Two Way TV Rebrands as Two Way Media

--Secures New Deal to Develop Interactive TV Games for Turner

UK-based interactive TV company, Two Way TV (note: a controlling
equity stake in the company was acquired for £5.34 million last year by
Ingenious Media Active Capital; at the time, the latter promised to
build up Two Way TV's creative and production capabilities, in order
to develop "mass participation" interactive programming for
mainstream broadcast; shortly before announcing its acquisition by
Ingenious, Two Way TV sold off its Ark interactive TV technology
platform to Virgin Media--see [itvt] Issue 7.32 Part 3), has
rebranded as Two Way Media, in order, it says, to "reflect its status as a
company focused on creating and distributing cross-media TV shows
and games." The rebranding sees the company unveiling a new logo
(designed by its sister company, Outside Line) that features two
interconnecting dotted boxes which it says represent "the idea of
making new connections with audiences and technology" and "can also
morph into icons representing the subject they are referring to, such as
casino chips for Two Way Gaming." As part of the rebranding, the
company has also launched a new Web site, which was developed
in-house and which it says "re-emphasizes our core expertise in four
key sectors": i.e. the development of skill-based games for the IPTV,
satellite and cable markets; the development of interactive products for
shows such as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and "Deal or No Deal";
the production of TV formats (the company claims to have delivered
over 2,000 hours of live gameshows to broadcasters over the past two
years); and the operation of licensed gambling services. "Ten years ago,
Two Way TV was a fitting brand which reflected our strong presence
in the interactive TV market," CEO Jean de Fougerolles said in a
prepared statement. "Today however, we are active across all media,
not only TV, and so we want to reflect this in our new branding. As a
company we have also expanded our expertise into new areas, such as
gaming, and we wanted a clean, fresh-looking Web site to clearly
describe our expanding portfolio. A separate Web site for Two Way
Gaming will launch later this year."

In other Two Way Media news: The company has been tapped by
Turner Broadcasting to create 16 interactive TV games over the next
two years for UK incumbent telco BT's Microsoft Mediaroom-powered
IPTV service, BT Vision. The games will be based on popular Turner
children's shows on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, such as "Ben
10," "Camp Lazlo," "Scooby Doo" and "Tom & Jerry." The company
has actually been working with Turner Broadcasting since 2003: earlier
this year, for example, it announced that it had developed a portfolio of
ITV services and games on the Virgin cable platform for Turner's
portfolio of UK children's channels, which includes Cartoonito and
Cartoon Network Too, as well as Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
"The games that we have created with Two Way Media for cable have
been a great success and we are really looking forward to expanding
our reach to new audiences on IPTV," Ian McClelland, Turner
Broadcasting's director of digital media for the EMEA region, said in a
prepared statement. "We feel that such strong branded games will
perform well on BT Vision and prove to be a valuable addition to the
service." Added Marc Watson, BT Vision's commercial director of TV
services: "Genuine interactivity powered by our broadband network
offers so many compelling possibilities for entertainment. On-demand
TV is a huge advance and we are committed to building on that with
further market-leading interactive services linked to programming. We
know that our customers will love games that include their favorite TV
characters and are easy to access. We're very much looking forward to
working with Turner and Two Way Media to develop this aspect of BT
Vision."