• by Paul Gough , January 8, 2003

OpenTV’s newly purchased subsidiary Wink Communications has started to make a splash in the new year with interactive TV applications.

Wink’s interactive applications powered ABC Sports’ coverage of four college-football bowl games within the past week. And on Jan. 13, OpenTV and Wink will again partner with ABC to provide interactive elements from the American Music Awards telecast.

“We’ve had a very busy year so far with ABC,” said Bryan McGuirk, president of programming and advertising at OpenTV’s Wink Communications.

Coca-Cola is sponsoring Wink’s enhanced TV efforts on ABC during the American Music Awards, which will be available to viewers with an Internet-connected computer at ABC.com during the broadcast. Services include real-time facts, information and polls for the Coca-Cola New Music Award plus information on past winners of the award. The Predict the Winner game allows users to predict the outcome of each award and earn points for correct choices. Another feature, the Push Channel, provides graphics, behind-the-scenes information and trivia live.

“It’s a sticky way to bring the experience interactive and keep the viewers engaged in the program,” McGuirk said Wednesday.

Promos for the event, along with logos for Coca-Cola and the American Music Awards, are running this week on ABC.

Wink also provided similar interactivity to four bowl games televised by ABC: The Rose Bowl, the Nokia Sugar Bowl, the FedEx Orange Bowl and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Using either TVs or PCs connected to Wink’s service, viewers were able to access real-time statistics, instant polling and a “Build Ford Tough Play of the Game,” all sponsored by the Ford Motor Co.

The OpenTV/Wink applications allow them to gauge response and interaction. McGuirk said it also helps viewers engage with the brand, allowing them to spend more time with the program and the advertiser.

“It adds value to both the broadcaster and the advertiser. There’s tremendous advantage to combining in the show and around the show,” he said.

McGuirk said OpenTV’s partnership with Wink has provided new opportunities and he said the ABC programs are only the first of many initiatives in the new year with OpenTV and Wink.