Interactive TV tools and services company Ensequence has landed a three-year deal with MTV in the UK, launching an interactive application promoting the cartoon band Gorillaz, and preparing to re-launch an interactive portal for the music channel.
The first application launched is a promotion for the new Gorillaz album Demon Days, featuring their single “Feel Good Inc”. Early indications apparently show high levels of viewer response and the album is tipped for chart success.
A new MTV interactive portal will also launch on Sky, authored using the Ensequence on-Q tools, replacing an application developed by another vendor.
Significantly, the application was developed in-house by MTV using the Ensequence software.
Ensequence has a three-year application and playout tools contract with MTV in the UK. It is something of a breakthrough for the American based company which has an office in London, representing the culmination of a number of deals in Europe.
The MTV application was on display at the second Interactive Television Advertising show in London, where John Holland of Ensequence announced the news.
He told the conference that the paradigm for television was shifting from push to pull, and that interactivity adds to the power of television, but that the viewer experience remains absolutely key. He also stressed the importance of project management and user research in developing applications.
Ensequence recently launched an interactive advertising application for Hewlett Packard on the Sky satellite platform.
The company also announced a deal with 121 Productions, a production company based in Paris. It will use on-Q Create software to create its next generation of video-based interactive games.
Jean-Marc Racine, managing director at 121, said the ability to manage synchronization between the application and the audio and video was a key factor in their choice of on-Q as our interactive TV authoring tool.