ImaginOn Inc., San Carlos, CA, a company that makes broadband Internet television systems, has announced plans to unveil three new ImOn.comTV instant television stations at April’s National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas.
ImOn.comTV is a broadband Internet television station installed on the buyer’s server that features viewer-directed branching video with integrated Web data, the WebZinger Online Research Engine and sellONstream e-commerce. The systems will run from $31,000 to $84,000, depending on the capabilities of the system and whether the purchaser decides to directly buy the server.
ImaginOn already has sold its “station in a box” to RockWindows.com, Los Angeles, an Internet start-up that will begin Webcasting low and high-bandwidth classic and modern rock music, music videos, news and celebrity interviews starting in the spring. The company this month also will provide a sellONstream Web CD called “Las Vegas Golf Resorts” to subscribers of the Times-Mirror magazines Golf and Senior Golfer.
“We hand over the server, the Webmaster plugs it into the Internet at the buyer’s facility or location of their servers and they are instantly Webcasters,” said ImaginOn CEO David Schwartz. Unlike many other Webcasting services, ImOn.comTV allows the Webcaster to have freedom of choice, as the system itself can be modified for each Webcaster or marketer by ImaginOn or by the purchasers of the system.
“We are sort of like the Linux as opposed to the Windows in interactive Webcasting. We give Webcasters and marketers the source code, in this case the server, and let them decide what kind of programming or commercials they want,” said Schwartz. “We also provide a service to maintain and personalize software. So they can have it either way.”
The point of interest for marketers is the sellONstream system, which works in two ways: Marketers can send their potential low-bandwidth buyers a Web CD which contains an interactive ad and a Web browser preset for their site and use with the ImOn.comTV system, or they can use the system’s broadband technology to provide and produce interactive commercials and broadcast them to consumers themselves.
Both systems let consumers control their viewing experience and interact with an ad by either seamlessly changing scenes or clicking through directly to the marketer’s Web site.
“Once you own one of stations, how you fill it up and program it is up to you. It’s automated, so if you want 30 seconds of commercials for every three minutes of programming, you can schedule it,” said Schwartz. “You can rotate programs so viewers have to watch the programming or you can allow them to control their viewing. Creating and showcasing interactive advertising is the key to the whole system.”
