ICTV ActiveVideo supports Web-driven TV ad viewing

ICTV will showcase its ActiveVideo platform to support Web-driven, television-viewed advertising opportunities at the CableLabs Winter Conference March 4-7 in Denver, CO.

During the conference at the Hyatt Regency, ICTV will showcase the delivery of Web-like sponsor opportunities and interactive elements – including targeted advertising, channel branding, banner advertisements, “telescoping” and transactional capabilities – as well as personalized navigational elements and programming channels to any digital set-top box. The demonstration will show how cable operators can deliver Web-driven programming as MPEG video in combination with both live and VOD streams to provide an engaging, immersive TV- quality viewing experience via cable networks.

“Cable operators want a platform that brings new, Web-like forms of programming and advertising to television viewers,” said Don Gordon, CTO of ICTV. “ActiveVideo is superior to other Web-to-TV solutions because it leverages tens-of-millions of set-top boxes already in living rooms across the country. Operators benefit by being able to roll out real-time personalized programming, accompanied by targeted and auditable advertising, to their entire digital tier at the same time.”

Capitalizing on the ability to deliver interactive programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box, the ICTV ActiveVideo platform works with all video distribution infrastructures and set-top boxes with minimal integration. Live and on-demand programming can be blended seamlessly with content that is created and modified quickly using standard Web tools and talent. Because ActiveVideo composites Web programming into standard video streams in the network and delivers it as standard on-demand MPEG streams, all that is required of a set-top box is a standard MPEG decoder and return path capabilities. As a result, programmers and advertisers create content once and deliver to every cable set-top box, regardless of hardware, middleware and guide differences.

ActiveVideo Channels, which enable existing broadband programming networks to be delivered to the TV in real time as high-quality, subscriber-controlled television video, allow network operators and programmers to deliver a personalized broadband experience that includes video, navigational elements, channel branding, targeted, interactive banner advertisements, and links to different video segments. ActiveVideo Mosaic, the multichannel industry’s first customizable, personalized video-rich navigation system provides easy to use navigation, allowing subscribers to view live video from and navigate through a number of channels at a single glance.