Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up 8/19/14 (VI): Premier League, Rapt Media, RCN, Showtime, RDK, Vimeo, Roku, Rovi, Sky, Sony, Starz, RTL, SpotXchange, Synacor, Television Academy, thePlatform

As most of you are probably aware, [itvt]'s news reporting was on hiatus for several weeks, because our editorial team was working on TVOT 2014 and then taking a post-event break. In order to catch up with the news we missed during that period, we are covering stories in headlines/round-up format (note: we have marked older stories with the date they originally broke). We expect it will take us a few weeks to catch up with all recent developments, so if you have sent us a press release or briefed us about a piece of news, and don't yet see it covered here, please bear with us.

• UK Soccer's Premier League Warns Fans against Sharing Video Clips of Goals
• Boulder-Based Interactive Video Company, Rapt Media, Closes $3.1 Million in New Funding; Will Open Offices in NYC and LA; Announces Integration with Marketing Automation System, Eloqua
• Rapt Media's Interactive Video Platform Powers Gamification for Martini Racing Campaign
• RCN Trumpets "Tenfold" Increase in its Line-Up of Showtime Networks VOD Programming
• Russian Advanced-TV Technology Provider, SmartLabs, Licenses the Cable Reference Design Kit (RDK); Will Integrate it with its SmartTUBE UI and IP Hybrid STB's
• Boston-Based Consulting and Technology Company, Across Platforms, Licenses RDK
• RDK Management Says RDK Now Provides Key DVB Components in Order to Support Global Operators (June 11th)
• RDK Management Trumpets Growth in RDK Licensee Base (April 22nd)
• Vimeo Redesigns its Roku Channel
• NTT Docomo Selects Rovi's G-Guide xD EPG for its New TV Box Device
• Rovi in Multi-Year Patent-License Agreement with Smart-TV Company, TP Vision
• Rovi Reports Q3 Financial Results
• YouTube App Launches on Sky's NOW TV Set-Top Box
• Sky's NOW TV OTT-TV Service Launches on Xbox One
• Sky's NOW TV Launches 7-Day Pass for Sky Sports; Will Initially Be Priced at £10.99
• Sky Sports On Demand to Offer Sections Devoted to Each Premier League Soccer Club
• Sony to Launch $99 PlayStation TV Device in North America October 14th
• Starz Launches its Starz Play "TV Everywhere" Service on Xbox One
• European Broadcaster RTL Acquires Programmatic Video Advertising Company, SpotXchange
• Russell Simmons All Def Digital Raises $5 Million in Series-A Round
• All Def Digital Names Machinima Veteran, Sanjay Sharma, President and COO
• "TV Everywhe" Company, Synacor, Names Ex-Comcast Cable Exec, Himesh Bhise, CEO
• Television Academy Announces Juried Award Winners for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Media: Discovery Channel's "Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda" Wins Multiplatform Storytelling; "Just A Reflektor" (AATOAA, Google Creative Lab, UNIT9) Wins Original Interactive Programming; "HITRECORD on TV" (hitRECord, Pivot, Brian Graden Media) and "Live From Space" (National Geographic Channel, Mullen) Win Social TV Experience; "Game of Thrones" Viewers Guide (HBO, Definition 6) and Xfinity TV on the X1 Platform (Comcast) Win User Experience and Visual Design
• Television Academy Announces Return of its "Backstage LIVE!" Second-Screen Experience for the Primetime Emmys; Partners Include Live Media (NowLive Multi-Camera, Picture-in-Picture and Grid View Player Allows Viewers to Switch between Multiple Video Feeds in Real Time and View Aggregated Social Media Feed), ConnecTV (Real-Time Curated Social Media), Watchwith (Synchronized Interactive Content)
• Comcast-Owned White-Label Video Publishing Company, thePlatform, in Strategic Alliance with Verizon Digital Media Services; Companies Will Jointly Sell Integrated Solution
• thePlatform Integrates comScore's Digital Analytix with its mpx Video Publishing System