AltiCast Execs. Talk About New Social TV Offering

At the CableLabs Summer Conference Innovation Showcase earlier this month (see the article published on itvt.com, August 18th), interactive TV software specialist, Alticast (whose areas of expertise include DVB-MHP, OCAP/tru2way, EBIF, IPTV and mobile TV), unveiled its AltiConnect Social Media platform, which it says lets pay-TV subscribers interact with sponsored Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare campaigns from their TV set. According to the company's Innovation Showcase materials, AltiConnect enables programmers to "provide an interactive social media experience that maintains the viewer's focus on watching television"; enables operators "not only to measure subscriber participation and monetize success, but also to measure the campaign's success within social networks"; and includes "lightweight EBIF and OCAP application templates as well as Web-based campaign management and measurement tools that implement the CableLabs SaFI specifications." In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "Radio [i]tvt" (note: an unedited transcript of the interview is also available below), Chris Ulmer, Alticast's director of application solutions, and Anne Dirkse, the company's director of technical services, application solutions, provide a detailed overview of AltiConnect, the strategy behind the new platform, and Alticast's plans for it going forward.