PixelPlay, the interactive TV games and portal-development company which was formed last year via the merger of Pixel Technologies and PlayTV, and which is best known in the US for its long-standing relationship with satellite TV provider, EchoStar, is teaming with mobile services company, Cellpoint Mobile, on an SMS sweepstakes. The sweepstakes will be promoted on DishGAMES, the interactive TV games portal that PixelPlay launched on EchoStar's DISH Network platform earlier this year (note: DishGAMES offers 16 games--licensed from such providers as Atari, Hasbro, Real Networks, and MumboJumbo--for $4.99 per month, as well as leaderboards, tournaments and prize competitions; PixelPlay also offers an educational interactive TV service called KidsWise on the DISH Network, and earlier this year teamed with EchoStar and NBC to create a DISH Network interactive TV application called "NBC Olympics Now"; for an in-depth look at PixelPlay and the services it has created for EchoStar, see [itvt]'s interview with Jonathan Boltax, the company's VP of programming and service management, in Issue 6.89).
The first iteration of the sweepstakes will enable players to text in to win one of three iPod Nano's: the winners will also be notified by text message. PixelPlay's goal for the sweepstakes is to build up a database of SMS-enabled DishGAMES players, allowing PixelPlay to use SMS to alert those players of future game releases and future sweepstakes offerings and promotions. According to PixelPlay CEO, Ron Chaimowitz, the sweepstakes also exemplifies a cross-platform strategy for interactive games that the company is pursuing: "DishGAMES' goal is to allow subscribers to interact on as many platforms as possible," he explained. "Viewers can play on DISH Network, go online to DishGAMES.com, and now use their cell phones to enhance their DishGAMES experience. The DishGAMES ITV channel is an example of how PixelPlay is able to leverage its cross-platform technologies to take game services across multiple mediums."
Originally Published: December 7, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 7.09
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