Flextech Trials Interactive TV With Microsoft And Telewest

Flextech Interactive (FI) has announced that it will be participating in Microsoft’s WebTV interactive television trials. The six month trials take place in Telewest-served cable homes in London and Liverpool.

The trials are intended to provide a testing ground on which advertisers can learn how consumers will relate to interactive services. Both Flextech and Telewest will be researching customer responses to interactive TV products and services. On the back of this research FI says it will be able to hone its interactive advertising proposition.

A fully interactive website, set to launch in the second quarter of the year, will be used by Flextech to trial the TV Travel Shop, a transaction travel channel. Ashley Highfield, general manager at FI, says: “WebTV has already helped us to encourage advertisers to use the internet as an extension of a TV campaign. The early industry feedback we have received is very exciting.”

Interactive services will become more widely available as digital television increases its subscriber base. Telewest is planning its digital launch for the end of the year and will use the information gained from the WebTV trials to structure its interactive offerings.

British Interactive Broadcasting’s (BIB) Open service, which has been developing interactive TV services for some time, is planning to launch initially through the Sky Digital platform in Spring. Open recently unrolled its first ad campaign to promote this launch (see Open Rolls Out Ad Campaign For Interactive TV Services). Cable & Wireless Communications is planning to launch its interactive digital TV offerings in the latter half of this year (see Introducing CWC TV: Coming To A Screen Near You Soon).

Flextech: 0171 299 5000 Telewest: 01483 750 900