--Also Holds UGC Contest for Chance to Appear During Black Eyed Peas' Grammys Performance
 CBS is inviting viewers to decide which song the band, Bon Jovi, will perform during the broadcast network's January 31st telecast of the 52nd Annual Grammy awards (note: according to CBS, this will be the first time ever that the band has performed at the Grammys).
--Ad's Interactive Features Triggered by Tilting and Shaking the iPhone, as well as by Clicking
 In a posting on its corporate blog, Wednesday, mobile advertising and analytics specialist, Medialets, announced that it has developed and launched an interactive video ad for "Contra," the latest album from the indie rock band, Vampire Weekend. The ad--which is designed both to raise awareness of the new album and to drive direct downloads from the iTunes Music Store--is currently running within the NPR News iPhone app.
--Report: Sony Set to Launch Online/OTT VOD Service, Qriocity
Concert.TV, a free VOD service which is devoted to live music performances, music documentaries and music "lifestyle" programming and which is carried by Comcast, Cox, Charter, Verizon FiOS TV, Insight, DISH Network and DirecTV (giving it a reach of approximately 30 million homes), on Monday announced a media content partnership with Guitar World magazine. According to Concert.TV, as a result of the deal, new content from Guitar World's "vast" video archive will appear on its service every month, including interviews with high-profile guitarists ranging from blues icon, Buddy Guy, to Metallica's Kirk Hammett.
Warner Music Group on Tuesday announced a deal with Hulu, the free, ad-supported broadband video venture co-owned by The Walt Disney Company (ABC), NBC Universal and News Corp. (Fox). According to the company, the deal--which follows a deal between Hulu and EMI Music that was announced last month (see the article published on itvt.com, November 18th)--will see it providing Hulu with music videos, artist interviews, live concert coverage and behind-the-scenes footage from its various artists and labels (note: WMG's labels include Atlantic Records, Rhino Records and Warner Bros. Records).
--Highlights Include "Doctor Who" Commentary, Bon Jovi Performance, Elton John Interview
The BBC has announced the line-up of content that will be available through its red-button interactive TV service over Christmas and into the new year:
--VOD Round-Up: Karaoke Channel, Police Blotter, Comcast's 100th Day-and-Date Movie, Ofcom
Clearleap, an Atlanta-based company which offers a technology platform for bringing Internet-sourced video content to television sets, announced last week that it has signed a deal with Break Media, the company that operates Break.com, an entertainment Web site which targets a male demographic, to bring the latter's broadband video content to the TV screen. According to the companies, their partnership will enable Break.com to dynamically deliver a portion of its video library to Clearleap's Content Marketplace, where it will instantly be available for cable and IPTV operators to use as VOD programming.
--VOD Round-Up: HDNet on FiOS TV, Oasis TV on Cox and Charter, Ski Channel on RCN
Comcast announced Monday that it will today (Tuesday) launch an HD VOD collection showcasing music videos, biographical footage and live performances from Shakira, thanks to an exclusive partnership with the Colombian singer (note: the MSO also recently launched a similar exclusive HD VOD collection featuring singer, Taylor Swift--see the article published on itvt.com, December 3rd).
--YouTube- and Record Label-Backed Music Video Venture, Vevo, Launches
 Livestation, a UK-based company that streams live news from a range of international sources via browser and desktop player solutions (note: the company recently announced the launch of version 3.0 of its desktop software--see the article published on itvt.com, November 24th), contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that UN TV, the official TV channel of the United Nations, is now available on its service.
Immersive Media--a company which has developed a patented technology, dubbed IM LIVE, that enables viewer-controlled, 360-degree, live, full-motion, interactive video experiences (note: the experience of watching video powered by the technology is akin to watching a video version of Google Street View), and which recently announced a deployment of the technology with Canada's MuchMusic (see the article published on itvt.com, November 9th)--last week announced deployments with CBC/Radio-Canada and with MTV Networks.
--Featured Celebs Include Will.i.am, Snoop Dogg
 Live Internet broadcast service provider, Ustream, contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that rapper Snoop Dogg will be featured today (Tuesday afternoon, Pacific Time) in the second episode of a new, live, interactive reality series, entitled "Ustream All Access." The series, which is billed as giving online viewers a "live peek into the daily lives of celebrities," premiered December 1st with a live stream featuring Black Eyed Peas frontman, Will.i.am, backstage at the Grammy Awards nominations in Los Angeles. According to Ustream, it garnered over 250,000 viewers.
--Music Choice Appoints Director of Content, Tasks her with Integrating More UGC into its Offerings
UK cable operator, Virgin Media, last week announced that it has appointed Aleks Habdank to the newly created position of director of on-demand television services. Habdank, who will start in his new position in the New Year and who will be tasked with the commercial management of Virgin Media's VOD service, joins the company from Chellomedia where he was general manager of Chello On Demand and where, according to Virgin Media, he was "a founder member of the management team that helped set up transactional TV services across Europe." His resume also includes stints at ntl and Zone Vision Group.
--Deal Kicks Off with Clikthrough Powering Interactive Video for Misako Sakazume's Latest Single
San Francisco-based interactive video and video analytics company, Clikthrough (note: for some background on the company, see the article published on itvt.com, July 20th), said Tuesday that it has signed a partnership agreement with Japanese media and recording company, Avex Marketing.
AEG Digital Media--a company that specializes in the technical and creative production of music, sports, reality and special event programming and that claims to take "a broadcast approach to streaming media to enable the world's most watched and most innovative Webcasts and live events"--contacted [itvt] late Monday to let us know that it is producing a live Webcast of today's (Tuesday, December 1st) sold-out concert by Alicia Keys in AEG's Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York City.
--Viewers Invited to Participate in "Virtual Carol Singing Experiment"
UK commercial terrestrial broadcaster, ITV (note: the name stands for "Independent Television Network), and video-sharing site, YouTube, are teaming on an interactive Christmas promotion for ITV's flagship daytime show, "This Morning."
--BBC Round-Up: Freesat iPlayer to Beta-Launch December 7th, Canvas Delays, No iPlayer on Xbox
The BBC has announced the line-up of content that will be available through its red-button interactive TV service for the next two weeks and beyond:
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[i]Database
 Our [itvt] free industry database called The [i]Database contains many listings of operators, broadcasters, software developers, design firms, manufacturers, Web sites, consultancies and many more organizations and people working in the interactive multiplatform TV industry. Upload your company or yourself!
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