October 7, 2009

Coronation Street interactive for ITV

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:55 am

Release date: December 14, 2005

ITV have issued a press release about Coronation Street Interactive — a ‘red button’ service designed and built by Pushbutton.

Menu screens and graphics for the mobile services were also created by Pushbutton. Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “We are proud of Corrie’s interactive zone. Winning and delivering this project for the UK’s favourite TV programme is a feather in Pushbutton’s cap”. ITV’s press release follows…

ITV today announced the launch of the much-anticipated Coronation Street mobile and interactive services, with previews and exclusive content on mobile and through the red button.

Hot on the heels of ITV hits I’m A Celebrity… and The X Factor, from this week Corrie fans can enjoy behind-the-scenes access, advance news and exclusive video clips of all the latest goings-on in the Street.

On mobiles viewers can catch up on the latest stories and even preview future episodes. ITV Mobile will have video clips of key Corrie moments, forthcoming storylines and a text alert ‘Corrie Club’ for prior warning of major news. Exclusive ringtones and wallpapers featuring popular Corrie stars will be available to purchase.

Corrie on the mobile can be accessed by texting ‘mobile’ to shortcode 63330, and 3 and Orange subscribers will be able to view ITV content directly through their operator portals.

And for the first time ever on ITV, Corrie fans will be able to watch alternative video streams of Corrie content through the red button on the TV remote. Also through the red button service, viewers will be able to:

1. Watch exclusive news and gossip
2. Catch-up on any episodes they may have missed
3. Get a sneak preview of that week’s new episodes

There will also be exclusive interviews with the cast, montages of Corrie history and the opportunity to enter exclusive competitions to win a visit to the Street or Corrie merchandise.

Jane Marshall, Commercial Development Director for ITV Consumer said:
“Coronation Street is Britain’s best loved and most popular TV programme and we’re delighted to be launching these exciting new services”.

With Corrie joining I’m A Celebrity… and The X Factor, ITV’s mobile, online and red-button services give viewers the best interactive entertainment offered by any broadcaster.

For the red button services, ITV has teamed up with Pushbutton, Tamblin and Two Way TV. The ITV Mobile portal is built and maintained by Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) and Refresh Mobile.

Interactive TV commercial for Kodak

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , , — Eugene @ 11:52 am

Release date: November 28, 2005

Kodak’s award-winning television advertisement has been turned into an interactive experience by Pushbutton.

When viewers press the red button during the TV commercial they are taken to an interactive zone where they can explore product information about Kodak’s latest range of EasyShare cameras and accessories, take part in a picture competition, learn about the latest promotional offers from Kodak, or view the delightful, and award winning ‘gallery’ video.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “Pushbutton is extremely proud of the interactive advertisement it has created for Kodak. It’s sure to be a contender in the 2006 round of interactive marketing awards – and demonstrates that Pushbutton is going to be as powerful a force in iAds as it is in enhanced television.”

The Kodak iAd makes particularly strong use of video and audio. “The fully rendered, 360 degree 3D video animation is so rich that it’s the next best thing to walking into a camera store, picking up a Kodak camera and turning it around in your hand to look at it”, added Byrne.

Kodak Marketing Director, Steve Lawes, said “interactive television is the ideal medium for Kodak to reinforce its innovative and digital credentials. The ‘red button’ advertisement showcases our latest products at a time when viewers are researching Christmas presents.”

I’m A Celebrity mobile menu designs

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:48 am

Release date: November 25, 2005

Pushbutton, the interactive television design and build specialist has won a contract to design menu screens and create graphics for a range of mobile services around ITV’s popular, jungle-based reality show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Here!

Paula Byrne, Managing Director of Pushbutton, said “We are delighted to make our mobile debut with such a high profile project. Pushbutton has worked hard over the summer months developing systems to convert our ‘red button’ expertise to mobile – and we are very excited about extending the reach of applications we design and build for broadcasters and advertisers onto mobile platforms”.

“This is a natural development for Pushbutton – having designed and built the interactive zone for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! on digital satellite TV for two series, we understand all of the design issues around getting people to interact with the show by pressing buttons on a hand-held device, be it a phone or a TV remote,” added Byrne.

ITV has launched a range of mobile services to coincide with the start of the fifth series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! These range from text news alerts, to an SMS quiz with cash prizes and even a live video link from the jungle for owners of 3G handsets operated by 3 and Vodafone.

Jane Marshall, ITV consumer commercial development director, said “Our new services are about putting the viewer first, making it as easy as possible for them to interact in whichever way they choose, be it through their TV, their mobile, the Internet or their red button twenty-four hours a day.”

Interactive makeover for This Morning

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:42 am

Release date: November 11, 2005

This Morning, the popular magazine show on ITV presented by Philip Schofield and Fern Brittain has a brand new interactive zone designed and built by Pushbutton.

The new look This Morning interactive zone enables viewers to read what’s coming up on this morning’s show, enjoy a special features section, win daily cash in the 10 give away, or strike it really big in the £100K Keno Game.

This Morning interactive is sponsored by Dolmio, the cooking sauce company. Dolmio has its own interactive to promote its latest range of sauces and to offer viewers simple family recipes and meal ideas.

Managing Director of Pushbutton, Paula Byrne, said “The new look interactive zone for This Morning works brilliantly with the show. It blends with the overall look and feel, and provides quick wins for the viewer – which is exactly the right approach in this kind of interactive.”

This Morning interactive is sponsored by the cooking sauce company, Dolmio, and the product has its own linked-in interactive zone offering product information and recipe suggestions. “The sponsors’ area is highly responsive and offers similar ‘quick and easy’ wins to reward active involvement – and real payback for pressing the red button. I’m delighted with the Dolmio sponsors’ area. It is a text book use of red button sponsorship,” added Byrne.

I’m A Celebrity… press red, again!

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:41 am

Release date: November 17, 2005

ITV’s popular reality TV show, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is back for a fifth season, starting on Sunday 20th November.

The show will be supported by a sophisticated and stylish ‘red button’ interactive service, designed and built by Pushbutton.

The interactive service enables viewers to dictate the action in the show by voting for the celebrities they want to undertake the gruelling, and frequently unpleasant, Bushtucker trials. Ultimately viewers’ votes will decide who stays and who leaves the jungle – and their votes will determine who becomes king or queen of the jungle.

In addition to the voting mechanism, the interactive service also features celebrity news updates on the latest gossip from the jungle, links to betting and gaming opportunities, and competitions to win big prizes – all of which the viewer can execute with a few button presses of their remote controls without leaving the sofa.

The ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ interactive service is sponsored by First Choice Holidays – a sponsorship that is supported by a dedicated ‘red button’ sponsors area, also designed and built by Pushbutton, and offering viewers an additional competition opportunity to win a luxury holiday for two.

Paula Byrne, Managing Director of Pushbutton Ltd said ”We are delighted to have won the business to design and build the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here interactive service. Our work greatly enhances viewer participation and enjoyment of what has become one of the highlights of the Autumn TV schedule. Once again ITV has demonstrated great faith in Pushbutton by entrusting us with a contract for one of its most important shows.”

ITV’s Controller of ITVi, Ann Cook, said ”I’m a Celebrity… is one of our most popular shows and fans of the show want to interact with the action in the jungle in as many ways as possible. Our red button services are very popular, especially for voting and extra information, and complement our other interactive services – online and mobile – extremely well.”

Pushbutton secures retainer from ITV

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:37 am

Release date: October 14, 2005

Pushbutton, the interactive television design and build specialists responsible for ‘red button’ applications in hit shows like The X Factor, have signed a ‘retainer’ deal with ITV – the UK’s leading commercial broadcaster.

Under the terms of the deal, Pushbutton guarantees to deliver a set amount of broadcast-ready content and applications each month for ITVi.

The deal includes the design and build of ‘red button’ applications for some of ITV’s top shows including Coronation Street, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, and Celebrity Love Island.

Managing Director of Pushbutton, Paula Byrne, said “This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Pushbutton from the UK’s leading commercial broadcaster. We have built a strong relationship with ITV over the past two years which has seen us jointly produce some of the most commercially successful ‘red button’ applications ever. We look forward to building on this successful working partnership throughout 2006.”

Much of the Pushbutton output for ITV is ‘enhanced’ TV content that uses ‘red button’ to drive greater viewer involvement in ITV content assets. Typical applications include voting, profiles, and other content updates in a bespoke ‘red button’ area for each show.

“A key strength of Pushbutton is that we are platform agnostic. Our new, state of the art iTV Design Studio in Brighton, is staffed with the most talented designers and developers in the business. It’s powering our commitment to deliver uncompromising iTV applications for our clients, irrespective of the broadcast platform or iTV tools they have chosen.” added Byrne.

Jane Marshall, Head of Interactive Programming at ITV, said “We are delighted to have deepened our relationship with Pushbutton – and to have secured its continued involvement in our interactive business. Pushbutton has an excellent track record of delivery for us at ITVi. They are talented, reliable and proactive. The many high profile projects they have undertaken for us have all been delivered on time and to the highest standard.”

The X Factor is back with Pushbutton

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:36 am

Release date: September 20, 2005

ITV’s popular Saturday night show, The X Factor, is back for another season, with a new and enhanced interactive area enabling viewer participation and built by the ‘red button’ specialists, Pushbutton.

The application is central to active participation in the prime time Saturday night show – enabling viewers to vote for and determine who they want to go through to the final rounds of the show. Additionally, viewers can catch up on the latest gossip from ‘boot camp’ where acts are being put through their paces by judges, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh.

The ‘red button’ area links to several gaming and gambling opportunities, provided by ITV partners and based around the show including ‘The X Factor’ slot machines with cash prizes, an exclusive ‘The X Factor’ game from Gamestar, and a chance to win a VIP trip to London with tickets for one of the live shows in the final stages of ‘The X Factor’ talent hunt.

In addition to the main ‘The X Factor’ red button anchor pages, Pushbutton also built a sponsors area for Nokia – where viewers can access additional competitions to win phones and tickets to the live show, and to learn more about Nokia’s latest 3G handsets.

Managing Director of Pushbutton, Paula Byrne, said “We are delighted to have won the build contract for ‘The X Factor’ interactive television application for a second season. Undoubtedly one of the main ‘red button’ opportunities of the year – with a huge audience tuned in every Saturday night and using Pushbutton’s interactive expertise to enhance their enjoyment of a superb show.”

Pushbutton team expands again

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:34 am

Release date: September 10, 2005

Pushbutton has strengthened its development team by appointing Jason Newman as Senior Interactive Developer, to head gambling and gaming projects at the fast-growing interactive design and build specialist.

Jason was formerly Broadcast Architect at Littlewoods Gaming, where he was responsible for the successful launch of Littlewoods Gaming interactive services on ITV, and numerous subsequent gaming applications on ITV linked to big name shows like I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and The X Factor.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “Jason brings with him real delivery experience and deep technical know-how, in the crucial growth area for interactive television, gambling and gaming. He is well known and well respected in the development community – and indeed is very well known to the Pushbutton team, who are former colleagues, having worked with him before at Sky.”

James Cumberbatch, head of development at Pushbutton and co-owner of the company, added “Jason is simply the best SDK developer out there. If you want a bespoke interactive television application, with deep functionality and stepping way beyond the scope of templates, then Jason is your man. We are delighted to welcome him into the Pushbutton team.”

Pushbutton has developed a number of ‘plug and play’ gaming and gambling applications that are currently being demonstrated to interested parties.

Celebrity Love Island ‘red button’ app

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:30 am

Release date: June 20, 2005

Pushbutton, the interactive TV company responsible for ‘red button’ applications in hit ITV shows Hell’s Kitchen and The X Factor has designed and built its most feaure-rich ‘red button’ application ever, for ITV’s reality TV show Celebrity Love Island

Celebrity Love Island is currently showing on ITV 1, 2, and ITVi. It pitches twelve celebrities including Abi Titmuss, Rebecca Loos, Calum Best and Fran Cosgrove into a two week search for love on a romantic Fijian island.

The ‘red buttton’ area allows viewers to vote on which celebrity couple they want to send into the ‘love shack’ to spend 48 hours of pampering and dating in super luxurious surrounding. Viewers can also vote on who they want to stay on the island, and ultimately decide, using their red buttons, which two celebrities will fly home with a £50,000 cash prize each.

Viewers too have a chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 in a specially created Celebrity Love Island competition from Littlewoods, ITV’s interactive gambling parner.

In addition to the Littlewoods game, there is a ‘just for fun’ Celebrity Love Island compatibility test, for viewers to see which of the girls, or boys, they are most compatible with. With Celebrity Love Island horroscopes, games, a diary section with all of the latest gossip from the island, and pics and profiles of the celebrities, the application provides comprehensive, interactive content to support the show.

Pushbutton’s managing director, Paula Byrne, said “This is the most feature-rich application we have built for a reality TV show to date. The ‘red button’ application extends the fun and enjoyment that viewers can extract from Celebrity Love Island – and as with all good reality TV shows, places ultimate power with the viewer, a power they can apply by pressing their red buttons. Pushbutton is proud and excited to be associated with Celebrity Love Island.”

Pushbutton wins ITV sales support gig

Filed under: 2005 archive, Press — Tags: , , — Eugene @ 11:27 am

Release date: May 20, 2005

Pushbutton, the interactive TV development company, has won an extended six month contract to supply ITV Sales with support for its drive to win ‘red button’ advertising to the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster.

The contract represents a second period of tenure for Pushbutton as ITV’s chosen agency to both come up with and mock-up pitch ideas for blue chip clients interested in ‘red button’ advertising.

Pushbutton managing director, Paula Byrne, said “We are delighted to continue our successful working relationship with ITV Sales. Our original contractual arrangement has worked extremely well in demonstrating the commercial potential, and creative opportunities of the red button.”

Peter Birch, ITV’s Head of iTV Sales said “Interactive is the key technology the smart advertiser can deploy to re-claim eyeballs lost to zap-happy, PVR-toting viewers. Red button enables a deeper level of engagement with an audience that has deliberately requested to see and here more about your product or service”.

“This is a great opportunity – and one of the bright spots in a television technology landscape that is not always seen as positive for advertisers. This is positive and a unique opportunity not to be missed. Working with Pushbutton has enabled our clients to see the opportunity more clearly, and we are delighted that our working relationship has been extended.” Birch added.

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