Telewest Folds Smashed Atom

Cable operator Telewest is abandoning its interactive TV venture, Smashed Atom, less than a year after its launch, due to insufficient funds.

The joint venture with Atomic Tangerine, an branch of the Stanford Research Institute, will close in the next few months, resulting in the loss of 46 jobs unless a buyer can be found.

A spokesman for Telewest, which owns a 60% stake in the company, blamed the current economic downturn, saying: “When you look at the state of the market, what with advertising sales down and Sky’s Open being downsized, the outlook is poor. Telewest decided that Smashed Atom was not a core business and as such was not necessary to the company’s core interests.”

Smashed Atom was established last October (see Telewest Forms Interactive Venture) to offer services to TV channels, advertisers, retailers and Government departments wanting to capitalise on the growing market for interactive TV. However, the slow take up of broadband services has led to revenue falling below expectations.

The decision to close the venture comes just a few months after BSkyB’s interactive platform, Open, was integrated into the rest of Sky’s new media interests as part of a cost cutting drive (see Open To Be Integrated Into BSkyB).

Telewest: 01483 750 900 www.telewest.co.uk SmashedAtom: 020 7299 5033 www.smashedatom.co.uk

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