site streams live, free-to-play game
shows, on weekdays from 6:00PM-8:00PM Pacific, that allow viewers
to play along, chat with hosts and other players, form teams, contribute
questions, and win prizes), contacted [itvt] last week to let us know that...

An Irvine, Calif.-based company called KoldCast last month launched a free broadband video service, called KoldCast TV, that features a range of on-demand programming and support for full-screen HD.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Tim Wahlers, founder and CEO of Vidiom Systems, the company's VP marketing, Mike Malcy, its VP of engineering services, Walden Miller, and its VP of strategic initiatives, David Housman, discuss their work with the cable industry on tru2way/OCAP, describe some of the interactive TV projects they are currently engaged in, provide an overview of Vidiom's OCAP testing services, and offer a preview of the upcoming second annual tru2way Developers Conference. (Note: the conference--which is produced by the NCTA and CableLabs, and sponsored by Vidiom--will be held in New Orleans on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th, just prior to the NCTA Cable Show. Areas of discussion will include programming, platforms, consumer electronics, application development, and retail opportunities, and the event will also feature hands-on workshops. Confirmed keynote speakers include CableLabs president and CEO, Richard Green, and Panasonic CTO, Paul Liao; other speakers and panelists include John Collins of Time Warner Cable, Mark DePietro of Motorola, Anne Dirkse of Vidiom, John Hashimoto of the Weather Channel, Sherisse Hawkins of Time Warner Cable, David Housman of Vidiom, Chet Kanojia of Navic, Mike LaJoie of Time Warner Cable, Arthur Orduna of Advance/Newhouse, Sam Pemberton of Softel, David Preisman of Showtime, Gary Schanman of Comcast, Jeff Seebeck of Cisco, Bill Sheppard of Sun, Gary Sohmers of IMAGE, Tim Spencer of Sigma Systems, So Vang of CableLabs, and Andrew Ward of Comcast Spotlight. Detailed information on the conference's speakers and sessions can be found at: http://2008.thecableshow.com/Attending/tru2waySchedule.aspx)

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,”


Marcelino Ford-Livene and David Jensen, co-governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group (IMPG), and Geoff Katz, chairman of the IMPG’s Primetime Emmy Awards Working Group, discuss the Academy’s newly issued call for entries for the 2007-2008 Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media (note: the Awards will recognize excellence in two areas of competition this year: Fiction and Non-Fiction).

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Magnus Eriksson, chief development manager, and Christian Bjorkman, director of special projects at Mindark, the company behind the virtual world, Entropia Universe, discuss the interactive enhancements the company created for the Swedish television drama, “The Truth about Marika.” Viewers of the show–which was recently awarded the Emmy for Best Interactive TV Service by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences–could participate by searching for clues within Entropia Universe that allowed them to solve a show-related mystery. In addition, they could interact within the virtual world with avatars of the show’s main characters. Eriksson and Bjorkman also provide an in- depth overview of Entropia Universe: among other things, the virtual world has a “real cash economy,” whose currency is pegged to the US dollar (at a rate of 10-1), and which allows participants to earn money.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]’s talk radio show, “The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow,” Cathy Hetzel, president of the Advanced Media Information division at business-intelligence company, Rentrak, and her colleague, Dustin Encelewski, the company’s director of technological business development, discuss recent developments with its OnDemand Essentials offering–a Web-based ASP service which measures and reports anonymous, aggregate VOD usage data, such as viewership volumes and trends, and which is intended to provide cable operators, content providers and advertisers with customizable reports designed to help them better understand viewers’ VOD content preferences. They also discuss Rentrak’s relationship with the cable industry, cast light on the company’s future plans for its Essentials product line, discuss its competitors, and provide some interesting statistics about VOD usage that the company has gleaned over the past few months.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Gary Sohmers, president and chairman of Interactive Meet and Greet Entertainment (IMAGE), discusses his company's flagship Video Queue technology, which allows TV viewers to have face-to-face encounters with celebrities. (Note: Sohmers will probably be familiar to [itvt] readers who are also PBS viewers: he is a regular guest on the popular program, "Antiques Roadshow," where he appraises toys, collectibles and memorabilia.)


To listen to the show, click: here.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," AirPlay chairman and CEO, Morgan Guenther, talks about his company's new deal with Sony Pictures Television to provide multiplayer play-along mobile gaming for the popular game show, "Jeopardy!"; about some of the other new projects the company will be undertaking this year; about its business model and its plans to scale its business; about his experiences at TiVo (where he served as president from 2001-2003); and more.

To listen to the show, click: here.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Phil Bender, CableLabs' project director for OpenCable, and Roger Brinkley, community leader for the Mobile & Embedded Community at Sun Microsystems, provide an in-depth update on the latest developments in OpenCable/OCAP/tru2way; discuss the "OpenCable Project" that recently launched on Java.net; provide a preview of CableLabs' CableNET showcase at the upcoming NCTA Cable Show; and more.

–The Interactive TV Month in Review

-A Letter from the Editors and Staff of [itvt]
-Schedule and Speakers for Day 1
-Schedule and Speakers for Day 2

In this recorded interview from [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Steve Shannon, EVP and general manager of product management at EPG developer, Gemstar-TV Guide, discusses, among other things, the company's EPG products and its product roadmap; new features that will be offered by its EPG's over the coming year; My TV Guide, its new suite of cross- platform (TV, Internet and mobile) guidance solutions; its work on social TV and programming recommendation solutions; its work--via GuideWorks, its joint-venture with Comcast--on a new, graphically rich OCAP-based EPG; the future of EPG advertising; and much more.

As you can see above and to the right, [itvt]'s TV of Tomorrow Show has a new logo. The logo was created by Method, our Official Design Sponsor, which is working with us to develop a compelling new visual identity for the show.

[itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Kristen Fergason, Maven's VP of marketing, describes the new platform and the kinds of interactive advertising it enables.

--Deadline for Submitting Nominations is February 17th
--Awards will be Presented at [itvt]'s TV of Tomorrow Show
--Online Nomination Form Available Here

A Santa Monica-based company, called Jacked, Inc.--which was founded in June, 2006 and which recently secured $6.5 million in venture funding--has been tapped by NBC Sports to create a Web-based, two-screen interactive TV service, dubbed NBCSports.com Play Action, around the latter's "Sunday Night Football" broadcasts.

Fluorescent Media, the UK-based participation-TV company that inherited the assets of Optimistic Media and The Optimistic Network (see [itvt] Issue 7.36 Part 1), says that it is partnering with New York-based production company, Embassy Row, to produce and pitch its new, interactive gameshow series, "The Empire," and that Sony Pictures Television will distribute the new format, under its partnership deal with Embassy Row.

--Motorola Chosen as Lead Supplier of Next-Gen BT Vision Set-Tops
--BT Vision Download Store Trials Ad-Supported Movie Downloads
--BT Vision IPTV Service Now Available on Self-Install Basis
--New BT Vision Magazine Represents First Use of New Microsoft Browser

CloverLeaf Digital, a Brooklyn-based interactive TV applications developer that specializes in building and managing localized "walled-garden" services, says that Texas-based competitive broadband provider, Grande Communications, has signed a three-year extension of an agreement, under which CloverLeaf provides it with a custom version of its walled-garden news and information service, branded as Grande Interactive TV (note: Grande is somewhat of a pioneer in the interactive TV space: in addition to the CloverLeaf-powered walled-garden service, it offers services based on ICTV's ActiveVideo platform).

--Secures $10 Million in Series B Funding Round
--Names Steven J. Heyer Vice Chairman, Jim Anderson SVP of Engineering
--Creates Social Video Services for Chick-fil-A, Meijer

--Teams with Comcast Spotlight on Study of EPG Viewing Habits
--New Deals with Sony, Polaroid, Cox, CZCATV, So-net, Atlantic Broadband
--Begins Patent-Infringement Litigation against Toshiba

A group of prominent Internet and media companies--including CBS, Dailymotion, Fox Entertainment Group, Microsoft, MySpace, NBC Universal, Veoh, Viacom and The Walt Disney Company--recently unveiled a set of "collaborative principles" that they claim will "enable the continued growth and development of user-generated content online" while "respect[ing] the intellectual property of content owners." According to the companies, the principles will function as "guidelines to help user-generated content (UGC) services and content creators work together towards their collective goal of bringing more content to more consumers through legitimate channels" and "acknowledge a collective respect for protecting copyrights and recognize that filtering technologies must be effective and are only a part of what is necessary to achieve this goal."

For the past two years, Cambridge, England-based Amino Technologies, a relatively small company, has been ranked the number-one IPTV set-top box vendor in the world by ABI Research (it shipped its one-millionth IPTV set-top in the first quarter of 2007). Rick Sailor, the company's VP of sales for the Americas, and its marketing communications manager, Antonio Gimeno, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the reasons behind the company's success; its future product plans (which include support for Adobe Flash and which may also include the development of hybrid IP/DVB-C and IP/DVB-T set-tops); the challenges presented by MPEG-4 HDTV; the importance of interactive TV to IPTV operators; the future of the IPTV space; and much more.

Since Hans Fischmann joined Charter Media, the advertising arm of cable MSO, Charter Communications, in January, 2007, he and his team have launched over 600 interactive TV and VOD advertising campaigns. In this recorded interview from [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," he describes the kinds of interactive TV advertising offered by Charter Media; provides statistics on the efficacy of the company's ITV ads; describes its efforts to market its ITV advertising capabilities; provides some thoughts on the cable industry ITV advertising initiative, "Project Canoe"; discusses "Did You See It?," a new channel Charter is launching that will be devoted to on demand advertising; and much more.

Peter Price heads up the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, one of two organizations that are responsible for television's annual Emmy awards (the other is the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences). In this recorded interview from [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," he discusses, among other things, the relationship between the two academies, and their ongoing legal dispute over the National Academy's awards for Advanced Media (which were presented yesterday at CES 2008).

This week, [itvt] is featuring a series of live audio reports from the CES 2008 showfloor, presented by an informal team of roving interactive and multiplatform TV experts that we have assembled.

James Cawley shares his thoughts on producing original, fan-generated "Star Trek" programming for the Internet; describes the events that led to the formation of Star Trek New Voyages; discusses the company's relationship with CBS (the owner of the "Star Trek" franchise); provides a preview of new episodes and new characters that the company has in the pipeline (including "Star Trek's" first gay character); discusses the possibility of making the show interactive or building a social network around it; and much more.

In this recorded audio interview from the latest edition of [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," three high-profile figures from the interactive TV space--Patrick Donoghue, VP of ITV product management at Time Warner Cable; Bill Niemeyer, chief of analysis and research at BlackArrow; and David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks--provide a retrospective of the year in interactive TV, present their picks for the year's most important ITV stories, and predict the important ITV trends for 2008. Topics discussed include the rise of user-generated content; the demise of TMG; the significance of the top-secret interactive TV advertising initiative, "Canoe"; the emergence of big-budget broadband TV programming; EchoStar's purchase of Sling Media; DirecTV's purchase of ReplayTV; and much more.

In this recorded audio interview from the latest edition of [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," three senior executives from mobile interactive TV specialist, SinglePoint--president and CEO, Rich Begert; VP of industry relations, Doug Busk; and director of marketing, Philippe Poutonnet--discuss, among other things, the company's recent deal with NBC Universal. The deal will see SinglePoint providing mobile interactive/participation TV services for a range of NBC Universal's programming and channels, including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, USA Network, NBC Sports, and NBC News.

To listen to the interview, please click http://www.blogtalkradio.com/itvt-tvoftomorrow

Stuart Waite was formerly CEO of Tamblin, a high-profile UK-based interactive TV technology provider (its clients include BSkyB, the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Five, and Flextech) that was acquired earlier this year by Alcatel-Lucent. Waite recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the events leading to Alcatel-Lucent's decision to acquire Tamblin; about the role the former Tamblin is now playing within the telecommunications technology giant; about new interactive TV applications and multiplatform content-distribution systems that Alcatel-Lucent is developing; about the importance of IPTV to the future of the interactive TV industry; and much more.

Steve Rosenbaum is founder and CEO of Magnify.net, a company that provides a new Web 2.0 service which allows end-users to create video galleries/channels complete with social networks. In this recorded audio interview from the latest edition of [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Rosenbaum discusses Magnify.net's service and the business model behind it; provides examples of how it is being used; outlines the company's current strategy and future plans; and more.

To listen to the interview, please http://www.blogtalkradio.com/itvt-tvoftomorrow

Brian Seth Hurst, a well-known figure in interactive TV circles, was recently elected as vice chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization behind the Primetime Emmys. His election marks the first time ever that a new media specialist has served in such a senior role at the Academy.

In this recorded audio interview from the latest edition of [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Hurst discusses what his election says about the evolution of the Academy and of the television establishment in general; the significance of the ongoing writers' strike for the interactive and broadband TV industries; and much more.

Ed Forman and Mark Jeffery are respectively EVP/COO and senior director of product marketing at ICTV, a company that has developed a technology infrastructure for delivering interactive Web media experiences to the set-top box. They recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the business model behind the company's ActiveVideo Distribution Network; about why the company now sees itself as a media company, rather than as a technology vendor to the cable industry; about how ActiveVideo can enable social-networking services on TV; about content services that are using ActiveVideo (its clients include Fox, CNN, HSN, AccuWeather and Reuters); about the reasons behind the company's recent move from Los Gatos to San Jose; and much more.

In this recorded audio interview (49:36) from the latest edition of [itvt]'s new talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Jodie McAfee, who was formerly SVP of corporate development and marketing at The Media Group (TMG), a high-profile interactive TV advertising and programming company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, discusses that company's demise; his new company, BoomerangiTV; the cable industry interactive TV advertising initiative known as "Project Canoe"; the current state of the ITV advertising industry in general; and more.

itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's technology and how it is being used by its tier-one and tier-two customers; about new converged services--including SMS couponing and text-to-TV--that it is enabling in addition to TV-based caller ID; about the technology's suitability for powering social-networking services on TV; about the company's patent strategy; about why she believes both television and communications services are "becoming independent of devices"; and much more.

Upcoming Shows:

Date: Thursday, December 6, 2007
Time: 10:00AM Pacific/1:00PM Eastern
Length: approximately one hour
Call-In Number: 1-646-595-4343

Guests: Joel McAfee and Amy Townsend, BoomerangiTV





Date: Monday, December 10, 2007
Time: 10:00AM Pacific/1:00PM Eastern
Length: approximately one hour
Call-In Number: 1-646-595-4343

Guest: Brian Seth Hurst, CEO, The Opportunity Management Company

To listen to live or recorded shows (currently there is only one show in the archive), go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/itvt-tvoftomorrow.

--First Episode Features BIAP's Louis Slothouber and Dan Levinson

This issue sees the beta-launch of a new [itvt] editorial product: a talk radio show, entitled "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," that will feature interviews with newsmakers and other high-profile players in the interactive multiplatform television space.

Interactive TV and addressable advertising specialist, Navic Networks, recently launched two new advertising-related products: an interactive TV SMS couponing service, and Admira, an ad network which uses real-time census-level set-top box data to match advertisers' desired target audience criteria with media owners' inventory, and which the company touts as "the first media placement service to address increasingly fragmented television media." Navic CEO, Chet Kanojia, and the company's VP of business development and marketing, John Hoctor, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the new products and the strategy behind them; about the company's future plans for the products; about its view of the OCAP and EBIF standards; and more.

InteractiveTV Today [itvt] is pleased to present the second annual TV of Tomorrow Show, March 11th-12th (Tuesday-Wednesday), 2008 in San Francisco, California at the famous Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The first TV of Tomorrow Show was praised by sponsors, speakers and attendees not only as a true "experts' conference" that attracted a veritable "who's who" of the interactive TV industry, but as a thoroughly unique and enjoyable experience. We are working hard to ensure that the TV of Tomorrow Show 2008--which is already attracting an array of high-powered speakers and which will feature a line-up of fascinating entertainments--is even better.

Tomorrow and Friday (November 8th-9th), the American Film Institute Digital Content Lab will hold its annual interactive media showcase, the AFI DigiFest (formerly known as the AFI Digital Content Festival), at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Linwood-Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

According to Philips, the collaboration with eventIS proves that a new 3D video format, dubbed 2D-plus-depth and recently adopted as a non-mandatory extension of MPEG, can easily be integrated into existing media distribution and management systems, such as VOD via cable, satellite, Internet or terrestrial broadcasting. Rob de Vogel, senior director of business creation at Philips, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's IBC demo, about the technology that underlies the Philips/eventIS prototype 3D VOD system, about why he believes 3D television will become a mass-market phenomenon, and more.

Gotuit Media--a company that offers metadata technologies which, among other things, allow end-users to instantly access the parts of a piece of video that interest them, and which can also be used by video publishers to allow end- users to make mash-ups out of their content--was recently tapped by Fox Reality Channel to power an interactive broadband video service for its Really Awards. The company's other customers include Sports Illustrated (for which it powers a search and navigation portal called the FilmRoom), the NHL (for which it powers a searchable, interactive, broadband version of the show, "NHL On The Fly: Final"), and Sprint (for which it powers NFL Fantasy Video, a mobile application that allows subscribers to watch their own custom video highlight reels of their favorite players).

Gotuit's president and CEO, Mark Pascarella, and the company's VP of product management, Patrick Donovan, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the significance of the Fox Reality deal, about the company's technologies and services, about using those technologies to monetize video content, about new types of Internet video programming that its technologies could enable, about its future plans, and more.

--Company Signs Deals with Turner Sports, ESPN

--UPC Launches Company's Games in the Netherlands

--Company Opens New Facilities in Europe, Hires New VP of Services

--Launches Three New Products: Alticast BDJ, altiExcite, altiTOK TV Plus
--Software Selected by Astra, KT

--Launches MHEG Applications Toolset, MHEG Developer, I-Framer 3
--Forms Strategic Partnership with Alticast

--OpenStream Platform Wins Technical and Engineering Emmy
--Company Hires Two New SVP's
--Secures New Deals with DirecTV, UPC, Swisscom, Time Warner Cable

Zappware Launches New Interactive TV Platform, "iView Platform"
--Also Launches iView Service Packages for Broadcasters, Operators

--Launches Addressable Advertising Service for "Fragmented" TV Media

AccuWeather has unveiled a channel that uses ICTV's ActiveVideo technology to enable viewer interaction and deliver a range of broadband video from the meteorological programmer's Web site. According to AccuWeather, the new channel, which the company is targeting at cable and IPTV operators, features interactive, real-time forecasts and other weather information, delivered to the television as a single programming stream, enhanced with targeted, interactive advertising.

--Signs Deals with Accedo Broadband, Cable & Wireless

--Launches Multiplayer Gaming Engine, Opens US Office

--Previews Content-Discovery and User-Generated Content Apps at IBC
--Launches Combined IPTV/Internet TV Solution
--Secures First US Customer

--ITV Convergence Specialist Now Holds 10 US and International Patents

OpenTV Deploys with J:COM, Casema, MultiChoice, Reshet, Canal Digitaal
Interactive TV software provider, OpenTV (note: voting control of the company was acquired earlier this year by content-protection specialist, the Kudelski Group--see [itvt] Issue 7.16 Part 1), has secured a number of new deployments over the past few weeks:

--Round-Up of Recent Veoh News

--"Me-On-TV" Already in Use in the Netherlands

--Appeals Court Appears to Lean Towards TiVo in "Time Warp" Patent Case
--Company to Offer Content from Rhapsody, Players Network
--Comcast to Fund Development of TiVo Service on S-A Set-Tops
--New Deals with Cablevision Mexico, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, DirecTV
--Launches Low-Cost HD DVR, "Top Commercial Rankings" Reports, DR Group

Detailed articles on the growing interactive multiplatorm industry. Articles feature many screenshots from around the world.

The American Film Institute Digital Content Lab (AFI DCL) has announced plans to hold its annual interactive media showcase on November 8th and 9th (note: tickets for the event go on sale October 12th, and can be ordered on the AFI's Web site, or by calling 1.866.AFI.FEST).

Privately held UK-based interactive TV technology provider, Tamblin, has been acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.

NPTV, a French developer of software for interactive TV, video analysis and mobile services, has signed a deal with Netgem, a French provider of television hardware and software technologies, to sell to the latter its interactive TV and video analysis assets.

--Ensequence Powers ITV Ad Campaign for Nike

--Also Unveil "Personal Channels" Application, Aprico.tv

--Launches EGG for 3D Interactive TV Graphics
--ADB, STMicroelectronics to Use New EGG Technology
--Company Also Launches Push-VOD Application

US incumbent telco, Verizon, has begun rolling out its Interactive Media Guide...and more details.

--Adds New Broadband and Mobile Services to NFL Sunday Ticket
--Launches Broadband Video Service for "Passions"

--356 Local TV and Radio Stations Join CBS Interactive Audience Network

The Interactive Media Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has selected the finalists for the 2006-7 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television. (Note: the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is one of two organizations behind the US television industry's annual Emmy Awards--the other is the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Both organizations have, for some time now, given out Emmy Awards for interactive television; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' ITV Emmys are for creative achievement while the National Academy's Emmys are technology-focused.)

Television Academy Interactive Media Peer Group (IMPG) co-governors, Marcelino Ford-Livene and David Jensen, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the role the IMPG has been playing within the Academy, about the growing interest in interactive TV on the part of the Academy's membership, about the IMPG's efforts to ensure that its awards-judging procedure is fair, and much more.

As group director of advanced TV at MediaVest, Jen Soch leads the agency's Emerging Media practice. She recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about her role at the agency, which includes educating the company's clients about interactive advertising; about the emerging importance of telescoping and of dynamic ad insertion for VOD; about the future of the 30-second spot; about why she believes that disabling fast-forwarding through commercials in on-demand programming would be a "mistake"; and more.

Last month, SES Americom launched IP-PRIME, its long-awaited, "turnkey," end-to-end, MPEG-4-based IPTV solution, which it is initially targeting at tier-two and tier-three telcos. SES Americom's SVP of media partnerships, Bill Squadron, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the advantages that the company claims for IP-PRIME; about the partnerships behind the solution; about the challenges the company had to overcome in order to assemble an MPEG-4-based IPTV platform; about the company's interest in eventually marketing IP-PRIME to cable and satellite TV operators; about its plans to add interactive TV, VOD and DVR functionality to the solution; and much more.

UK-based Illumina Digital is perhaps best known for the interactive scripted programming it creates using on-demand broadband video, games, and other multimedia elements. The company's clients include the BBC, Channel 4, and Nickelodeon. Illumina's head of development, Mike Dicks, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's efforts to use interactivity to develop new ways of telling stories; about the company's various productions, which include "Wannabes," an interactive sitcom that invites viewers to form "friendships" with its characters, and "Axon," an interactive drama that is designed to encourage curriculum-based science learning (note: both shows were commissioned by the BBC); about the company's approach to user-generated content; about new software tools it has developed; about its future plans; and more.

Minerva's VP of marketing, Matt Cuson, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the reasons behind the company's growth; about the difficulties inherent in providing IPTV customers with both PVR and HDTV; about various new interactive applications Minerva has been working on--including an innovative-sounding VOD application it has co-developed with a "large media company"; about why Minerva believes its IPTV architecture is significantly more scalable than Microsoft's; about the three biggest challenges the company believes are currently facing the IPTV industry; about why he feels the IPTV industry is still "too young to be bogged down by standards bodies"; and more.

Yahoo! is seeking experienced, creative people to contribute to the next generation of TV entertainment. ITV employment opportunities exist at all levels in the following:

User Experience Design
Engineering
Product Management
Marketing
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--Launches Suite of Personalizable, Cross-Platform Guidance Tools
--Adds Clickable Broadband Video Listings to TVGuide.com
--Signs Data Distribution Deal with CBS, License Deal with Verizon

Walt Disney Company-subsidiaries, Disney-ABC Television Group and ESPN, and cable MSO, Cox Communications, have announced a trial which they say is designed to test several advanced VOD services: Cox and ABC have signed a non-binding letter of intent outlining the project, and are in the process of finalizing the terms of their partnership.

Aptiv Digital, the upstart EPG developer that was recently acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide (see [itvt] Issue 7.26 Part 1), unveiled a number of new products and applications at the NCTA Cable Show earlier this month, including new versions of its Passport, Passport DCT and Passport Echo EPG's.

--Unveils New Implementation of OnRamp to OCAP
--Forms Advergaming Partnership with Skyworks
--Demo's Patent-Pending "Zidget Framework"

--Unveils PowerVideo Suite, Incorporating Metadata-Powered VideoMixer
--Signs Deals with National Hockey League, Major League Soccer

--Ports its IntAct IPTV Software Stack onto Intel's New System-on-a-Chip

--Phillip Alvelda to Step Down as CEO, Paul Scanlon Named President
--Company also Enters Cooperation Agreement with Intel

Playboy Enterprises has appointed interactive TV industry veteran, Tom Hagopian, as division EVP and general manager for digital media.

Portland, Oregon-based business intelligence company, Rentrak (note: in the interactive TV space, the company is best known for OnDemand Essentials, a Web-based ASP service which measures and reports anonymous, aggregate VOD usage data, such as viewership volumes and trends, and which is intended to provide cable operators, content providers and advertisers with customizable reports designed to help them better understand viewers' VOD content preferences; the company claims to be "aggregating, collecting and reporting census-level viewer usage data of nearly 60% of the on demand-enabled cable universe," and its customers include 14 MSO's--among them Comcast, Cablevision and Charter), has promoted Ken Papagan to company president and Cathy Hetzel to president of its Advanced Media and Information Division (AMID).

--Elects ITV Industry Veteran, Shelly Palmer, as President

AFDESI, the French professional organization for interactive television, has issued a call for entries for its fifth annual International ITV Awards. The awards will recognize excellence in 10 categories:

Shortly after announcing that it had sold its Ark Technology platform to Virgin Media and also signed a long-term content deal with the dominant UK cable operator (see article in this issue), UK-based interactive TV formats and production company, Two Way TV, revealed that Ingenious Media Active Capital has acquired a controlling equity stake (approximately 84%) in it for £5.34 million.

DVR vendor/service provider, TiVo, has signed an exclusive agreement with Australian media company, Seven Media Group, that is expected to see the latter introducing TiVo's DVR service to Australia in the first half of next year (note: the deal will also see Seven introducing TiVo in New Zealand, though the companies have not said when that will happen).

--Ports its IntAct IPTV Software Stack onto Intel's New System-on-a-Chip

--Signs up Six New Customers for OnDemand Essentials

HSN, a US home shopping channel owned by Barry Diller's IAC/InteractiveCorp, has launched its single-screen interactive TV application, HSN Shop by Remote, on EchoStar's DISH Network satellite TV service.

Disney-ABC Television Group has announced plans to begin streaming HD content this summer on its Emmy-winning, advertising-supported full-episode broadband player (note: the player currently offers full-length, standard-definition episodes of over a dozen series, the day after their linear broadcast; in April the player was revamped to offer full-screen viewing and a miniscreen that users can position wherever they choose on their desktops, in addition to its two original viewing- size options).

CBS Interactive last week announced that it is p*artnering with a number of community-oriented Web sites and social application providers to add greater functionality to its CBS Interactive Audience Network (note: the latter is an initiative that was announced in April and that will see the broadcaster offering a range of its programming on the Internet f*ree-of-charge through multiple p*artner Web sites; distribution p*artners that had signed on when the service was first announce included AOL, Microsoft, CNET, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh; for more on the service, see [itvt] Issue 7.26 Part 3).

As director of interactive delivery for NDS Americas, Steve Tranter is based in the company's Southern California office, where he heads up its Interactive Delivery group. In this recent, wide-ranging interview with [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow, he discusses NDS's interactive TV games strategy, which, among other things, sees it working with broadcasters to develop branded games that are designed to keep viewers tuned to their channels; its Xtreamplay platform, which uses the DVR hard drive to enable video-rich games, advertising, and other interactive applications; new features that it is incorporating into its MediaHighway middleware, including peer-to-peer capabilities; the new version of its Synamedia Metro IPTV platform, which is currently in trials with SES AMERICOM; its efforts to develop a next-generation EPG for HDTV; how it is working with chip vendors to ensure that their future chips will support the interactive TV services that are being conceptualized today; and much more.

Mark Sherman is founder and president of etc.tv, which operates an eponymous interactive advertising service on Quebec-based cable MSO Videotron's networks. The service, which launched commercially last October, and whose clients include Procter & Gamble, GM and Sony Pictures, allows viewers to "telescope" from a 30-second commercial to long-form advertising, hosted on VOD servers. Sherman recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the genesis of the service; about its business model; about etc.tv's plans to expand the service to English-speaking Canada and the US; about why he believes interactive TV services should offer a "high level of TV" and a "low level of interactivity"; and more.

On February 1st, Alex Blum--whose resume includes stints as president and COO of multicultural broadband TV service, JumpTV; as head of product marketing for AOL's Audience business; and as general manager of AOLTV--became CEO of KickApps, a company which provides a hosted platform that is intended to enable Web site owners to easily deploy premium broadband video, user-generated content services, and social networking functionality. The company claims that its white-label solution is currently powering around 2,700 Web sites for a diverse line-up of customers that includes ABC and the producers of "Lost"; Procter & Gamble; and Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snyder.



Blum recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's service and its "open portal" philosophy; about its pay-for-performance business model; about its plans to extend its service; and more.

--Channel's President, Ryan O'Hara, Discusses its New ITV App with [itvt]

Note: In issue 7.26 Part 2, [itvt] reported that the International MHEG Promotion Alliance--an organization that was set up last year by Strategy & Technology, Cabot Communications and EchoStar Europe to promote use of MHEG-5, the middleware standard upon which the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial service, Freeview, is based--recently issued a press release contrasting the success of MHEG-5 in the UK with what it claims is the slow uptake of the MHP standard in Spain. In this issue, Anthony Smith-Chaigneau--who, in addition to serving as managing director of MHP and OCAP specialist Alticast's European subsidiary, Alticast GmbH, is a well-known MHP evangelist and the co-author of "Interactive Television Standards--A Guide to MHP, OCAP and JavaTV"--responds to the International MHEG Promotion Alliance's claims.)

A company called Vibe Solutions Group, which until now has specialized in providing branded video and publishing solutions to the broadband industry, has launched its first consumer-targeted product: a free video aggregation service, called Pyro.TV, which it says offers a "channel-centric" approach to watching and sharing broadband videos.

MTV Networks, Yahoo! Movies and Mark Burnett Productions are teaming to bring a significant user-generated content element to this year's MTV Movie Awards.

The Sci Fi Channel has launched a user-generated content promotion around the series, "Battlestar Galactica."

itaas, an Atlanta-based company that provides a variety of products and services to the interactive TV industry (for an in-depth interview with co-founder and CEO, Vibha Rustagi, and other members of the company's senior management team, see [itvt] Issue 6.35), says that Montreal-based cable operator, Videotron, has been using its ECS (stands for "Event Collection System") VOD monitoring and reporting tool for over six months.

--Powers VOD Services in Chile, Missouri
--Subsidiary, On Demand Group, in Joint VOD Venture with Tele Muenchen

US cable/satellite channel, Bravo, has promoted Jason Klarman from SVP of marketing and brand strategy to EVP of marketing and digital (note: for an in-depth interview with Klarman, see [itvt] Issue 6.95).

ViTrue, the user-generated advertising company that was formed last year by ex-Tandberg Television president, Reggie Bradford, with financial backing from Bradford himself and from General Catalyst Partners (note: the company recently secured a round of strategic funding from Comcast Interactive Capital and Turner Broadcasting--see [itvt] Issue 7.03 Part 1), has named Sudish Joseph chief architect.

The BBC has made two new senior appointments to BBC Future Media and Technology, the group headed up by Ashley Highfield:

US broadcast network, CBS, is tapping user-generated video to honor retiring "The Price is Right" host, Bob Barker.

Next New Networks, a broadband video start-up co-founded by Herb Scannell, former vice chairman of MTV Networks and president of Nickelodeon, has emerged from stealth mode with the announcement last month that it plans to launch 101 broadband video channels--which it dubs "micro-networks"--over the next five years.

UK satellite TV provider, BSkyB, is beta-testing a service which it says will integrate user-generated content, video-sharing and social networking into what it describes as its "multiscreen entertainment environment" (i.e. linear TV, interactive TV, broadband and mobile).

The International MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA), an organization that was set up last year by Strategy & Technology, Cabot Communications and EchoStar Europe to promote use of the MHEG-5 standard outside the UK (note: MHEG-5 is the middleware standard upon which the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial service, Freeview, is based; it was developed and standardized in the mid-90's as part of the DAVIC standardization effort to support interactivity and navigation for VOD services; over 14 million Freeview receivers that employ the UK MHEG-5 profile have been deployed to date), has issued a press release contrasting the success of MHEG-5 in the UK with what it claims is the slow uptake of the MHP standard in Spain.

Interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV (note: voting control of the company was recently acquired by content-protection specialist, the Kudelski Group--see [itvt] Issue 7.16 Part 1; Kudelski insider, Andrew Guggenheim, has since been appointed as OpenTV's president and CEO), says that it has successfully integrated and downloaded its Core2 software to around 1.4 million set-top boxes operated by Indian satellite TV provider, DishTV.

--NanoGaming Platform Initially Targeted at Fantasy Sports Players

Wireless carrier, Helio, has tapped white-label broadband and mobile video publishing software company, thePlatform, to aggregate and manage its portfolio of mobile video content (includes content from such partners as MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Speed Channel, ABC and Fox Mobile).

Scripps Networks has named Deanna Brown to the newly created position of president of its Interactive Group.

Los Gatos, Calif.-based interactive TV company, ICTV, has tapped high-profile entertainment-industry figure, Nizar Allibhoy, to head a new "ActiveMedia Group" it has formed to encourage the development of Web-created/TV-delivered programming for its flagship ActiveVideo Distribution Network (AVDN) platform.

Jury selection will begin May 14th in a patent lawsuit that was filed in July, 2005 in the Eastern District of Texas by Forgent Networks against 15 companies that it claims have infringed upon a US DVR patent (#6,285,746) which it holds and which expires May 21st, 2011.

--Viewers' Text Messages Determine Program's Schedule of Music Videos

PixelPlay, the interactive TV games and portal-development company which was formed in 2005 via the merger of Pixel Technologies and PlayTV, and which has a long-standing relationship with US satellite TV provider, EchoStar, is launching a series of branded games as part of a worldwide exclusive ITV partnership with Slingo, Inc., a company best known for its flagship gaming format, which combines elements of Bingo with slot games.

Comcast has launched a VOD channel on its San Francisco Bay Area networks that is devoted to environmentally conscious programming.

The BBC has formed a strategic new media and technology alliance with IBM, following the signing of a framework agreement that outlined several joint projects between the two companies.

UK satellite TV provider, BSkyB, has launched a push-VOD service that offers a selection of the week's programs, free-of-charge, to customers equipped with its HD DVR.

US cable-industry research, development and standards organization, CableLabs, has signed an agreement with its Japanese counterpart, Japan CableLabs, that seeks to align the development of cable technology in the US and Japan.

--OCAP Technologies to be Heavily Featured

--Will Focus on Interactive TV Advertising, Tcommerce

A group of nine companies--AT&T, Ericsson, France Telecom, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, Sony, and Telecom Italia--have founded an industry consortium, dubbed the Open IPTV Forum, which will be tasked with defining an interoperable, end-to-end specification for delivery of IPTV services.

US broadcaster, CBS, last week announced a major initiative to make its programming available on the Internet through an offering it is calling the CBS Interactive Audience Network.

News Corp. and NBC Universal have announced plans to launch a broadband video Web site--which has not yet been officially named (note: the partners are referring to it as "NewCo")--which they claim will be "the largest Internet video distribution network ever assembled."

--Enhances its Streaming Video Player
--Adds New Social Networking/User-Generated Video Tools to NBC.com
--Adds More Broadband Programming, Interactive Online Content

--Deployment is Integra5's Largest To Date

--Company Says Plasma Gold Now Compatible with All US ITV Standards

At the NAB show in Las Vegas this week, UK-based interactive TV technology provider, Strategy & Technology (note: the company's offerings include DSMCC object and data carousels, MHEG application development, MHEG engines for receiver applications, TV-Anytime stream generation, and more), is collaborating with BBC R&D on a demo designed to highlight the latest developments of the proposed MHEG Interaction Channel.

--Ensequence's Aslam Khader Discusses the New Funding with [itvt]
--Ensequence Launches New Version of MLB.TV Mosaic Service
--Company also Enters Blu-ray Authoring Space

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will announce the winners of its International Interactive Emmy Awards at a ceremony at MIPTV in Cannes this Wednesday, that will be hosted by "Desperate Housewives" star, Roger Bart.

US satellite-TV provider, EchoStar (operates the DISH Network service), has announced the winners of the annual interactive TV awards with which it recognizes its now fairly extensive line-up of ITV vendors.

The Interactive Media Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has issued a call for entries for its 2006-2007 Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Television. The Interactive Media Peer Group describes its remit as "enabling the Television Academy membership to recognize emerging television programming formats, innovations by television networks, and groundbreaking new television services that include participatory interactive features that enhance the traditional television experience." The Television Academy awarded its first ITV Emmys in 2002.

David Jensen, VP of broadband TV at Tandberg Television (he joined that company following its acquisition of Zetools), was last year elected as a co-governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Interactive Media Peer Group. Earlier today, he spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the Academy's interactive TV Emmys.

Silicon Valley-based Sigma Designs develops System-on-a-Chip (SoC) semiconductors for IPTV set-top boxes, as well as for such devices as DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD players and recorders; HDTV's; digital media adapters; and portable media players. Sigma Designs' VP of business development and strategic marketing, Kenneth Lowe, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's technology and about the significance of SoC semiconductors in general; about why he feels Microsoft has "catalyzed" the IPTV space; about why the deployment of IPTV in the US has been "comparatively slow" to date, and why he nevertheless believes that IPTV will be "very successful" in the US market; and about new interactive TV services that Sigma Designs' SoC semiconductors will enable. (Note: this interview is the latest in a series of interviews published by [itvt] in recent months, that discuss the IPTV industry and Microsoft's role in it. In Issues 7.06 and 7.11, representatives of Espial and Siemens discussed the merits of their companies' respective approaches to IPTV and offered a number of criticisms of the approach taken by Microsoft; and in Issue 7.13, a Microsoft representative addressed those criticisms and argued the merits of that company's IPTV platform.)

GalleryPlayer CEO, Kevin Akeroyd, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the significance of the company's relationships with Panasonic and Comcast; about why the company believes it is tapping into a potentially huge market (Akeroyd says that its service is consistently the second or third most popular HD VOD service on Comcast's platform, outperforming HD movie services, among others); about the company's deployment and content-aggregation strategies; about its business model; about its plans to incorporate user-generated content into its service; about its plans to add full-motion HD video to the service; and much more.

Last fall, online video editing service, Jumpcut, was acquired by Internet portal, Yahoo!. [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow recently spoke to Jumpcut co-founder, interactive TV industry veteran Mike Folgner, about the service and the concepts behind it; about how it is enabling wiki-like collaborative editing processes; about plans to integrate Jumpcut into Yahoo!'s other services; about the prospects for enabling interactivity in video edited using the service; and more.

Doug Craig is responsible for programming Discovery Communications' VOD and mobile TV services, and also oversees the creation of short-form content for those services, and for the company's broadband channels. He recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about re-purposing and "pre-purposing" traditional TV programming for mobile TV; about the company's recently launched "VOD 2.0" strategy, which, among other things, sees it offering more short-form content on its cable VOD service; about the ways in which the user-generated content phenomenon is influencing Discovery's linear TV programming; about the company's interest in allowing its viewers to create their own documentaries out of its archival footage; and more.

Last fall, OCAP specialist, Vidiom Systems (note: the company, which was acquired last year by ADB Holdings, designed and developed an OCAP stack for OCAP Development, LLC, the joint venture between Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable, and is also licensed to distribute that software), set up an Integration and Deployment Group to assist companies in the deployment of OCAP, ETV/EBIF, and other interactive TV technologies. The executive who heads up the new group, Jeff Berenson, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the testing and integration work it is doing; about developments we should expect to see in the OCAP space over the next two years; about cable operators' efforts to upgrade both their frontend and backend systems in anticipation of OCAP; about the challenges involved in testing, integrating and deploying OCAP-based products and services; about the kinds of interactive TV applications cable operators are most interested in launching; about efforts to encourage Java programmers to develop for OCAP; and more.

Sam Pemberton was recently named CEO of the Softel Group, a company probably best known to [itvt] readers for its interactive TV carousel playout system, MediaSphere TX, and for its MediaSphere Alliance Program (members include ADB, Digisoft, emuse, Ensequence, Osmosys, Two Way TV and Vidiom). Pemberton has worked at Softel for around a decade, and in 2001 founded its US subsidiary, Softel-USA, subsequently serving as its president and CEO.

He recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about his long-term plans for the Softel Group (whose other member-companies are Softel Ltd. and Aston Broadcast), about MediaSphere's various deployments (which include a deployment with the UK's Independent Television Network that sees it playing out around 3,000 interactive TV applications a month), about Softel's support for interactive TV standards, about the company's work in the IPTV space, about the differences between the US and UK interactive TV "cultures," and more.

[itvt] Issues 7.06 and 7.11, representatives of Espial and Siemens discussed the merits of their companies' respective approaches to IPTV and offered a number of criticisms of the approach taken by Microsoft TV. In this issue, Microsoft TV's director of marketing and communications, Ed Graczyk, addresses those criticisms and discusses the merits of his company's IPTV platform. If any of the three companies (or their partners or customers) feel compelled to respond further to any of the topics raised in the three interviews, we will be happy to publish those responses in a future issue.

In this issue and in our next feature issue, Siemens and Microsoft representatives will "debate" (via separate interviews with [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow) the merits of their companies' very different approaches to IPTV. An interview with a Siemens representative is below; we will publish an interview with a Microsoft representative immediately after the holiday-season break. Then, if either company (or its partners or customers) feels compelled to respond to any of the topics raised in the two interviews, we will be happy to publish those responses in a future issue.

Earlier this fall, Eyespot--a company which offers an online video-editing service (both on its own Web site and as a white-label offering) and which has been tapped by a number of record labels, broadcasters and studios to power contests based on video mash-ups and user-generated video--secured $3.7 million in Series A funding. Eyespot co-founder and CTO, David Dudas, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the company's technology platform, business model, and future plans; about emerging trends in user-generated content; about the increasing willingness of entertainment and media companies to allow their content to be manipulated by consumers; and more.

Tracy Swedlow's InteractiveTV Today [itvt], the first, best and most widel