• by David Goetzl , April 20, 2009

Fisher Communications, a station group with ABC-Univision duopolies in Seattle and Portland, Ore., said it will use an interactive TV ad platform that bounces viewers from TV to the Web. With the technology, viewers who are intrigued by an ad can use their remote control to click an icon -- which prompts additional content related to the spot to be sent to a personal Web site.

That supplemental information -- which can detail special offers or longer-form content -- can then be accessed on-demand.

The TV-to-Internet service is known as Clickable TV and comes from Boston-based Backchannelmedia. Station groups Gray Television and LIN TV are among those that have agreements with the company.

Backchannelmedia bills the system in which consumers can later request ad content as "bookmarking." Consumers click "bugs" at the bottom of the screen that appear during ads. The supplemental content is then transferred to a personal Web destination or email address.

Stations could sell the spots, based on traditional ratings, while perhaps charging advertisers extra for each click. The Clickable TV "bugs" can only appear in the inventory the stations own. That precludes network-owned spots in prime time. But it does include local newscasts, and during the two minutes per hour, stations can sell in prime time.

Backchannelmedia said Clickable TV is an opt-in service, "free from behavioral targeting."

Rob Dunlop, senior vice president operations for Fisher, said the technology could be "a game changer" with the potential to deliver "a customer to our advertisers."

Clickable TV launched a year ago and is online at five stations, including Hearst-Argyle's Boston ABC affiliate, LIN TV's ABC station in New Haven, Conn. and Media General's NBC Providence affiliate. Gray Television recently signed an agreement to use Clickable TV at its stations. Gray said the rollout for its 36 stations will be gradual, but the aim is to have it in place at all of them down the line.

Gray said in a statement that Clickable TV "unites the mass media reach of TV with the precise engagement metrics of the Internet."

In addition to Seattle and Portland, other Fisher operations include a Fox-CBS duopoly in Bakersfield, Calif. and network affiliates in Boise, Idaho and Eugene, Ore.