A major player in the interactive TV arena has taken another step in broadening its products and offerings.
Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. (ISWI), and its licensee and financial partner, Global Interactive Gaming Ltd. (GIG), signed two agreements to develop and launch an interactive wagering product.
The companies have inked two deals with service providers, which could put GIG's betting platform in millions of homes.
Telewest Communications, one of the leading broadband communications and media groups in the U.K., signed on with GIG to allow ISWI to provide Telewest with the world's first fully interactive, play-by-play betting system for use in conjunction with its digital TV service.
GIG also announced that it and ITV Digital, a communications provider with an established base of more than one million interactive TV and Internet customers, will jointly develop a fully interactive, play-by-play consumer betting product, with a rollout expected for early 2002. The ultimate goal is to extend GIG's service to all of ITV Digital's 1.1 million customers.
The agreements are the first by GIG after it was picked in March of 2000 as ISWI's licensee and financial partner.
GIG's interactive wagering product utilizes ISWI's unique, patent-protected, SportXction software platform. The licensing agreements signed in March 2000 between ISWI and GIG will provide GIG with license fees and a share of the revenue from all systems utilizing its technology.
Barry Mindes, chairman and CEO of ISWI, said in a statement that the agreement with Telewest could turn out to be a turning point for the industry.
"This is the first agreement between GIG and a major digital TV provider and is a significant milestone for both ISWI and GIG and validates GIG's gaming service for interactive television providers," he said. "GIG has verified its ability to get SportXction-based systems implemented by a substantial number of installed IDTV subscribers, thus reaching a critical mass with its
first contract and tapping into what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar market."
The ease of the system, coupled with ISWI's ties to the Kirch Group, a major rights buyer for sporting events from the World Cup to Wimbledon, has Mindes convinced that interactive TV is the perfect avenue for the platform.
"We believe our software technology is ideally suited for IDTV as it requires no computer literacy to play the game, but merely the use of a standard TV remote control while viewing a sporting event on television," he said. "This system will allow cable and satellite providers to meaningfully increase revenue per subscriber, while providing GIG, and thereby ISWI, with
a continuing income stream. This is a monumental first step for our partnership.''
Mindes said that two agreements occurring within a week of each other proves that both Telewest and ITV Digital mark agreements with companies that have paved the way in their respective fields.
"ITV is one of the true pioneers of interactive television," he said. "By aligning the SportXction platform with the leading digital television providers, who are committed to developing, marketing and launching timely applications for the IDTV market, we will collectively set the standard for interactive gaming during a sporting event."
Mindes said an early 2002 launch is planned for the service and that the product will meet an important, unfilled need among interactive TV subscribers.
ITV Active users and Telewest subscribers will be among the first in the U.K. to enjoy enhanced, on-screen betting action, thanks to GIG's advanced, real-time, screen-based system.
This, uniquely, allows wagers to be continually placed on the outcome of defining moments throughout a game-events such as a Fowler penalty, a Rusedski serve, or a crucial over in a cricket test.
Unlike other online betting products, GIG's easy-to-use, low-wager, high-frequency betting service has been designed specifically for appeal to a wide consumer audience. It is ideally placed to capitalize on the huge potential of the U.K. interactive TV betting market, which is forecast by
ABN AMRO to be worth £1.4 billion (US $2.04 billion) by 2004.
ITV Digital is one of the leading interactive TV broadcasters in the U.K., with a growing customer base of 1.1 million subscribers, many of whom are already well-versed in TV interactivity, with the experience of having services such as the enhanced UEFA Champions League and Wimbledon contests.
GIG has designed its revolutionary new service for the numerous consumers who admit to placing an occasional wager, but who are not likely to venture into the alien environment of a typical High Street betting shop.
The deal is a winner for everyone involved, according to ITV head of content management, Roger Matthews. He said his company will be able to have a leg up on other providers who can't offer the interactive betting platform.
"The launch of ITV Digital genuinely broke new ground in world broadcasting and brought the benefits of IDTV to a whole new audience," he said. "We have been committed to offering a service that combines total quality and flexibility with ease of use and convenience. Our partnership with GIG will allow us to continue to enhance the ITV Digital proposition by again
pioneering new and exciting consumer services for our customers."