Columbia TriStar Interactive Launches First Multimillion Dollar, Multi-Partner Marketing Campaign Around Interactive TV Game Shows' Debut With Sony Electronics and WebTV Networks.CULVER CITY Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. , Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Oct. 4, 1999-- New Campaign Invites "Wheel of Fortune" Interactive and JEOPARDY! Interactive Viewers to "Watch! Play! Win!" Today, Columbia TriStar Interactive, in cooperation with Sony Electronics Sony Electronics Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif., is the largest component of Sony Corporation of America, the U.S. holding company for Sony's U.S.-based electronics and entertainment businesses. and WebTV Networks, Inc., announced it will make broadcast television history with the launch of the first multimillion dollar marketing campaign to debut around Interactive TV programs. The multi-partner campaign themed around "Watch! Play! Win!" and timed to coincide with tonight's debut of "Wheel of Fortune" Interactive and JEOPARDY! Interactive in national syndication, is launching in a phased approach on the WebTV platform over the next few weeks. The campaign will include a bold mix of on-air, online, print, retail and sweepstakes program elements. "We're celebrating tonight's premiere of the first Interactive TV game shows with the launch of a multimillion dollar, multi-faceted and multi-partner marketing campaign. This represents the first campaign of this magnitude," said Andy Kaplan, executive vice president of Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. was the third name of the television studio Screen Gems, adopted with the Columbia-TriStar merger of 1991 and last used in 2002. Columbia TriStar Television was launched in 1994 as a joint venture between Columbia Pictures Television and Group. "We are confident our viewers will not only be immediately captivated cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. by the new enhanced programming, but will quickly embrace the spirit of the new campaign's 'Watch! Play! Win!' theme." WebTV Plus viewers of Wheel of Fortune Interactive and JEOPARDY! Interactive need only watch the programs and play along using WebTV Plus' interactive capabilities in order to be eligible to win a variety of prizes provided by Sony Electronics. Once the game shows are over, the viewer submits his or her score and is immediately entered into the "Watch! Play! Win!" sweepstakes, with a chance to win a variety of prizes, including a bookshelf stereo system, camcorders, DVD players, televisions and WebTV set-top boxes. Bold Campaign To Reach Millions The "Watch! Play! Win!" campaign, which will launch today across multiple platforms Refers to two or more operating environments, which typically include the CPU family and operating system. For example, if versions of a program run on Windows and the Macintosh, the software is said to support multiple platforms. , will run through February 2000, generating in excess of 100 million impressions over the run of the campaign. In addition to the on-air consumer sweepstakes played via WebTV Plus, the campaign also will incorporate a mix of traditional advertising components; 10-second promotional spots embedded in "Wheel of Fortune" and JEOPARDY! promoting weekly home entertainment and WebTV prizes; national retailer promotions; 30-second "click-to-video" spots on the WebTV Plus service, and online advertising and subscriber education campaigns. Columbia Tri-Star will use on-air elements to identify the game shows as containing interactive links and elements, marking the first time in broadcast history that a major broadcaster has used on-air broadcast and real-estate to promote and identify its show as "interactive" to all viewers. The "i" symbol, which appears to WebTV Plus subscribers, and the WebTV logo will be prominently featured at the beginning of each "Wheel of Fortune" and JEOPARDY! episode throughout the promotion. "The campaign is designed to be an open invitation for our audience to 'Watch! Play! Win!' and to completely immerse themselves in the new enhanced programming. Further, the campaign leverages the strength and assets across multiple channels of each of our partners, allowing us to generate strong awareness on-air, at retail and online," said Andrew Schneider Andrew Schneider is an Emmy Award-winning American screenwriter and television producer, whose credits include writing for The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, and Alien Nation. He frequently co-writes episodes with his wife, Diane Frolov. , vice president of programming for Columbia TriStar Interactive. "We've raised the bar on Interactive television. We want our audience to know and we want to reward them and engage them along the way." The campaign also leverages and complements the marketing activities and separate initiatives planned by each of the companies. In addition to aggressively supporting the "Watch! Play! Win!" campaign at retail and in its own national print advertising, Sony Electronics will contribute thousands of dollars in prizing and merchandise, including Camcorders, DVD players, bookshelf stereo system, televisions and WebTV set-top boxes. Additionally, the campaign will be cross-promoted to the Sony Citibank cardholders, prominently featured in promotional brochures and literature, and included in the new Sony Smart Card. WebTV's participation in the "Watch! Play! Win!" campaign will include a commercial television advertising spot featuring Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (born as Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek [1] on July 22, 1940) is an Emmy Award-winning Canadian-American television personality and game show host, best known as the host of the game show Jeopardy! since September 10, 1984. , a print ad on Interactive Television, in-store demos, and WebTV Plus advertising that will educate subscribers on the interactive capabilities of "Wheel of Fortune" and JEOPARDY! These efforts will be complemented later in the month by WebTV's national retail sweepstakes, "Interact to Win," which will offer a Sony-themed grand prize package including an audition to Wheel of Fortune or JEOPARDY. "The sheer magnitude of the 'Watch! Play! Win!' campaign is a testament to the revolution taking place in the television industry today," said James Aguilar, Director of the Network Media Group at WebTV Networks. "As a leader in making enhanced television Enhanced Television (ETV) is a collection of specifications developed under the OpenCable project of CableLabs (Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.) that define an ETV Application consisting of resources (files) adhering to the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) content available to consumers, WebTV is proud to join Columbia TriStar and Sony in offering our WebTV Plus subscribers unique promotions and advertising that they will find truly entertaining and rewarding." Making TV Interactive The Interactive TV versions of "Wheel of Fortune" and JEOPARDY! are produced by Columbia TriStar Interactive, the new media arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE SPE - Software Practice and Experience ), and Mixed Signals Technologies (MST See micro systems technology. ), the leading developer of Interactive television production tools and services. MST delivers a complete suite of interactive television programming tools and production services, which encode information into either an analog or digital television stream. This break-through programming enables the integration of television and Internet content to create a completely interactive television experience. The result is real-time, interactive game play for television viewers who get to play along side the real-life game show contestants during the regularly scheduled broadcasts of the scheduled shows. "Wheel of Fortune" Interactive and JEOPARDY! Interactive are produced to meet specifications set forth by the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF (Advanced Television Enhancement Forum) A consortium of broadcast, cable and computer companies founded in 1998 that developed the ATVEF Enhanced Content Specification, an HTML and JavaScript-based format for adding content to interactive TV. ), a cross-industry group formed to specify a single public specification for delivering interactive television features to compliant devices including televisions, TV set-top boxes and personal computers. These interactive features also will work with any future set-top box or interactive TV application that conforms to this industry standard. America's Most Popular Game Shows Make History Again "Wheel of Fortune," America's No. 1 rated syndicated television show, is now seen in over 200 U.S. markets and 51 international territories. Beginning its 17th season, "Wheel of Fortune" has been renewed to 2005. Entering its 16th year in syndication, JEOPARDY! imparts immeasurable knowledge to captivated audiences around the world. The show is broadcast in 49 foreign countries and through Armed Forces Radio and Television Services. Since its debut, JEOPARDY! has been the recipient of 19 prestigious Daytime Emmy Awards and is America's No. 1 rated quiz show quiz show n. A television or radio program in which the contestants' knowledge is tested by questioning, with some contestants winning money or prizes. . The show has been renewed until 2005. About Mixed Signals Technologies Founded in 1997, Mixed Signals Technologies, Inc. (MST) is the leading developer of Interactive TV production tools and services. The company provides a full-line of "broadcast + data" products for cable, satellite, and terrestrial broadcasters worldwide. For more information, visit the MST web site at www.mixedsignals.com About WebTV Networks WebTV Networks, Inc., is a leading provider of enhanced TV Enhanced TV (ETV) is one example of interactive TV. It is used in particular in reference to Two-Screen Solutions TV + PC services. Generally users of these ETV services have their TV and computer in the same room, and navigate their web browser to a particular program-specific Web services using Internet and digital technologies. WebTV Networks offers a range of enhanced TV services for set-top boxes, satellite products and other TV-related devices. Today, these services include the WebTV Classic service, the WebTV Plus service and the WebTV Plus service for satellite. WebTV Networks owns and operates a network of TV services and provides enabling software and hardware reference designs to consumer electronics manufacturers. WebTV Networks, based in Mountain View, Calif., is a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Microsoft Corp. Microsoft incorporates WebTV technologies in the Microsoft TV Microsoft TV is a division within Microsoft Corporation that develops software platforms for use in set top boxes to access programming over a Cable TV network. It provides integrated audio, video and data services over a single network. software platform, which it licenses to television network operators worldwide. About Sony Electronics Headquartered in Park Ridge Park Ridge, city (1990 pop. 36,175), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb adjacent to Chicago, on the Des Plaines River; inc. 1873. It is chiefly residential. Several national and international corporations have their headquarters in Park Ridge. Nearby is O'Hare International Airport. , N.J., Sony Electronics has more than 26,000 employees in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Sony is the co-developer of CD and DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. technologies, and noted for such product developments as the MiniDisc A compact digital audio disc from Sony that comes in read-only and rewritable versions. Introduced in late 1993, the MiniDisc has been most popular in Japan. The read-only 2.5" disc stores 140MB compared to 650MB on a CD, but holds the same 74 minutes worth of music due to Sony's Adaptive digital audio system, digital video camcorders and Trinitron television technology. Sony Electronics annual sales for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 1998 exceed $10.5 billion. About Columbia TriStar Interactive Columbia TriStar Interactive is a leading producer and distributor of compelling online entertainment experiences based on original content and Sony Pictures Entertainment branded properties. CTI's content is distinguished by its innovative design, message and technology as well as its broad based consumer appeal. Columbia TriStar Interactive is a Sony Pictures Company. About Columbia TriStar Television Group SPE's television operations have generated 34 programs spanning all formats and dayparts for the current season. Columbia TriStar Television's network prime time slate includes "The King of Queens," "Ladies Man," "Family Law," "Early Edition," "Time of Your Life," "Party of Five," "Manchester Prep," "Action," "Malcolm & Eddie," "Dilbert," "Shasta McNasty Shasta McNasty (later Shasta) was a television program that aired on UPN during the 1999-2000 season. The show was a half-hour sitcom created by Jeff Eastin and produced by Eastin and Neal Moritz. ," "Secret Agent Man," and "Dawson's Creek Dawson's Creek is an American primetime television drama which aired from January 20, 1998, to May 14, 2003, on The WB Television Network. The lead production company was Sony Pictures Television. ." The studio also produces the No. 1 and No. 2 syndicated programs, "Wheel of Fortune" and "JEOPARDY!" SPE's television business is complementing its domestic content creation capabilities with rapid growth in the international marketplace. The company has invested in more than 25 international distribution and co-production ventures in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , Europe, the Far East and Australia. Columbia TriStar International Television Columbia TriStar International Television was known as the worldwide television distribution arm of Columbia TriStar Television that was launched in 1995. In 2002, it was renamed to Sony Pictures Television International. currently operates two branded Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television is a general entertainment channel, owned or co-owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. There are at least four versions of this channel existing:
SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home video acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities, development of new entertainment products, services and technologies and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at (http://www.spe.sony.com). Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion