Gray Television (NYSE: GTN) will launched interactive TV technology from Backchannelmedia, a Boston-based firm specializing in TV click-throughs.
Backchannelmedia technology enables someone watching TV to click an on-screen icon using a remote control, which then sends the corresponding information to either a private Web portal or an e-mail address. Broadcasters can then sell advertising on a per-click basis as well as in the traditional impression-based model.
Gray has 36 TV stations with a combined reach of around 7 million households comprising 6.2 percent of U.S. TV homes. Backchannelmedia said it would deploy its opt-in technology one Gray station at a time.
Backchannelmedia launched the product last May and currently has it up at five TV stations across the country, including Hearst-Argyle’s Boston and Manchester, N.H. ABC affiliates; Media General’s NBC affiliate in Providence, R.I.; and LIN TV’s New Haven, Conn. ABC and MyNetworkTV affiliates. LIN is lined up to have the rest of its 29 TV stations outfitted with the platform, which, combined with the Gray stations, would bring Backchannel’s total to 68 stations covering about 17 percent of U.S. TV households.
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