Microsoft Mediaroom Unveils Next-Generation Advertising Platform for IPTV Services

New adjunct offering enables targeted and measurable advertisement insertion for Mediaroom service providers from one complete platform.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sept. 12, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today unveiled the Microsoft Mediaroom Advertising Platform at the IBC2008 conference. The new adjunct offering lets broadband service providers deploying the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol television (IPTV) software platform offer targeted, measurable and interactive advertising spots all from one comprehensive platform. Service providers will benefit from operational flexibility and simplification with an end-to-end solution that enables integrated, cross-platform advertisement deployments.

Marking the first instance of Microsoft advertisement investments focused on TV services, the Mediaroom Advertising Platform brings together in one cohesive offering the addressability offered by IPTV technology with state-of-the-art tools for campaign and decision management powered by Microsoft Advertising. Now the interactivity, audience addressability and true measurement found in online advertising models can be applied to the world of IP-powered television, opening new revenue opportunities for broadband service providers and more effective campaigns for advertisers. The Mediaroom Advertising Platform will support advertisement insertion into all TV content formats, including traditional linear television, video on demand (VOD), third-party interactive TV applications, as well as service-provider-owned assets including the electronic program guide.

Read Full Press Release

Microsoft Launches New Program to Help IPTV Operators Migrate to Mediaroom From First-Generation Platforms

Microsoft Mediaroom Migration Program provides guidelines and solutions for service providers considering upgrading their IPTV platforms.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sept. 12, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. has launched a new program to ease the transition for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service providers using other platforms to migrate to its solution. Called Microsoft Mediaroom Migration Program and unveiled at the IBC2008 conference, the program provides guidelines and solutions for service providers considering upgrading their IPTV platform. The Microsoft Mediaroom Migration Program delivers a structured assessment process and analytical tools for migration, including business and technical workshops to review set-top-box portability, network compatibility and audio-visual head-end interoperability. The program also includes risk-benefit tools to compare lifetime customer value and build the business case for executive management.

Ben Huang, director of product management for Microsoft Mediaroom, said, “As the IPTV market matures, we’re seeing interest from operators on first-generation platforms and homegrown solutions to migrate to Microsoft Mediaroom. These service providers need to add high-definition and advanced digital video recording (DVR) and video-on-demand features that are now fundamental to any competitive TV offering, and they want to remain competitive by being able to easily deploy advanced interactive applications. We are currently engaged in assessing migration opportunities with a number of customers and have been approached by many more. Platform migrations are complex, so this program has been developed to assist with business and technical planning, and reduce the cost and pain of migration.”

Read Full Press Release

Microsoft Gives Liftoff to Next Generation of Interactive TV at IBC2008

Broadcaster application shows what audiences can expect from interactive TV.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sept. 12, 2008 — Today at IBC2008, Microsoft Corp. unveiled technology that makes it easy for service providers and content owners to develop a new generation of groundbreaking interactive TV services. Microsoft is showcasing interactive applications that point the way to how people could experience TV in the future.

The demonstrations on display at IBC include the first public viewing of an interactive application developed for the Microsoft Mediaroom platform by emuse technologies using content from the BBC. The application shows how the broadcaster’s original journalistic content, including news, sports and weather, could look in the future. Building on the success of Red Button and BBC iPlayer, the application provides interactive access to a huge breadth and depth of the broadcaster’s content and services via an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.

Read Full Press Release

Microsoft Demonstrates an End-to-End Solution Portfolio for the Digital Content Life Cycle at IBC2008

Microsoft announces new customer for Interactive Media manager; details new Silverlight adoption and previews H.264 playback; introduces new Mediaroom IPTV platform developments; and highlights new industry-specific solutions for digital content creation, management, delivery and monetization.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sept. 12, 2008 — This week at the IBC2008 conference held at the Amsterdam RAI conference center, Microsoft Corp. will showcase the advanced media platform technologies and partner ecosystem that enable organizations to create, manage, deliver and monetize an endless variety of engaging digital entertainment experiences. Microsoft and its partners provide solutions to support the full content life cycle, including content creation and management, media business management and monetization, and digital content delivery.

Microsoft is making several announcements at the show, including new customer adoption for the Microsoft Interactive Media Manager (IMM) solution with Abertis Telecom; adoption of Microsoft Silverlight by European broadcasters and the upcoming inclusion of additional codecs such as H.264 and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) in the Silverlight plug-in; and developments for the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform including the Microsoft Mediaroom Advertising Platform (MAP), Mediaroom Migration Program and an interactive TV application developed by emuse technologies using British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) content, which will be demonstrated for the first time at the show.

Read Full Press Release