AOL Launches Interactive TV Service On Sky Digital
AOL has launched a range of interactive service on Sky Active, including instant messaging, email, headline news, sport and weather.
Sky viewers will be able to access AOL’s service via remote control while watching Sky TV programmes. AOL voiced its interest in entering the digital television market, along with Lycos earlier this year (see UK Internet Portals Look To Digital TV For The Future).
Karen Thompson, chief executive of AOL UK, commented: “The launch of AOL on Sky Active offers AOL’s members yet another convenient way to access its key services and will broaden the popularity of Instant Messenger.”
Miles Pearce, head of communications at Sky Interactive, added: “AOL on Sky Active represents an important addition to Sky’s line up of online services. We are particularly excited that for the first time in the UK, TV viewers can now send instant messages across platforms, to other TV viewers as well as computer and mobile users.”
November has been a busy month for interactive television; Auto-trader has launched an interactive service. Sky Active also introduced a service to give viewers the opportunity to donate to Children In Need via their TV’s.
Research from the London Business School shows that the penetration of interactive TV now stands at over 50% of digital homes, giving advertisers access to 19% of the UK’s adult population. The study also suggests that interactive advertising has a “high potential” for targeting and for generating a convenient direct response from viewers (see 19% Of UK Adults Have Interactive Digital TV, Says Report).
Analysts have suggested that media players who get into interactive television early, such as AOL, will have a unique opportunity to establish themselves as major players in a fast emerging medium.
AOL: 01268 530919 www.aol.co.uk
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