• by David Kaplan , March 4, 2005

Big cable and satellite TV providers including Comcast Corp. and DirecTV this summer will begin incorporating a new "single screen" system that will make it much easier to develop creative applications for interactive TV (ITV). The system, which was announced Thursday by interactive agency Red8 Studios and ITV developer emuse.

By emuse's technological capabilities with Red8's creative resources, emuse hopes to differentiate itself from rival ITV developers like Goldpocket, which has sought to combine the creative and technological disciplines associated with producing ITV.

"While the iTV industry in the U.S. is presently focused on technical issues such as compliance with platforms and the functional capabilities of set top boxes and other things, we're simply concentrating on the business of delivering TV-centric experiences to viewers," said John Bryan, director of operations for emuse. "We don't want to muddle our capabilities by trying to do and be too many different things."

The deal comes as new momentum builds for the ITV industry in the U.S. emuse already works with cable giant Cox Communications and been creating interactive advertising applications for marketers such as Honda, Daimler Chrysler, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and the British Government.