New authoring tool makes interactive TV advertising easy

Added: (Mon Mar 18 2002)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Press Red, the interactive TV (iTV) advertising company, announces the launch of BlackBox Designer, its multi-platform iTV advert creation tool, co-developed by iTV and mobile specialists Future Platforms.

BlackBox Designer allows brand owners and their advertising agencies to focus on the creative design of iTV adverts without having to worry about iTV technology, and underlying iTV platform differences. Delivered online, the tool presumes no specialized iTV knowledge on the part of its users and allows for easy WYSIWYG editing of adverts, via Press Red’s dedicated web site. It also permits previewing of adverts via freely available set-top-boxes - unlike traditional iTV software, which requires expensive, dedicated hardware. It is the first component of the BlackBox integrated iTV solution from Press Red that provides a complete interactive advert publishing service, from initial advert design to final play-out on broadcast channels, using broadcasters’ existing scheduling, automation, and synchronization systems.

Chris Moreton, CEO of Press Red, explains “Up to now, creation of interactive TV advertising has been a technically difficult process that must be repeated for each of the UK’s digital TV channels, with expensive separate developments required for Digital Terrestrial, Digital Cable and Digital Satellite. BlackBox Designer takes the pain out of authoring interactive advertising content for multi-platform, multi-broadcaster delivery, and makes the entire process transparent as far as the advertiser or agency is concerned.”

Jay Gooby, co-founder of Future Platforms comments that “BlackBox Designer demonstrates several aspects of our vision for iTV services: accessed through a web browser, it uses open standards and network services to deliver a solid, eminently useful product which solves some of the key problems facing the iTV advertising industry.”

With interactive TV advertising in the UK currently emerging from an experimental to mainstream phase, BlackBox Designer comes at exactly the right time to enable brands to cost-effectively and painlessly target customers with enhanced advertising.

ENDS

About Future Platforms
Future Platforms is an award-winning technology company specialising in the development of mobile and interactive TV software and services. Since its foundation in 2000, the company has worked with blue chips, advertising and communication agencies, and media content owners to develop products across a range of platforms (SMS, 3G, iTV, WAP, and PDAs).

About Press Red
Press Red is a brand and advertising agency-focused interactive TV business, enabling the creation of interactive adverts for multi-platform, multi-broadcaster delivery. It provides a common interface between advertisers and broadcasters, facilitating the creation of ‘ready to play’ interactive TV commercials for all broadcast channels. BlackBox is its first product.


Jay Gooby, Future Platforms
Tel. 01273 699529
Mobile 07956 182625
jay@futureplatforms.com

Chris Moreton, Press Red
Tel. 08700 136 136
Mobile 07887 733 937
chris@pressred.tv