Sunnyvale, California — The struggling, Sunnyvale, Calif.–based Web pioneer Yahoo! Inc., is staking a claim in interactive advertising, is out to build on its lead over Google and Apple in the emerging smart television market projected to prosper as televisions and set-top boxes offer Web connections, today announced that it is introducing an innovative consumer experience for TV, called broadcast interactivity, along with an impressive list of partners for its two-year-old Connected TV service — including NBC, ABC, Disney and ESPN (all of which have either built or are developing Web TV apps in 2011).
The company, which commenced promoting TVs with its Web application in 2009, is vying with an increasing number of rivals, including Google Inc. and Apple Inc., for customers in their living rooms.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is working with CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched U.S. broadcast network, and home-shopping retailer HSN Inc. to unleash a pilot program “broadcast interactivity,” which promises to bring Web-enabled TV to another level, and will be aired on sets with Yahoo’s Connected TV software, said Russ Schafer, director of product marketing for the Connected TV group, on the eve of the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas.
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The new feature is scheduled to begin operations with élite national broadcast and cable TV leaders and top brand advertisers, would enable viewers click buttons to learn more about an actor or a program, or purchase items they see while watching live shows, Yahoo said.
“This is the next stage of where television is heading and we think we have a strategic advantage being out on the market for two years now,” said Schafer. “We think it is really going to change TV,” he added.
Yahoo! is participating with ABC, CBS, HSN, and Showtime on content for a pilot program in the first half of 2011, and will demonstrate examples of the broadcast interactivity feature at CES (Booth #36201, South Hall 4, LVCC). Brand advertisers Ford, Mattel and Microsoft are also planning to work with Yahoo! to deliver interactivity with their TV advertising.
“Our collaboration with leaders in television and brand advertising, combined with the innovative technologies we are pioneering, indicates the beginning of a new era of highly personalized, Internet-enhanced television,” said Ron Jacoby, vice president, Yahoo! Connected TV. “Imagine an absorbing, real-time TV experience that brings people even closer to the programs and brands they love by enabling them to play along while they watch their favorite shows.”
“The vital feature is to sense what you are watching and provide interactive content through a very subtle prompt,” Schafer said. “It is the truly interactive TV we have been talking about for years.”
Over the next six months, CBS, HSN and Showtime will commence testing new features designed at making TV viewing more interactive. However, details are still being worked out, for instance, during a Showtime boxing broadcast, Yahoo Connected TV users would theoretically be able to access statistics and information on the participating fighters; and bet on eventual winners with other viewers.
Broadcasters will be able to send discrete on-screen messages prompting people to take actions. For example, CBS, viewers of crime drama Hawaii Five-O might be able to research the show’s actors or answer questions relevant to the show.
“It enables a real-time dialogue of sorts between creators and viewers,” Schafer said.
CBS, Showtime and Home Shopping Network are taking part in the pilot program, which will be limited to the United States.
“Interactive platforms like Yahoo! Connected TV help us give our viewers an even richer entertainment experience while keeping them engaged with our shows, stories and characters,” said CBS spokeswoman Colleen Kenny.
Advertiser-wise, Yahoo has lined up Ford, Mattel and Microsoft to develop enhanced ad campaigns for the pilot program. For brand advertisers, broadcast interactivity will let them connect in real time with TV viewers during commercials or other branded entertainment experiences. During a Ford commercial, for instance, viewers might be prompted to look up local car dealers or research custom models via their remote control.
Television sets integrated with Yahoo! software called “widgets” that connects to specific websites was unfurled at the annual CES event in 2009 and are now in about six million households. Yahoo! expects that number to increase to eight million by March, when 2011 models featuring broadcaster interaction begin hitting the market.
Yahoo! is collaborating with Connected TV distribution partners including Japanese electronics titans Toshiba and Sony will embed the new Yahoo! feature in 2011 model TVs while firms including Broadcom Corporation, D-Link, Haier and MediaTek to enable the broadcast interactivity pilot on their devices in 2011.
“It will be hard for a number of other (hardware makers) to duplicate our experience,” Schafer said. “We see this next phase distancing us from the competition and it will be difficult for others to follow.”
Yahoo is exploiting this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to demonstrate this new pilot test — and to draw a clear distinction between its Connected TV platform and Google TV. Unlike Google TV, which promises to bring the entire Internet to a user’s TV screen, Yahoo Connected TV offers a TV-optimized version of the Web built around apps.
US television network broadcasters NBC, CBS and ABC and the Hulu entertainment website have suppressed people from watching full-length shows on their websites using Google TV.
The Mountain View, California-based Google introduced Google TV in May at a software developers conference in San Francisco. Developed in collaboration with Sony, Logitech and Intel, Google TV empowers users to mesh television viewing with surfing the Web.
“Google TV has been receiving a lot of negative press with networks blocking their content,” Schafer said. “Our approach is very network friendly.”