OpenTV Deploys with J:COM, Casema, MultiChoice, Reshet, Canal Digitaal

Interactive TV software provider, OpenTV (note: voting control of the company was acquired earlier this year by content-protection specialist, the Kudelski Group--see [itvt] Issue 7.16 Part 1), has secured a number of new deployments over the past few weeks:

• The company says that Japan's Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM) has chosen its OpenTV Integrated Browser as the standard browser for new VOD and interactive TV services that it launched in August. The browser, which supports HTML browsing and Broadcast Markup Language (BML) content, has been widely used in the Japanese market: it is offered on digital televisions from Matsushita and Victor Company of Japan, in conjunction with Matsushita's T-Navi portal. It has also been adapted to work with acTVila, a common Japanese TV portal that launched in February (see [itvt] Issue 7.36 Part 2). J:COM, which is Japan's largest MSO in terms of subscriber count, has offered VOD since early 2005, using browsers from multiple vendors to support its interactive TV services. However, it selected OpenTV's browser in order to provide a common user interface and functionality across its subscriber base. As a result of its deal with OpenTV, all of J:COM's set-tops will now be equipped with the OpenTV Integrated Browser and VOD client software. "We recognized the requirement for a standard browser deployed across devices making our services much easier for our subscribers," Tatsuya Yoshihara, deputy general manager of J:COM's Service Strategy division and general manager of its New Technology department, said in a prepared statement. "We looked at many options in the market and chose the OpenTV Integrated Browser as the best-in-class standard product. OpenTV Integrated Browsers had already been widely used in the digital TV industry represented by major CE vendors such as Matsushita Electric and have recently started to support the portal site, 'acTVila.' We will further strengthen J:COM's interactive services, including VOD and interactive TV services for local communities as well as nationwide content, to meet ever increasing customer needs."
• Dutch cable operator, Casema, has tapped the company to provide technologies to power its new, high-definition interactive TV service. According to OpenTV, Casema will deploy Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8455DVB HD DVR's (which are powered by the STMicroelectronics 7109 chipset) equipped with OpenTV Core3 middleware, OpenTV PVR2 software, and the OpenTV HTML browser. The broadband-enabled, dual-tuner HD DVR's, which are being offered in retail, will support, among other things, an HD EPG with integrated VOD services, and will be secured by conditional access from Irdeto. Casema's new digital platform will initially be offered in a number of Dutch cities, including The Hague, Amersfoort, Utrecht, Delft and Breda. "With the aggressive timeline we have put in place for deployment, it is of paramount importance that our key vendors have solid experience in launching complex projects," Casema CFO, Walter Blom, said in a prepared statement. "OpenTV has demonstrated this know-how not only in Europe, but around the world."
• The company says it has been selected by pay-TV provider, MultiChoice South Africa, as a "key partner" for the latter's launch of advanced TV services on its digital satellite platform. According to OpenTV, MultiChoice is "investigating" deploying HD DVR's with OpenTV Core2 middleware and OpenTV PVR2 software, in combination with Irdeto content-security technology, and has appointed OpenTV as system integrator for its roll-out of new services. The DVR's will initially power a push-VOD service, and eventually, OpenTV says, interactive TV services. "OpenTV has been one of our key partners in our efforts to offer advanced services and improve the overall user experience," MultiChoice South Africa CEO, Nolo Letele, said in a prepared statement. "We are excited about the new applications supported by OpenTV Core2 and OpenTV PVR2, as well as the other applications and upgrades that will provide customers with new ways to enjoy their video services."
• The company says that Israel's largest broadcaster, Reshet, has chosen its OpenTV Participate cross-platform interactive and participation TV solution to power live, broadcast-synchronized mobile interactive TV services for the game show "1 vs. 100." (Note: OpenTV Participate is a server-based system which the company claims can process several thousand transactions per second, allowing viewers to compete against studio players and one another simultaneously. According to the company, it features powerful "competition logic," which enables points to be allocated for each correct answer and provides viewers with real-time audience response statistics and personalized scores and results for each response. Prizes can be set in the system, OpenTV says, which automatically selects winners, ensuring a fair process that can be independently audited; the system also creates a unique account for each user, allowing broadcasters to contact winners and track weekly retention and usage statistics. Other recently announced Participate customers include NBC, Mojo Media Works, and Active Loop Television; for an in-depth overview of the platform, see [itvt]'s interview with OpenTV's VP of global sales and marketing for participation TV, Amos Manasseh, in Issue 6.61.) During the show, a graphical mobile interface developed by Tel Aviv-based Internet and mobile solutions provider, the Vario Group, will display synchronized content, allowing viewers to enter answers to the actual questions presented to the show's contestants; according to OpenTV, this mobile app works on both Brew- and Java-enabled phones, and has been ported by Vario to the majority of mobile handsets used in Israel. In addition to allowing viewers to play along with the show, OpenTV Participate will also be used by Reshet to present viewers with trivia and "fun facts," sponsor messages and interactive advertising at various intervals throughout the show, and during commercial breaks.
• The company says that Canal Digitaal Netherlands, which is currently the only provider of DTH services in the Netherlands and northern Belgium (it claims to have 700,000 subscribers and to be growing at a rate of 100,000 subscribers per year), has chosen its Core2 and PVR2 software to power its new HD and HD PVR offerings. "This deployment is another indicator of the strength of OpenTV's offering for HD and HD PVR services," OpenTV's SVP of sales, Michael Ivanchenko, said in a prepared statement. "Canal Digitaal's decision, together with our recent win at Casema and our long-time relationship with UPC, positions OpenTV as the de facto standard for digital television solutions in the Netherlands." At the recent IBC show in Amsterdam, Canal Digitaal revealed that it plans to use its PVR platform to launch a push-VOD service next year.

Originally Published: October 12, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.39 Part 2A

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