MyThum intensifies focus on TV

Last May, Toronto-based mobile media company MyThum Interactive Inc. was named Company of the Year at the Canadian New Media Awards. Since then, MyThum has continued its push in television interactivity and is gaining national, and global, recognition as a result."We've always been strong and focused on the entertainment and new media sector, but we really see television as the main playground if you will that we want to own," Michael Carter, MyThum's president and CEO, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "Using mobile as a way to enhance interactivity with traditional TV has been a main part of our strategy since our inception and we've really seen a really strong inflection in the marketplace with respect to broadcasters and content owners wanting to add mobile as a critical element to the experience."A couple of high profile examples of MyThum's work include powering the viewer voting system for CTV Inc.'s Canadian Idol, and Case Game, a SMS-based competition derived from CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s broadcast of the game show Deal or No Deal. As an example of a more entirely interactive television experience, however, Carter offers the CTVglobemedia property PunchMuch, which is a fully automated music video channel where viewers request videos and participate in chat and quizzes using their cell phones. Other interactive television options MyThum can enable include scrolling message boards across the bottom of TV screens that allow viewers to post messages or take part in games during a show. "We're very big on adding interactivity to traditional television for the masses," says Carter. "It's not replacing; it's complementing, it's enhancing, it's adding unique value to both broadcasters and viewers." MyThum, it seems, is only going to keep getting bigger in this space. In August, MyThum signed an exclusive deal with Norwegian interactive television format production company Active Loop Television to represent all of Active Loop's formats and production capabilities in North America. So while Active Loop develops the interactive concepts, MyThum enables the interactivity between the broadcaster and cell phone networks and providers. The two companies have been partnering for the past four years, but Carter says the exclusive deal solidifies MyThum's commitment in the space. "We really wanted to put a stake in the ground and make a commitment to our customers and the North American marketplace that this was a strategic focus of ours," he adds. The strategy appears to be paying off. Last month MyThum was ranked fourth in Deloitte's 2007 Canadian Technology Fast 50 Ranking with five-year growth of 13,900%. Internationally, Carter says he was surprised at last week's MIPCOM audiovisual content tradeshow in France by the number of delegates from countries like Mexico, Brazil and Greece seeking to meet with MyThum. "I think there's always been this idea that North America's well behind Europe and Asia in terms of some of the innovation in mobile," says Carter. "One of the things that I certainly was pleasantly surprised with last week was the gap really isn't there. Europeans may have more sophisticated handsets and the infrastructure's different, but in terms of the types of services and solutions that broadcasters and producers are looking for I think we're right in the thick of it."The good news for MyThum is it should continue to get thicker. While channels such as PunchMuch and programs like Canadian Idol that rely heavily on teenage music lovers with cell phones sometimes seem like they represent the entire market for interactive television, Carter says the audience for these types of formats is expanding rapidly. He admits the 15- to 29-year-old demographic is still the sweet spot for mobile interactivity, but MyThum has seen a lot of volume on some of its initiatives that target an older crowd, like enabling interactivity for a televised political debate. The key to growing mobile interactivity, Carter says, is introducing formats for programs that people are opinionated about or emotionally tied to, like politics, sports and music. And a key for MyThum will be continuing to establish itself as an enabler of interactivity for traditional television. Carter says the scalability and longevity of relationships in television add more stability to the business, as opposed to short-run marketing campaigns. Again, pointing to PunchMuch, which has now been on the air for two years, he says, "We did a lot of heavy lifting because it's a pretty sophisticated solution, but once it's in there it tends to run through a lifecycle and has a lot of teeth to it for a long period of time, which is great if a lot of your business model is based on transaction-based revenue."

MyThum intensifies focus on TV

News | 10/16/2007 11:16 am EDT

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