Granada Teams with Play On TV for Interactive TV in U.S.

LOS ANGELES, November 17:
Granada America has formed a joint venture with Play On TV, a company
specializing in viewer-participation television, to expand its interactive
television initiatives in the U.S. market.

Through its parent ITV,
Granada is already a major producer of viewer-participation television in
Europe and the U.K. via its dedicated ITV Play channel.
“Traditional television revenue models are changing and the importance of
non-spot advertising revenue is growing rapidly,” said David Gyngell, the CEO
of Granada America. “With our proven track record in the U.K., nobody
understands the emerging participation TV market as well as Granada, and with
our new partners at Play On TV we are perfectly positioned to develop
innovative and profitable programming for our clients here in the U.S.”
Play On TV was founded by chief executive Jason George to focus on creating
engaging interactive content and new revenue streams for broadcasters. The
company has already partnered with interactive provider Telescope, the company
responsible for vote management on American Idol, to provide the back-end
infrastructure for all viewer interactivity.

“The U.S. participation TV
market is set to explode,” said George. “We are aggressively pursuing deals with
broadcasters and have capital to share risk with our distribution partners. I
believe our venture with Granada America gives us a unique blend of talents to
deliver new and innovative forms of content.”
Heading the division for Granada America is Katrina Moran, the executive VP of
digital media. Moran relocated to the U.S. from the U.K., where she had spent
six years with ITV Productions.