Interactive TV middleware maker OpenTV used the week of cable's biggest trade show to unveil a series of substantial deals, including agreements with Motorola, Charter and QVC and the roll out of new services.
Motorola signed of a five-year licensing and porting agreement for OpenTV's Core 1.1 middleware, and a variety of OpenTV extension packages, including support for Motorola's DVR-equipped set-tops.
Charter extended the term of its existing agreement with OpenTV for an additional year. OpenTV provides OpenTV ProSync, the application and engine that powers the services for 1.3 million Charter iTV customers.
OpenTV and QVC, a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp agreed to collaborate on a real-time interactive television shopping service using OpenTV ProSync and QVC's stuff.
The service is expected to launch in the summer of 2004 and is expected to be available over time to 1.3 million digital homes on both the Motorola DCT 2000 and the Scientific Atlanta Explorer set-top boxes.
And finally, OpenTV rolled out two new interactive services. SportsActive, an iTV sports application with multiple camera angles and audio feeds, real-time stats and replay capability on slected sporting events. The second service, NewsActive, is an on-demand news product with a selection of eight live video and five live text feeds encompassing breaking news, financial news, entertainment, weather and sports. Both services were launched in March on Australia's Foxtel system.
