The Early Days
Pushbutton was founded in 2002 by the former senior BSkyB executive, Paula Byrne.
The company started out purely as an interactive television consultancy, but soon moved to offer full design, build and delivery of services. Pushbutton is now one of the UK’s best-known brands in digital media design and development. Having evolved with the technical and cultural landscape since its launch in 2002, Pushbutton now provides its clients with solutions for IPTV, content management, websites, and of course satellite-based interactive television.
The early days…
Prior to setting up Pushbutton, Paula Byrne led the team responsible for delivering all interactive applications and services on the world’s first satellite-delivered interactive television platform, Open…. (now Sky Active). This experience, and her background as one of the early pioneers of interactive television, was vital in winning Pushbutton’s first major contract with the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, ITV.
In 2004, James Cumberbatch joined Paula Byrne as Development Director, and became a co-owner of the company. Between 2004 and 2007 Pushbutton designed and built interactively enhanced television services for all of ITV’s biggest shows, including The X Factor, Coronation Street, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Emmerdale, This Morning, The World Cup and many more. Late in 2004 an iTV design studio was opened in Brighton, Sussex, to help support the steadily growing project throughput.
Pushbutton’s commitment to delivering the most complex propositions on time and on budget has always commanded great client loyalty; and enabled the company to punch above its weight in terms of large competitive tender contract wins from companies like Diageo, National Geographic Channel, Kodak, Sky and Disney. Building on this success, and working closely with key clients, the company has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible creatively, technically and commercially in interactive television.