World Cup interactive for ITV
Release date: June 09, 2006
Pushbutton, the leading interactive television solutions company, has developed a sophisticated interactive content management system.
The system is deployed for the first time in ITV’s World Cup ‘red button’ service.
World Cup fans now have all the stats and facts they need to help them enjoy the festival of footie by pressing the red button during ITV’s coverage of the 2006 World Cup. The new system ensures that the production team can quickly and easily update the service with all of the latest news and results as it happens.
Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “We were determined to build a rich and highly useful interactive service that would both show off what our CMS (content management system) is capable of, and provide a fantastic user experience for football fans to enhance their enjoyment of ITV’s World Cup coverage. Thanks to the CMS and the quality of our front end design flair, these objectives have all been achieved in spades, and I look forward with confidence to the nation sampling our ‘red button’ service during the big games.”
The World Cup interactive will include a ‘Stats and Facts’ section with video footage of key moments, a ‘Fixtures and Results’ section that is the interactive television equivalent of the World Cup wall chart. Information from Teletext will be integrated in real time from, ensuring that the results, information, and England Diary section brings all the latest news from the home team camp at Baden Baden.
In addition to essential information, the interactive includes opportunities for have some fun – with a ‘Penalty Shoot Out’ quiz, games from Playjam, and a chance to win tickets for the games.
Pushbutton’s Head of Interactive Development, James Cumberbatch, said “This was an entirely bespoke design and build project, built from the ground up in collaboration with ITV and its content partners with the express aim of building the best possible service for viewers. It is the perfect debut for our CMS (content management system) where speed and ease of use are key to achieving the best possible viewer experience. It shows what can be achieved with a bespoke approach using lean and efficient interactive broadcast software.”