AmericaTab Replays -- AmericaTab, a race wagering and content provider licensed by the Oregon Racing Commission, has added free race replays to its Web service. The instant race replay service is free to registered AmericaTab customers and offers playback of races dating as early as Dec. 1, 2003, with more archives likely to be added soon. Customers can also view the playbacks from three different camera angles. Other additions to the AmericaTab Web site include cancellation tracking, will-pays and new scheduling features.
In The Spotlight -- TV production company Fremantle Media, which owns branding rights to the popular shows "The Price is Right," "Baywatch," "Benny Hill," "Pop Idol" and Simon Cowell's new talent search program, "The X Factor," is engaged in a number of business ventures and negotiations that could propel it into a position to reap large rewards from the growing popularity of iTV and mobile betting. This month the company launched a project with Blue Square that enables X Factor viewers to bet on the outcome of the 15-week series. The deal marks the first time Fremantle has allowed betting on one of its shows in the United Kingdom, and the company's interactive division intends to make online betting a permanent part of its business plan. A Fremantle arrangement with Littlewoods has created an iTV gaming service that offers a variety of games (including a multiple-choice competition played via SMS, telephony and iTV red button) that were developed specifically for X Factor viewers. The firm recently announced a deal with mobile operator 3 to create an X Factor mobile video service offering highlights and off-air content at a cost of 50p per clip, or £10 monthly for unlimited downloads. Last week NewMediaAge reported that Fremantle was hoping to discuss with U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot the possibility of launching mobile phone-based scratch-cards branded with some of its properties.
Problem Gambling Study -- A study by professor Max Abbot and his colleagues at Auckland University of Technology's Gambling Research Center in New Zealand followed 77 problem gamblers and 66 regular non-problem gamblers over a seven-year period, marking the first project to follow a community sample of problem gamblers over an extended period. The results, published in the international journal Substance Use and Misuse, convey a different portrait than most views on problem gambling, suggesting a more positive outlook for problem gamblers and suggesting a different approach to policies and services to assist them. Abott claims that on one hand his study reveals that there "are probably more people throughout the world who have experienced gambling problems than was previously thought," but on the other hand, "for most of them their problems don't last as long as clinicians and researchers generally believe." Abbot says that the majority of problem gamblers no longer reported problems when re-examined seven years later, even without having undergone treatment. And contrary to the popular assumption that problem gamblers cannot return to moderate or social gambling, Abott's study showed that most people who overcame their problems still gambled once a week or more.
Spam Bounty -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has proposed laws that would allow insiders who have worked with spammers or can provide insightful information about spammers to collect bounties of between $100,000 and $200,000 for turning the spammers in to the proper authorities. The FTC believes that such a system would make it easier to identify and locate spammers and also to gather sufficient evidence on the spammer to obtain a conviction.
Short-Term Betting -- VirtGame Corp., a Nevada-based provider of server-based software solutions, has entered into an exclusive agreement with private software firm STB Holdings to implement STB's short-term events software into VirtGame's Primeline and Sports Bet Express products. The STB (Short Term Betting) turnkey betting system lets bettors place wagers in real time on varied and constantly updated betting options that run throughout an entire sporting event. STB offers betting on football, basketball, baseball and hockey, and could offer betting on more sports if demand rises. The STB platform can run on kiosks, mobile devices and interactive TV, and VirtGame is likely to soon integrate the software into its kiosks in bars and taverns across Nevada.