Bresnan Communications will be using OpenTV’s advanced advertising campaign management system, the vendor revealed today.
OpenTV also released its third-quarter financials and announced it has begun beta testing its new software development kit for creating applications for interactive television using OpenTV-enabled set-top boxes.
Bresnan will use the company’s advertising campaign management system, called EclipsePlus, CEO Ben Bennett announced during the company’s earnings call with financial analysts. According to the transcript of the call from Seeking Alpha, Bennett said Bresnan will use the system to serve approximately 200,000 subscribers.
Despite the business with Bresnan, advanced advertising in the U.S. is not shaping up as a vital market anytime soon, Bennett said. “We’re still very confident about that market long term, particularly in advanced next-generation campaign management systems and addressable advertising,” Bennett said. “But to be frank, the next two years is about investment in that space, and the markets are very muted at the moment, particularly in the U.S.”
Bennett also revealed that recently announced middleware customer Foxtel will be launching an OpenTV-based application that will enable viewers to record the program they want without having to navigate through a traditional TV guide. Foxtel and OpenTV are also developing a mosaic application to enhance the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2010 Olympics.
Separately, OpenTV’s new SDK, the OpenTV SDK Development Suite C2.2, will be available as a beta starting this month; the company plans a free commercial release in March.
OpenTV’s senior vice president of business development Tracy Geist said releasing the SDK in beta is “an opportunity for developers to get involved and propose enhancements to the product. By leveraging their expertise and incorporating their feedback, we seek to facilitate and improve the creation and delivery of compelling next-generation applications for operators and viewers worldwide.”
The SDK allows developers to write, compile, build, test and debug – in real time – interactive applications using the latest release of OpenTV Core2 middleware. It features OpenTV’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Virtual Set-Top Box (VSTB), SDK Application Programming Interface (API) and SDK Tools to generate and optimize interactive applications.
Parties interested in participating in the Beta Tester Program are encouraged to sign up through OpenTV’s new Community Portal.
OpenTV reported revenue of $31.8 million, an increase of 18 percent compared with $26.9 million for the third quarter of 2008. Net income was $2.6 million, compared with $1 million in Q3 ’08.
Bennett said the company’s board remains neutral about the full takeover of the company by the Kudelski Group, already a significant investor and key partner.
“OpenTV’s third-quarter results demonstrate solid operational improvements achieved in what is still a challenging global economic environment,” said Bennett. “The company is focused on building and delivering its suite of next-generation products, which are critical for our long-term success. We remain on track to achieve our full-year 2009 financial guidance.”
