ActiveVideo Networks enables programmers, network operators and advertisers to distribute Web media through television and other devices. Our ActiveVideo Distribution Network combines the interactivity and measurability of the Internet with the quality, immediacy and remote-control navigation viewers expect from television.

ActiveVideo infuses TV with the best features of the web. The result is evolved television that involves users. ActiveVideo simply and inexpensively expands the programming, navigation and advertising possibilities for an immersive experience that actively engages users. ActiveVideo also increases TV’s immediacy by providing the means to frequently and fluidly refresh the experience, keeping users absorbed.

ActiveVideo combines standard Web technologies for authoring and distribution with network processing that creates a single, personalized MPEG stream for delivery to any digital set-top box or Web-connected CE device.

ActiveVideo channels combine audio, graphics, web media and broadcast video from a variety of sources. Each of those elements is transcoded into an MPEG object, all of which are stitched together in our network and delivered as a unicast MPEG stream. Viewers can interact with individual elements within the stream, just like on the Web, via key clicks on standard remote controls.

Our primary customers are traditional programmers and Web media content providers who understand the value of keeping or reaching viewers on television. We also establish relationships with network operators and CE manufacturers that allow their customers to receive and interact with ActiveVideo programming.

Our business model is truly success-based: We make money when viewers are engaged in an ActiveVideo session. Just like on a Web content distribution network, programmers on the ActiveVideo Distribution Network pay only when viewers are engaged and content is delivered.

With our technological advantages, our expertise in server-side processing and our growing footprint in the field, we believe we are well positioned to be the leader in enabling a new generation of television well into the future.

Engaging with Web content and interactivity on the television should not be confused with web surfing. They’re two very different experiences, which require equally different approaches. At the end of the day, the PC remains best suited for research, private communication and other individual activities. ActiveVideo is more about enabling an entirely new viewing experience by combining the best features of the Web with the best features of television.

ActiveVideo and EBIF bring different – and complementary – strengths to the interactive experience. The EBIF platform provides TV viewers with programming enhancements and interactive commercials which are received and executed locally by the set-top box. ActiveVideo provides programming channels that feature near endless combinations of customization and personalization, all delivered through a standard MPEG-2 stream. A network operator deploying both EBIF and ActiveVideo applications can dramatically increase the ability to deploy programming and features that attract and retain viewers.

Far from being competitive, tru2way and ActiveVideo together are able to provide a more enticing, personalized experience for viewers.  Tru2way applications can run alongside the ActiveVideo client in set-top boxes, enabling viewers to:

• View network programming while simultaneously being engaged in a tru2way advertising application;
• Navigate through and view on-demand “picture-in-picture” video streams that support and drive tru2way-based consumer polling and surveys; and
• Navigate using the tru2way client to a wide range of ActiveVideo content, increasing the breadth of available programming that operators and programmers can deliver; and
• Most importantly, ActiveVideo allows you to solve the problem of device fragmentation by allowing you to deliver the most advanced interactive experiences to virtually any digital set-top box.

The existing VOD infrastructure is optimized for viewing of long-form programming, such as movies and special events. ActiveVideo’s strength is in bringing Web media and interactivity to the TV, allowing viewers to navigate through and view shorter-form content on television just as they would on the Web. In addition, ActiveVideo can incorporate broadcast video directly into the user experience, as well as serve as an intuitive media-rich interface for VOD.

ActiveVideo uses the same video format as a VOD stream (MPEG), which is typically delivered at 3.75 Mbps, but because ActiveVideo applications are able to optimize the parts of the interface which are static, it takes up a fraction of the bandwidth.

ActiveVideo requires only a very small client (less than 65K in most cases) that resides on any digital set-top box, including the DCT2000, the industry’s workhorse. All of the heavy lifting is done in the network and delivered to the set-top box as a single MPEG stream.

Just like with OCAP/Tru2way, we see VOD and ActiveVideo as complementary. As a “front end” to operators’ existing VOD platforms, ActiveVideo enables intuitive search functionality and recommendation engines that can help viewers more easily find the programming they want, increasing VOD usage.

ActiveVideo Channels can be accessed in a variety of different ways:

1. Direct Tuning – Viewers can input the number of a listed ActiveVideo Channel directly into their remote control;
2. Guide – Research has shown that viewers rely on guides to tune to channels. ActiveVideo channels can be selected from guides just like any traditional television channel;
3. EBIF – Viewers watching a live channel can respond to an EBIF application that entices them to tune to an ActiveVideo Channel; and
4. Overlay – Graphic overlays on linear channels can serve as “triggers” for tuning to ActiveVideo channels.

Because ActiveVideo is Web-based, it can help speed mass deployment of targeted, auditable, interactive advertising. Using ActiveVideo, advertisers can rely on the same content creation skills, traffic functions and measurement techniques that they already use on the Web. ActiveVideo’s network-centric processing enables advertisers to author once for delivery to virtually any set-top box and Web-connected CE device.

Our business model leaves it to the programmers, network operators and advertisers to work out advertising models that work for all involved. 

ActiveVideo supports all forms of Web-style advertising such as static and animated banners, as well as pre-, mid-, and post-roll video.  In addition, third-party applications may carry branded interfaces, or full-screen interactive showcases may be developed specifically for the advertiser.  All elements can be enabled to allow the user to select and click through to a full-screen interactive experience, or they may enter directly from broadcast commercials.

Using ActiveVideo, the same targeted and metric-based advertising that has been successful on the Web can be easily migrated to the television, with increased value provided by the mass audiences and ratings-based model that television provides.

Absolutely. For example, a viewer watching "American Idol" could be prompted to enter an ActiveVideo environment that takes the viewer all the way through to a transaction. The show remains on, but is minimized so the viewer does not miss a thing!