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Greece
Predict the Oscars on Nova (OpenTV) (1.83 Mb)
Greek digital satellite
platform 'Nova' (Multichoice Hellas) has launched a brand new competition application
accessible from their 'Novascope' interactive menu on channel 100.
The 'Predict the Oscars' application, sponsored by Max Factor, invites the viewer to
predict who will win the categories of best movie, best leading male and best leading
female by making their choice using the remote control.
All subscribers that correctly predict the winners of the three categories will then be
entered into a draw for a 42" Sony WEGA Plasma TV.
The competition is also accessible from a call-to-action present in promos that have been
airing on Nova's Filmnet movie channels.
Interestingly, in a market where return path connectivity via the modem can be
troublesome, the application records the viewers choices and then generates and encrypted
code (based on the viewer's smart card number) which then appears on screen. The viewer
then can dial a premium telephone line where they can enter their unique code.
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UK
Interactive BRIT Awards 2003 on ITV1
This enhancement to the BRIT Awards was accessible
by pressing the Red button on the Sky remote and provided viewers with details of the
award nominations for 2003 plus nominee profiles, background info on the history of the
BRIT Awards and information on the work the BRIT Trust charity is doing with young people
in the UK.
A large section of the application was sponsored by P&G's Pringles brand. Aiming at
the younger viewers that the BRIT awards reaches, the application allowed viewers to take
part in an interactive vote for the most popular BRIT's winner. The Pringles
'POP-ularity Poll' This was possible either via telephone or using the remote. Voting via
the remote was charged at 25 pence per call. Viewers could choose to vote for Robbie,
Kylie, Dido, Eminem or Madonna with the voting results updated as a percentage live in an
on-screen ticker within the application.
Viewers could also enter the Pringles Prize Quiz to have the chance of winning a prize
jukebox by answering 3 pop related questions and then submitting their details for a call
charge of 10 pence per minute whilst online.
P&G also use the application to introduce viewers to the 'Pringles Popstars' an
imaginary boy band which reinforced the Pringles brand with viewers.
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UK
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (OpenTV) (8Mb)
Recently launched on BSkyB
following a deal between ITV and the Pay TV operator, this OpenTV application allowes
viewers to answer the questions posed by the presenter Chris Tarrant at the same time as
the studio contestants. To answer each question, the viewer enters the number
corresponding to their chosen answer on their Sky remote control.
Millionaire's TV format uses A,B,C & D for the possible answers on screen, however the
application superimposes the answers with corresponding numbers over the conventional
video. Viewers compete not only on the amount of questions answered correctly, but also on
the time take to answer, which is measured by the application. Both these elements
contribute to the viewer's position in a leaderboard. (See Video) Points at each new round
are set to zero - the final scores are totalised at the end of the programme.
One feature that may contribute to the value of advertising around the programme is the
fact that the application encourages viewers to stick with the programme and not channel
hop during the ad-breaks. Skipping channels exits the application and therefore the
viewers scores are lost.
Previously an enhanced TV version of the show was exclusively available on digital
terrestrial, however it was clunky and suffered from some fairly severe synchronisation
problems due to the DTT network using MHEG5.
Australia
ABC's Long Way to the Top (OpenTV) (6.4 Mb)
Recently honoured at the AIMIA awards (http://www.aimia.com.au), 'Long Way to
the Top' is Australia's first interactive television documentary.
This special programme was broadcast via ABC's
digital satellite feed on Austar in December 2002 and in a similar format to some of the
BBC's recent enhanced documentaries featured mutiple video feeds which provided
alternative content relevant to the programme. These were accessible by pressing 'OK' on
the remote and selecting the relevant colour keys.
The multiple feed format provided an enhanced experience to Austar's subscribers. In
addition to the main concert feed, viewers could access the "green" channel
which offered a Woodstock style 'Split Screen' which allowed viewers to follow the main
view of the concert in the upper left quadrant of the screen, with footage from up to 14
cameras on view in the other three quadrants.
Pressing the yellow button took viewers to 'The Vault', where alongside the artist's
performance they could check out archival concert and interview material from the
performer's heyday. Classic footage was unearthed from the ABC's archives and further
afield.
By pressing the blue button, viewers could access interview footage from backstage wheere
all the performers were interviewed by either one of the promoters (Michael Chugg and
Amanda Pelman) or John Paul Young. Disarmed by the circumstances, many of the artists gave
historic interviews. So viewers could experience all the streams, the two-hour program was
transmitted continuously for 24 hours.
This was the second time that Austar has collaborated with the ABC in presenting
interactive television. In July and August 2002, the ABC broadcast the BBC's Walking With
Beasts documentary series.
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UK
MTV UK Enhancement (OpenTV) 4 Mb
MTV UK's new enhancement consists of three core areas; ‘Feed’,
‘Blag’ and ‘Bitch’. 'Feed' will allow viewers to access up to the
minute celebrity news and gossip which will be adapted depending on the programme content.
For example: If a video or programme on Kylie is being shown, the application will be
updated to include Kylie’s latest news or gossip.
'Blag' is a multimedia quiz featuring audio, visual and multiple choice questions and will
cost 50p to enter. Using this service will also give the viewer a password to access a
secret area in www.mtv.co.uk and play an exclusive game called ‘Feed Me’. Now
that the TRL programme has been brought to the UK, the 'Blag' section of application has
been designed so that winning a prize is integrated into the programming, with viewers who
enter via interactive TV being called back LIVE on the show. Also, after an extremely
successful outing during the MTV music awards, the ability for viewers to chat exclusively
via iTV to the celebrity guests has been included in the service.
Finally 'Bitch' allows viewers enter a ‘personality quiz’ and discover whether
they are more suited to Eminem or the Chemical Brothers. At the end of the quiz MTV adds
up the score to decide. Viewers are given the choice of whether a particular artist or
video stays on the MTV playlist.
There is also the option to “splatter” where viewers can express their opinion
graphically on the screen.
UK
Life of Mammals
Interactive (OpenTV) (8.4 Mb)
This epic new series by David
Attenborough aims to reveal why mammals, including ourselves, are the most successful
animals on the planet.
Once in the interactive service, in a similar format to Pyramid Interactive, viewers are
taken by David Attenborough behind the scenes for a 10 minute looped interactive session
where they can direct the action and test their 'mammalian skills'!
Viewers responses to Attenborough's challenges result in direct feedback from the wildlife
expert and prompt the next video sequence the viewer sees. By doing so, the viewer is able
to construct a programme that is tailored them.
Each programme has three challenging situations and each has up to nine possible choices.
Viewers press the relevant number on their remote control to enter their responses.
Week by week, the interactive service will build up into a looped library of interactive
programmes throughout the transmission period, from 20 November 2002 to 5 February 2003.
Digital cable viewers don't yet have access to the multiple video streams of their
terrestrial and satellite counterparts, but they can visit an interactive 'The Life of
Mammals' service via their INTERACTIVE button.
The programme which airs on Wednesday evenings is repeated on BBC1 on Sunday afternoons.
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UK
Celebrity Big Brother 2002 & Four Active (OpenTV) (4.5 Mb)
Channel 4's Sky Digital offering for Celebrity Big Brother once again
makes use of tried and tested application templates with little more than a basic
re-skinning of the multiple-video feed application seen on Big Brother 2 & 3. A
Celebrity Big Brother Pac-Man style game has made a come-back on Sky's Gamestar portal
with few noticeable differences from the previous version. Channel 4 has aimed to enable
participation from all viewers, regardless of how they access the channel. In addition to
voting in Sky homes, viewers with Telewest's digital service are also able to participate
using their remote controls. This is in addition to the existing voting possibilities
available to users of the web, SMS and premium rate telephony.
Channel 4 have also chosen the Celebrity Big Brother event to launch
their new 'Four Active' portal. By pressing a red button call-to-action which appears at
regular intervals - (But which disappears and becomes inactive during ad-breaks to allow
iTV advertising) the viewer can enter into a menu environment which provides additional
information on Celebrity Big Brother or other core Channel 4 programming such as soap
opera 'Brookside'. The application also exists across sister channel E4 - although the
logos and programme information are tailor made to each channel. It is fair to
say that both applications, beyond programming highlights, are not really Channel 4
portals but effectively a Channel 4 branded entry point into all the services
traditionally found on Sky Active. Drilling down through Four Active's menus takes
you to services such as 'Talk 21' email and Sky Active's traditional retail and classified
advertising services. This seems a pity - as Channel 4 already have a website which is
rich in content that they could have made better use of and their own commercial partners
which they could have developed for their own transactional services.
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UK
BBCi Pyramid Challenge (OpenTV) (10 Mb)
Following the initial terrestrial broadcast of
Pyramid, Pyramid Challenge is currently running 24 hours a day to digital satellite and
terrestrial (Freeview) homes.
Pyramid Challenge - The Book of Buried
Pearls" is, according the the BBC, "the world's first interactive TV
adventure story". The programe uses the switching of four seperate video feeds so
that the viewer can choose their own path throughout the adventure by using their remote
control.
The narrative of the show encourages the viewer to use their powers of observation and
common sense to guide Ian Wright (seasoned adventurer from the Lonely Planet guides)
through a series of challenging situations in modern-day Egypt.
The programme follows his journey from London, via Aswan, deep in the south of Egypt, to
Saqqara where the pyramid was invented, and on to the Great Pyramid itself at Giza. There
viewers face their final challenge - to unlock the pharaoh's hidden chamber.
If they choose the right path (choose the correct video streams) they are awarded a number
that makes part of a secret code to unlock a tomb and have the chance of winning a dream
holiday to Egypt.
'Pyramid' will be repeated on BBC ONE on Sunday 10 November. The competition closes
November 15th.
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Comments, Views and Perspectives
Looking for comments, views and perspectives on the interactive televison business? Why not contact the Broadband Bananas co-founders? See our profiles here.
UK
BBC 'Children in Need' Telethon (OpenTV) (6.5 Mb)
Following on from the success of
interactive TV donations in 2001, the BBC has again offered interactive television viewers
in the UK the chance to donate from the comfort of their sofa with this interactive
application made possible by BBCi, BT and GoInteract. Viewers can choose an amount to
donate from £5 to £1000 and then enter their credit card details using their remote
controls. The application is accessed from the BBC Text portal and also from branded
"Donate" call-to-action that appears during relevant 'Children in Need'
programming. Once the card details and personal info has been entered, the box then dials
up and connects with a cute spinning animation of the 'Children in Need' Pudsey
Bear.
During the run of the campaign, 'Children in Need' raised over £13.5 Million pounds of donations. Interactive TV played a significant role with 38,000 of the BBC's digital viewers choosing to donate via the red button, raising more than £668,000 pounds. In the previous year, digital viewers donated £479,130 through pressing red.
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Greece
Go Mad on MadTV (OpenTV) (2.7 Mb)
This application launches automatically
when the viewer switches the the Mad TV music video channel- the 'OK' call-to-action
appears on the screen letting the viewer know they can interact. By pressing the 'OK'
button a banner appears on the screen giving the viewer 3 options:
Ringtones: A list of top 10 ringtones appears (code - title - artist). The viewer can
order their favourite ringtone via a premium rate phone line with the order being
confirmed via an SMS to the subscribers' mobile phone.
CD Shop: A list of top 10 CDs appears (code -price - title - artist). The viewer is
able to order his favourite CD via SMS or premium rate phone line. In addition, the
subscriber's smart card number appears on the top of this screen as it is necessary to
place an order via SMS.
MAD Quiz: The MAD Quiz offers different prizes per week, viewer enters the quiz via
numeric keys.
What's interesting about this application is the way that the banner overlay appears, raising and lowering to minimise its interferance with the main video.
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UK
MTV EMAs 2002
Voting (OpenTV) (6 Mb)
This voting application follows the same template
structure as the applications used for MTV Hits, the Mobo awards voting and pretty much
all the enhancements on MTV's channels in the UK. Obviously it is relatively easy for MTV
to re-skin their core application - although as can be seen from the 4th still below, and
from our video, they do seem to be having problems with text extending beyond its
boundary. The application, accessible from an on screen call-to-action allows viewers to
vote in 12 categories of the EMA's, access gossip and EMA event news and enter a quiz.
Both the voting and the quiz cost 50p per entry via premium rate call charge.
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Spain
EMA Voting Application on CSD Spain (Mediahighway) (3.4 Mb)
The banner to launch this
voting application appears shortly after selecting the MTV Spain channel on the CSD Spain
platform. Pressing the "SERV" interactive button takes you to a branded pop-up
interface featuring the 2002 EMA design and the logos of the event sponsors (D&G,
Vodaphone, Amex and Foot Locker). By entering the vote, viewers have the chance to win an
invite to the EMA's taking place in Barcelona on 14th November.
The application asks the viewer from 5 nominees who is the best Spanish artist, Best
Group, Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, The Best Single, and Best Album. The viewer
makes their selection in these categories using their remote and then the results are
transmitted via the STB modem for the cost of a local call.
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UK
BBCi Great Britons Vote on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (6.4 Mb)
This application accompanies
the "Great
Britons" series on BBC2.
The show profiles the lives of 10 Great Britons including Churchill, Brunel, Darwin, Shakespeare, Newton, Diana etc. The application allows the viewer to vote on who is the greatest Briton of all time out of the 10 selected candidates. Viewers can also submit their votes via telephone and the web. Cleverly the application also asks the viewer their age and sex - and the results are shown broken down by these groups. This information is presented as constantly changing tables whilst the viewer can follow the programme on the right hand side of the screen. In addition to voting for one of the 10 candidates, viewers can also give their opinion of the Legacy, Genius, Leadership, Bravery and Compassion of each candidate during their programme. In this instance we are showing a clip from the programme on Brunel.
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UK
Star Ticket on Disney UK (OpenTV) (4.6 Mb)
In May 2002, Disney Channel
embarked on a mammoth search for a group of talented youngsters who would form a pop group
to record a single, shoot a video and finally perform to 10,000 fans at the London Arena
as well as millions of TV viewers during the 2002 Disney Channel Kids Awards.
To have a chance of being in the group, 5,000 hopefulls attended 5 workshops around
England, Scotland and Wales.
This interactive TV video and voting
application formed part of a multimedia campaign that also gave the audience the chance to
vote for their favourite contestants across telephone, text messaging, and the internet.
The video windows (in similar style to the classic Sky News Active application) allowed
viewers to watch a loop of that week's "Star Ticket" show, plus exclusive
backstage video from each of the workshops which was hosted by a pop celebrity. Another
video stream allowed viewers to follow what was going on on the regular Disney Channel.
The application also allowed viewers to follow text based news and win prizes in a caption
competition, submitting the caption via the STB cost a reasonable 25p per call.
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UK
Fame Academy on Sky Digital (OpenTV) (5.5 Mb)
BBCi have taken a truly multi-platform
approach with their new show Fame Academy.
The show is supported by round-the-clock news updates, highlights packages, profiles and
pictures available across all three digital interactive TV platforms, the internet,
broadband, SMS, WAP and PDA.
The interactive application featured here is available to Sky Digital homes and allows UK
viewers to access the latest news in text form, see a live video link from the Fame
Academy mansion (even when the programme isn't on air), watch BBC One plus the live feed
simultaneously, see video profiles of all the participants (teachers and students) as well
as check out the schedule of forthcoming Fame Academy programmes which are stripped
throughout the schedules of BBC One, BBC Choice and CBeebies.
Outside regular broadcasts the video feed can
be accessed through the BBCi-bar, accessible by pressing the "Text" key on BBC
channels.
Each week, three students who have not made the grade are put on probation, where they
will have to sing for survival. Viewers hold the fate of one of the students in their
hands by voting for who they want to save. Viewers can do this via telephone voting
(costing 10p), by voting via the interactive TV application (costing 25p) or via SMS
(Costing 12p). The remaining students in the house choose to keep one of the other two
probationers.
In addition to satellite, Digital Terrestrial viewers can choose between two additional
video streams during live Fame Academy broadcasts - a live-link of what's happening there
and then and a continuously updated half hour highlights package. There is also a text
service available (Press Text) outside of broadcast hours with exclusive student and
teacher diaries, plus Fame Academy secrets revealed.
On Digital Cable, viewers can look up more information on the students and teachers
personal profiles and learn all about them through their journals, diary columns and photo
galleries. There's also the hottest news snippets, upcoming events and 24-hour viewer
voting.
The website at www.bbc.co.uk/fameacademy
provides further background info on the programme, news updates plus on-demand
video clips of all the best Academy action. Viewers can also email in questions to the
students who will appear live online, chat to other fans on the message board.
UK
Test The Nation (OpenTV) (6Mb)
BBC's IQ show "Test The Nation" was broadcast live on
Saturday May 11th, 2002.
On the night of the test, 9.1 million viewers watched Anne Robinson and Phillip
Schofield put six studio groups through their paces. Viewers could also interact with the
show and obtain their own score via digital satellite, digital cable or via the web.
45% of all viewers with digital satellite connections took part and scored their own IQ
whilst almost 100,000 people took part at home through the internet.
A survey of 800 digital satellite households commissioned by BBCi revealed that 26% of
digital satellite households watched "Test the Nation." More than half of
digital satellite viewers who calculated their score on the night pressed the red key to
use the interactive service and find out their own IQ score straight away.
UK
MTV Bass Mobo Awards (OpenTV) (7.5 Mb)
Accessible on the MTV Bass
channel (one of MTV's new digital music genre based channels) by pressing the Red button,
this application is essentially the same template as the MTV Hits enhancement that has
been on air for several months, but reskinned.
The application provides Gossip, info on the Mobo event, a daily quiz plus the main purpose of the application is to allow viewers to vote for their favourite artists in the 12 different award categories, submitting their responses with the chance to enter a competition.
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UK
Final Score on Sky One (OpenTV) (9 Mb)
Following on from "Single Girls", this new dating show
from Shine Productions (Elizabeth Murdoch's production company) has been designed with
interaction in mind.
The show allows the viewer to decide who gets to appear in each weekly episode using their interactive remote control or by telephone voting.
Every week, a "picker" gets to go on a date with 3 guys or 3 girls. At the end of the 3 dates, the picker must decide which of the 3 dates they'd like to stick with.
The application allows the viewer to browse through the various candidates, find out their profiles and vote by a 25 pence drop call who will be in the next show. The show airs Sunday evenings and votes close lunchtime on Monday so that the production can commence filming again.
I have to say though, that interactivity of this show does still seem a little removed from the programme, particularly as the viewer has to first make their way through the Sky Active portal before reaching the voting application.
My feeling is that NDS and TwoWayTV who have provided enhancements to shows on channels such as Channel Four and Challenge have more sophisticated understanding of how to integrate interactivity within conventional television programmes.
It is also interesting to note that Sky Active have placed a banner advertisement for the interactive dating agency "Love to Meet" during the show's broadcast and also cross-linked the application with Sky Active's Horoscopes service.
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South Africa
Celebrity
Big Brother South Africa (OpenTV) (7 Mb)
Launched by pressing OK from the special 24 hour Big Brother channel
(channel 37) on the Multichoice DTH platform, this full-screen application featured news
from the Big Brother house, an overview of the tasks the contestants had to complete, a
moderated forum featuring viewer comments and detailed profiles of the housemates.
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UK
TV Scrabble on Challenge? (OpenTV) (5 Mb)
This enhanced TV game show,
broadcast by "Challenge?" on the Sky Digital platform and developed by TwoWayTV
presents a number of challenges...
How do you enhance a TV game show with interactivity without detracting from the programme? How do you replicate the gameplay of the board game "Scrabble" in the interactive TV world?
Even more challenging is how do you manage bandwidth issues when the application needs to check words in a split second that the viewer could be selecting from hundreds or even thousands of words in the English dictionary! Indeed this application would seem to handle all these elements extremely well.
Word entry is as simple as it can be and it will be most interesting to see statistics on what percentage of viewers choose to play along with this show as soon at they become available.
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UK
BBCi's "The Saturday Show" on Sky Digital (OpenTV) ( 2 Mb)
This interactive version of
the Saturday Show once again makes good use of the BBC's multistream capabilities.
Pressing the red button during the regular broadcast takes viewers to the familiar choice
of feeds that has been seen previously with Wimbledon, Winter Olympics and various other
BBC applications.
The multiple video feeds include "The Saturday Show Extra", a "Remix
of the last Saturday Show" (previous weeks show edited) and CBBC UK Top 40 as pop
music has always been a staple diet of the BBC's saturday morning programming for
children.
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UK
Defectors (OpenTV) ( 5.5 Mb )
The Enhanced TV gameshow
Defectors launched on Flextech's "Challenge ?" channel on May 20th 2002 - After
3 weeks, 18% or around 1/5 of viewers who watch the show are opting to interact with it.
Whats more, the application is extremely simple in terms of the interface - just a score calculator and the question colour choices superimposed over the video. That said, TwoWayTV have provided some very sophisticated synchronisation and playout technology behind it that isn't visible. "Challenge ?" plan to launch 8 ETV interactive formats by September plus and Arcade games lounge.
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UK
BBC Our Monarchy Poll (OpenTV) (3.8 Mb)
Following the Queen's
Jubilee celebrations, this application, created in partnership with UK developer
GOiNTERACTtv surveyed the BBC's Sky Digital audience over one week in early June. Viewers
were able to access the interactive poll by pressing the ‘red button’ on the
remote control during live BBC News broadcasts or through BBC News 24, and also via the
BBCi-bar accessed by pressing the ‘text button’ on the handset. The survey asked
just 6 questions, easily selectable via the left and right keys with the results being
sent back via the STB modem at a drop charge of 25 pence. The results were presented in a
special Monarchy debate programme on Wednesday June 12th. In total 58,779 people
voted: 23,821 via the interactive service, 16.493 via the Internet and 16,793 chose to
vote via the telephone.
According to figures from Broadcast magazine, only some 25 per cent of digital viewers currently use the BBC's interactive services through the red button on their remote control compared with between 60 and 70 per cent of viewers who use the BBC's Teletext service Ceefax.
The results can be seen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/monarchy
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