WASHINGTON, D.C. – Premium movie service Starz today launched "Enteract Now," a new service that gives viewers the ability to instantly link from a movie they are watching on the linear service to the on demand version of the same movie.
Robert Clasen, chairman and CEO of Starz, demonstrated Enteract Now in CableNET, a technology showcase co-sponsored by CableLabs and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) at The Cable Show ‘09 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Richard R. Green, president and CEO of CableLabs, and Brian Roberts, chairman of CableLabs Board of Directors and CEO of Comcast Corporation, joined Clasen onstage to applaud the new feature that’s built on the CableLabs’ Enhanced Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) specification for interactive TV being rolled out by cable operators. Because Enteract Now is built on the industry standard EBIF specification, it can be launched easily on any cable system where the EBIF platform has been deployed and this is a technology that, of course, can cross borders.
Once cable providers launch Enteract Now, viewers tuning to one of the standard or high-definition Starz, Encore or MoviePlex channels will see an icon on the television screen indicating that the movie or program also is available on demand. A quick click of the remote on the Enteract Now icon will instantly take them to the beginning of the on demand version of the program. Without Enteract Now a viewer tuning to a program that’s already started on a linear channel would have to go through several different steps in order to first see if it’s available on demand and then select it from the cable provider’s on demand menu to be able to watch it from the beginning.
“This easy-to-use, non -intrusive feature will dramatically improve the viewing experience for our subscribers,” said Clasen. “In fact, we think it’s as important a consumer innovation as the introduction of preset radio station buttons in car radios were when they first came on the scene over 50 years ago.”
Clasen said that while the usage of on-demand services has increased steadily in recent years, the rollout of Enteract Now will encourage more widespread use of on demand and HD on demand. Enteract Now also gives viewers the ability to instantly access a list of upcoming programming on the channel they are watching or link to a list of all movies available on demand from Starz, Encore or MoviePlex without changing the channel.
And, it keeps viewers, when they go into the on demand menu, within the Starz brands.
“Starz is delighted to be working with CableLabs’ specifications, and we’re looking forward to working with our cable affiliates to make this exciting new feature available to our customers,” said Clasen noting that the Starz, Encore and MoviePlex services provide the best opportunity to introduce Enteract Now because they offer one of the largest collections of on demand product of any programming service. Collectively the three services offer up to 350 standard- definition and 70 high-definition movies and original programs on demand. The actual amount of programming available to consumers varies from cable system to cable system.
“Enteract Now is among the first of a number of new interactive applications being developed by programmers using the EBIF standard and is a terrific example of how cable is continuing to give consumers new ways to interact with programming on television.” Roberts said. “As we roll out the EBIF interactive platform, we’ll be looking for new applications like this that will give our customers features that bring more interactivity to the television experience.”
– Greg O’Brien
