Televisionation

Earlier this week, interactive TV company, FourthWall Media (formerly BIAP), announced that it has teamed with online payments specialist, PayPal, on a solution "to bring safe and easy payments to TV." According to the company, the solution will enable cable operators to deploy applications on their EBIF platforms that allow viewers to access their PayPal digital wallets for tcommerce payment. Dubbed the TV Buy Button and powered by PayPal X, the new solution is billed by FourthWall as incorporating a wealth of possible interactive TV experiences, ranging from in-depth set-top box platform technology to numerous programming and advertising widgets, in broad deployment.

In this recorded interview with [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow, FourthWall's chief product officer, Ellen Dudar, discusses the new tcommerce solution and its significance. An unedited transcript of the interview is also included below.

[itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow interviewed Zodiac CEO, Brandon Brown, Monday, about Cablevision's PowerUp deployment. A recording of the interview is available here.

At the CableLabs Summer Conference Innovation Showcase earlier this month (see the article published on itvt.com, August 18th), interactive TV software specialist, Alticast (whose areas of expertise include DVB-MHP, OCAP/tru2way, EBIF, IPTV and mobile TV), unveiled its AltiConnect Social Media platform, which it says lets pay-TV subscribers interact with sponsored Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare campaigns from their TV set.

According to the company's Innovation Showcase materials, AltiConnect enables programmers to "provide an interactive social media experience that maintains the viewer's focus on watching television"; enables operators "not only to measure subscriber participation and monetize success, but also to measure the campaign's success within social networks"; and includes "lightweight EBIF and OCAP application templates as well as Web-based campaign management and measurement tools that implement the CableLabs SaFI specifications."

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "Radio [i]tvt" (note: an unedited transcript of the interview is also available below), Chris Ulmer, Alticast's director of application solutions, and Anne Dirkse, the company's director of technical services, application solutions, provide a detailed overview of AltiConnect, the strategy behind the new platform, and Alticast's plans for it going forward.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recently announced that Showtime Networks' high-definition EBIF-based "Showtime Sports Interactive" application will receive an Engineering Plaque--an award that honors "those achievements that exhibit a high level of engineering and are important to the progress of the industry"--at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards (see the article published on itvt.com, August 2nd).

The app--which is designed to enhance Showtime's coverage of boxing and mixed martial arts events, and which to date has been offered exclusively on Verizon's FiOS TV platform--allows viewers to use their remote controls to pull up fighter statistics, records, bios and quotes; take part in interactive polls; and test their knowledge in a trivia game. It was built by Ensequence (see the article published on itvt.com, May 5th) and is powered by Softel's MediaSphere ITV playout platform (see the article published on itvt.com, March 24th).

In this recorded interview, David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime, and Geoff Katz, co-governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group, discuss how Showtime, Verizon, Ensequence and Softel worked together to realize the app; describe in detail the user experience of the app and the technological ecosystem that makes it possible (including the significant engineering achievements that led to the app being awarded the Engineering Plaque); outline plans for future distribution of the app; share thoughts on the future of EBIF and on the Academy's view of interactive TV; and much more.

Tool of NA - Dustin Calif - Touching Stories

Emmys Nominations-Chat with IMPG's Geoff Katz and Suzanne Stefanac

Leap Media Principal, Chris Pizzurro on Ad Agencies and ITV

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "Radio [i]tvt," Mark Garner, SVP of distribution, marketing and business development at A&E Television Networks, discusses that company's interactive TV plans for its various networks (including A&E, History and Lifetime), its tcommerce partnership with Delivery Agent, his views on OTT platforms, ranging from Google TV to the Apple iPad, and much more.

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "Radio [i]tvt," Mike Pohl, CEO of Jinni--a company that has developed a semantic search-and-recommendation engine which it bills as being based on "content genetics and user psychographics" and as enabling what it calls "mood-based" searches (note: the company has announced integration partnerships with OpenTV and SeaChange International, and last week was revealed to be working with Google on its new Google TV platform--see the article published on itvt.com, March 24th)--discusses the company's technology, its product strategy and roadmap, its partnerships, and the TV search and recommendations space in general.

In this episode of Radio [i]tvt, we speak with high-profile interactive TV advertising industry figure, Tim Hanlon, who just recently joined Catalyst S+F, a company which bills itself as specializing in "providing mission-critical advice and execution to innovation-oriented start-ups, brands and investors," as a partner. According to the company, Hanlon, who was previously managing director of Publicis Groupe's VivaKi Ventures, will be responsible for its venture investment and advisory strategies, as well as its lead consultant on advanced media issues. He will also open a Chicago office for the company.

In the recording, we speak about the company's goals and his mandate at CatalystSF, companies they're working with and looking at, as well as his perspectives on many topics of interest such as the importance of the challenges of maintaining privacy in an age of social media, targeting and addressability; "promotional marketing," opportunities for marketers on emerging interactive television platforms, and much more.