IBC Preview: OpenTV Leads Television Transformation at IBC 2008

Mon Aug 25, 8:36 AM

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recent research indicates that even though new media is growing in popularity, television viewing is increasing steadily. Why? Because television is becoming more engaging, more intuitive and more meaningful than ever thanks in part to OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV), a leading provider of advanced television and advanced advertising services.

What does the future of content exploration hold? How can social networking extend to the viewing experience? How can ads be more relevant? These questions and more are being answered by OpenTV at the International Broadcaster Conference (IBC) Hall 1 Stand C 81, to be held at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from September 12 to 16, 2008.

“Television and technology are our passions,” said Ben Bennett, OpenTV’s Chief Executive Officer. “It is a very exciting time to be a part of this industry. OpenTV has been a part of the digital television revolution since the beginning, and we continue to lead the television transformation through innovative technology that makes television better, more intuitive and more exciting than ever. We look forward to showcasing at IBC every year, and this year is no exception.”

“The challenge of the analogue to digital switch is now behind us, and we are now focusing on the next generation of digital services that includes high definition and hybrid on-demand services,” said Mike Ivanchenko, OpenTV’s Senior Vice President of Sales. “Today, it’s not just about the technology; it’s about what viewers can do with it and OpenTV continues to demonstrate new and innovative advancements in that domain.”

At IBC 2008, OpenTV will showcase its latest innovations that define, personalize and extend the user experience, including:
 

• A User Interface Evolution: OpenTV is one step closer to its vision of an intuitive and personalized UI with the introduction of OpenTV Core nX™, the next generation of user interface. OpenTV Core nX will allow viewers to create a virtual living room where they can expand and personalize their media universe while enjoying programming with friends and family by:

 

• Creating their own television experience and social network. From buddy lists to new community-centric services, the OpenTV Core nX environment will make it possible for every member of the household to enjoy a personalized viewing experience;

 

• Building their own television community using “Buddy Lists” to share program ratings, recommendations, and even real-time show comments and to find new and exciting content quickly and easily;

 

• Bringing relevant content to the forefront of the television experience via an intuitive and unified media interface. Users will be able to discover new content without ever leaving the viewing environment.

 

• New PVR Deployment Models: OpenTV Core2™ gives the operator and the consumer flexibility in extending their set-top box capabilities with USB enabled devices by:

 

• Creating new opportunities for operators to cost effectively deploy PVR services using low-cost in-field upgrades and “a la carte” features such as live pause;

 

• Giving consumers the freedom to expand their PVR storage incrementally as needed.

 

• Addressable Advertising from PVR: In our time-shifted, fast-forwarding, and ad-skipping world, network operators and advertisers face new challenges in delivering their ads to the right audience. The dynamic insertion of ads through OpenTV’s PVR will help them reclaim an advertising channel and introduce new ways to help face those challenges by:

 

• Addressing advertisements based on individual user profiles, which helps increase relevance, keeps ad content fresh, and increases the likelihood of ad viewership;

 

• Measuring viewership to allow network operators to validate and report on advertising campaign exposure.

 

• Hybrid VOD: OpenTV offers network operators an easy way to differentiate their VOD service offerings by:

 

• Leveraging broadcast and broadband infrastructure to effectively manage network bandwidth and to maximize the efficiency of content delivery;

 

• Personalizing and targeting VOD content based on subscriber preferences in order to better realize the benefit of available “long-tail” content;

 

• Combining multiple media types and content formats to extend the VOD experience beyond the traditional model and provide seamless portability with other devices.

OpenTV’s IBC 2008 showcase will also feature live services offered by existing OpenTV customers from around the world. OpenTV senior executives and sales and product marketing staff will be on site for meetings, demonstrations, and discussions.

Additionally, OpenTV was selected to present at the IBC 2008 conference. OpenTV’s presentation, “Push/Pull VOD Delivery: Using Two Content Delivery Mechanisms Simultaneously,” will be presented during the “New Delivery Techniques” session on Thursday, September 11 at 9:30 a.m.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced digital television solutions and is dedicated to creating and delivering compelling viewing experiences to consumers of digital content worldwide. The company’s software has been integrated in more than 111 million devices around the world, and enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive and addressable advertising and a variety of enhanced television applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Information

The foregoing information contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to the company’s future product plans, design and strategy, which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include risks related to market acceptance of our products, delays in the development or implementation of our products, technical difficulties with networks or operating systems and changes in technologies that affect our industry. These and other risks are more fully described in our periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be obtained online at the Commission's web site at http://www.sec.gov. Readers should consider the information contained in this release together with other publicly available information about our company for a more informed overview of our company. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

OpenTV
Christine Oury, +1-415-962-5433
Mobile: +1-415-216-7897 (Onsite from September 12-16)
coury@opentv.com