Paul A. Palumbo
Digital Broadcast and Programming/ Webcast Track
What you need to know about Interactive Broadcasting, on-air and online.

January 24, 1999 Subscribe

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DB&P ARTICLES

• ON-DEMAND PROGRAMMING IS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND THIS TIME NETWORKS AND AFFILIATES CAN'T KILL IT
• REPLAY NETWORKS BUSINESS MODEL IS ITS SERVICE, BUT ON-SCREEN GATEWAYS ARE GOING TO BE WORTH A LOT
• VIDEO2NET TARGETING LOCAL NETWORK AFFILIATES FOR STREAMING VIDEO OUTSOURCING
• MORECOM 'INTERNET ON BROADBAND TV' STRATEGY BUILT AROUND ADOPTON OF MPEG STREAMING VIDEO
• DIGITAL PRODUCTION: SUCCESS MEANS CREATING BRANDS THAT PLAY ON MULTIPLE SCREENS

DB&P WEBCAST TRACK

DB&P CONVERGENT PROGRAMMING SHORT TAKES

• @HOME TO BUY EXCITE FOR $6.7 BILLION
• TIVO AND REPLAY NETWORKS SHAG VULCAN VENTURES BACKING
• ECHOSTAR AND WEBTV NETWORKS INTEGRATE PROGRAMMING, PLATFORMS
• ECHOSTAR TO PROVISION INTERACTIVE CHANNELS
• ECHOSTAR AND GATEWAY DEVELPING INTEGRATED LINE OF DIGITAL RECEIVERS
• DIRECTV AND WINK TO PROVIDE ENHANCED PROGRAMMING PLATFORM
• POWERTV ANNOUNCES VERSION 1.5 OS FOR DIGITAL SET TOPS
• MOTOROLA TO PORT OPEN TV OS TO STREAMASTER SET TOP
• SA SELLS 100,000 EXPLORER 2000 BOXES TO TW CABLE
• @HOME AND REAL NETWORKS TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATION STREAMING PLATFORM
• PAYFORVIEW.COM ANNOUNCES 2-FOR-1 STOCK SPLIT, SIGNS LOI WITH ITV.NET
• GLOBAL MEDIA TO BROADCAST VIDEO EVENTS THROUGH REAL NETWORKS
• REPORT SAYS BROADCASTERS TO CHALLENGE ISPs FOR LOCAL INTERACTIVE DOMINANCE

DB&P EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW SERIES:
PERSONALIZED TV APPLICATIONS AND PREMIUM NETWORKS

Interactive program enhancements and personalized TV applications will offer viewers powerful new features with which to customize the in-home video experience.

These applications--while still available in a limited number of markets or just now moving into market trials (in the case of Replay Networks and Tivo)--have nevertheless been gaining acceptance. Investment deals (witness Vulcan Ventures taking stakes in both Tivo and Replay Networks in January 1999) and programming partnerships are being announced almost everyday.

It's an early indication that investors, programmers, networks and premium services are working to embrace what is clearly the future of television, despite the fact that business models, production practices and business affiliations will change as a result.

The market is in flux, but premium networks--and HBO in particular--have been some of the most aggressive in testing and adopting these new programming features. Premium networks appear to be good bets for these services for three reasons:

1. They are subscription based and not advertiser supported, so audience flow issues are a non factor in a pick and choose environment;
2. Viewers have limited leisure time to watch movies, and providing them a way to get what they want, when they want it makes a lot of sense; and
3. People who watch movies, or happen to be movie buffs, also happen to go online more than the average TV viewer or Internet user.

HBO AND PERSONALIZED TV PARTNERS
Partner	Application
WebTV Plus	Integrated programming
Wink Comm.	Data enhancements
Worldgate	Data enhancements
Replay Networks	Smart agent customization
Tivo	Smart agent customization
Source: Digital Broadcast and Programming

To get a better idea of the opportunities personalized TV offers premium networks, DB&P turned to Kevin Dowdell, VP Interactive Ventures at HBO to understand his thinking on this budding new era in subscription television.

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