"There is a need from the public"
Interactive TV Daniel Gauchat, head of Betty-TV (Schweiz) AG, wants to bring interactive television to 50,000 Swiss households.
Interactive TV Daniel Gauchat, head of Betty-TV (Schweiz) AG, wants to bring interactive television to 50,000 Swiss households. WW: Interactive is in - is that why we need Betty-TV?
People have long wanted to offer interactivity not only on the internet, but also in other media - especially in emotional media such as television. Tests and analyses in Germany and Switzerland have shown that there is an audience need for a specific target group to react to what is shown on screen. This is particularly the case with booming TV formats where you can vote or choose candidates.in one sentence: What is Betty TV? Betty TV is a system, a cycle - for the end consumer it is only visible as an interactive remote control. This allows them to react in a timely manner to messages transmitted with the image signal.
What is a Betty event? is a text message that appears on the display of the Betty remote control.
You are planning to develop such Betty events further. What does that mean? The simplest form of interaction at the beginning was to ask the audience for additional information and offers. We will continue to drive the development forward so that people can give their opinions, for example in the Arena program. In an initial phase, the results will then be fed back to the Betty remote control. However, the aim is to be able to feed such information directly into the show so that the presenter can refer to it immediately.
Full interactivity, in other words. But the program remains as it is. This has nothing to do with certain audience expectations that the TV program can be changed on the screen at the touch of a button.
How widespread is the device in households? 6000 households in German-speaking Switzerland at the moment. But that doesn't mean that 6000 remote controls are in use at the same time. People are not watching more television than before. We can only influence television viewing behavior somewhat, but we can't change it. And that is not our aim.
French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino? audiences in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino can easily take part in the Swiss-German program if they want to read enough German. However, as long as France and Italy have not yet introduced Betty, this makes little sense due to a lack of offers. As far as I know, talks are underway with major broadcasters in both countries.
What size of distribution are you aiming for? 50,000 households in Switzerland in the short to medium term. From then on, Betty TV could become a mass product. At the moment, however, it is still difficult to estimate because it is a completely new product worldwide with no comparisons. Switzerland is not necessarily a TV consumption-friendly country. A simultaneous launch with Germany would have generated a lot of support.
The launch in Germany is planned for the first of January 2007. Sales via ProSieben Sat 1 will start these days.
What do you have to pay for a remote control? It costs a one-off CHF 69 without any further follow-up costs. Swisscom pays for the connections between Betty, the TV and the telephone line to transmit the answers to the TV station.
The revenue model is based on advertising revenue for Betty events from third-party partners and on certain paid content. However, it is clearly defined that at least two thirds of Betty events are free of charge. So you don't have to spend any more money.
Interview René Worni
Betty likesObviously, the 6000 or so Swiss television viewers
who use Betty TV like the possibilities of the interactive remote control. This is shown by a representative study conducted by the IHA-GFK Research Institute. On behalf of Betty-TV (Schweiz) AG, the institute conducted a total of 1100 interviews with Betty users in German-speaking Switzerland in May and June/July, asking them about their initial experiences. 70 percent of those surveyed use Betty-TV.
use the interactive remote control every day, over 90 percent take part in quizzes and quiz shows, and one in three respondents would like to take part in competitions and quizzes more often. The results of the study confirm that many viewers are willing to take a reasonably active part in TV events.
According to the study
the narrower user group of over 10-year-olds is between 58% and 83%. The remote control is used most frequently by 31 to 50-year-olds. Knowledge quizzes (92%) and competitions (81%) as well as additional information about programs or their actors (85%) are the most popular content and are very popular for participation. It is therefore not surprising that three quarters of respondents have taken part in competitions more often since they have had a Betty remote control. In terms of broadcast content
sports is in the lead with 41 percent. According to the study, 15% of users would like to see more events during sports broadcasts. In addition, 39% of respondents appreciate the so-called Betty events during movies and TV series. The majority of respondents rated the functionality and size of the device positively. Almost 70% of them also had no concerns about any data protection problems. (rw)
People have long wanted to offer interactivity not only on the internet, but also in other media - especially in emotional media such as television. Tests and analyses in Germany and Switzerland have shown that there is an audience need for a specific target group to react to what is shown on screen. This is particularly the case with booming TV formats where you can vote or choose candidates.in one sentence: What is Betty TV? Betty TV is a system, a cycle - for the end consumer it is only visible as an interactive remote control. This allows them to react in a timely manner to messages transmitted with the image signal.
What is a Betty event? is a text message that appears on the display of the Betty remote control.
You are planning to develop such Betty events further. What does that mean? The simplest form of interaction at the beginning was to ask the audience for additional information and offers. We will continue to drive the development forward so that people can give their opinions, for example in the Arena program. In an initial phase, the results will then be fed back to the Betty remote control. However, the aim is to be able to feed such information directly into the show so that the presenter can refer to it immediately.
Full interactivity, in other words. But the program remains as it is. This has nothing to do with certain audience expectations that the TV program can be changed on the screen at the touch of a button.
How widespread is the device in households? 6000 households in German-speaking Switzerland at the moment. But that doesn't mean that 6000 remote controls are in use at the same time. People are not watching more television than before. We can only influence television viewing behavior somewhat, but we can't change it. And that is not our aim.
French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino? audiences in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino can easily take part in the Swiss-German program if they want to read enough German. However, as long as France and Italy have not yet introduced Betty, this makes little sense due to a lack of offers. As far as I know, talks are underway with major broadcasters in both countries.
What size of distribution are you aiming for? 50,000 households in Switzerland in the short to medium term. From then on, Betty TV could become a mass product. At the moment, however, it is still difficult to estimate because it is a completely new product worldwide with no comparisons. Switzerland is not necessarily a TV consumption-friendly country. A simultaneous launch with Germany would have generated a lot of support.
The launch in Germany is planned for the first of January 2007. Sales via ProSieben Sat 1 will start these days.
What do you have to pay for a remote control? It costs a one-off CHF 69 without any further follow-up costs. Swisscom pays for the connections between Betty, the TV and the telephone line to transmit the answers to the TV station.
The revenue model is based on advertising revenue for Betty events from third-party partners and on certain paid content. However, it is clearly defined that at least two thirds of Betty events are free of charge. So you don't have to spend any more money.
Interview René Worni
Betty likesObviously, the 6000 or so Swiss television viewers
who use Betty TV like the possibilities of the interactive remote control. This is shown by a representative study conducted by the IHA-GFK Research Institute. On behalf of Betty-TV (Schweiz) AG, the institute conducted a total of 1100 interviews with Betty users in German-speaking Switzerland in May and June/July, asking them about their initial experiences. 70 percent of those surveyed use Betty-TV.
use the interactive remote control every day, over 90 percent take part in quizzes and quiz shows, and one in three respondents would like to take part in competitions and quizzes more often. The results of the study confirm that many viewers are willing to take a reasonably active part in TV events.
According to the study
the narrower user group of over 10-year-olds is between 58% and 83%. The remote control is used most frequently by 31 to 50-year-olds. Knowledge quizzes (92%) and competitions (81%) as well as additional information about programs or their actors (85%) are the most popular content and are very popular for participation. It is therefore not surprising that three quarters of respondents have taken part in competitions more often since they have had a Betty remote control. In terms of broadcast content
sports is in the lead with 41 percent. According to the study, 15% of users would like to see more events during sports broadcasts. In addition, 39% of respondents appreciate the so-called Betty events during movies and TV series. The majority of respondents rated the functionality and size of the device positively. Almost 70% of them also had no concerns about any data protection problems. (rw)
