*Exclusive: Winners of the 2005 Interactive TV Emmy Awards

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[itvt] can reveal exclusively the winners of the 2005 Interactive Television Emmy Awards, which are organized by the Interactive Media Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (note: the Los Angeles-based Academy is one of two organizations behind the US television industry's annual Emmy Awards--the other is the New York- based National Television Academy, which also gives out Emmy Awards for interactive television; the latter organization's ITV Emmys are for technological achievement while the Los Angeles-based Academy's Emmys are for creative achievement):

The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Program-Specific Enhanced or Interactive Television goes to TV Land, Nick-at-Nite and ZeTools for the "2005 TV Land Awards All Access Pass." The latter, a Web-based application which was a synchronous companion to the "2005 TV Land Awards," allowed viewers to explore a 3-D virtual theater to access 103 minutes of TV footage from backstage, rehearsals, the red carpet and more. The app also provided broadcast-synchronized trivia and games, as well as the ability to chat with other viewers.

The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Non-Program-Specific Enhanced or Interactive Television for a Channel, Network or Service goes to Cablevision Systems Corporation for its iO Interactive Optimum Digital Cable Service. The latter provides a range of on-demand and interactive services, including iO Showcase, an interactive promotional channel; iO Games, a subscription-based interactive TV games service; and an innovative and graphically rich VOD menu.

The Interactive TV Emmy Awards are overseen by Interactive Media Peer Group co-governors, Brian Seth Hurst and Marcelino Ford-Livene, and by committee co-chairs, Rosemary Danon and Marcia Zellers. The Awards recognize original interactive TV programming content, applications and services that have been deployed in the US during the Primetime eligibility year (i.e. June 1st, 2004-May 31st, 2005) and that have demonstrated creative excellence. They will be presented at the Creative Arts Awards Ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles on September 11th. The Academy has upgraded the status of its ITV Emmys this year: the award decisions of the Interactive Media Peer Group are no longer subject to ratification by the Academy's board, and all recipients will receive Emmy statuettes; previously, it was up to the board to decide whether each recipient would receive a statuette or a simple plaque.

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