PCCW, the incumbent operator in Hong Kong, has selected ICTV’s ActiveVideo Distribution Network platform to enable interactive channels via television to subscribers of its “now” TV service. ICTV, a start-up based in Los Gatos, California, provides the ability to deliver Web programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box. Live and VOD programming can be blended seamlessly with content that is created and modified using standard Web tools and distributed via standard Web infrastructure.
PCCW’s first ActiveVideo channel is an interactive “Movie Trailer Channel” that PCCW has launched in partnership with United Artists, one of the leading cinema groups in Hong Kong. The Movie Trailer Channel allows subscribers to preview movies, choose cinema locations, check program times, request seat locations, and buy tickets using just their standard remote controls. The channel is the first in a series of ActiveVideo channels and applications that will deliver more interactive services to now TV’s 654,000 subscribers.
The ActiveVideo Distribution Network is a usage-based content distribution service that enables operators, programmers and advertisers to bring video programming and advertising models from the Internet to the television, including high-CPM ads that are targeted, auditable, interactive and actionable. AVDN delivers Web-driven programming and live and VOD streams – all with superior TV quality – over the existing two-way network infrastructure to any digital set-top box.
http://www.ictv.com
- As of September, PCCW’s total broadband access lines in service reached approximately 998,000 by the end of June 2006, up 5 percent from 953,000 at the end of December 2005. The total number of telephone lines in service was approximately 2,579,000. The number of “now” IPTV users was 608,000. The proportion of customers paying for channels rose to 73 percent from 61 percent, and their ARPU increased to HK$118 from HK$110.
