Industry News

Headline	never.no Technology Allows TV 2 Viewers To Interact With Tour De France Coverage
Article	Thanks to technology from never.no, viewers of the 96th annual Tour de France bicycle race on Norway's TV 2 will be the first in the world to experience the legendary event interactively with one another and with commentators. Using Twitter, other Web interfaces, and text or image messages from their mobile phones, viewers will be able to post photos, comment on the action, and respond to polls or questions posed by the broadcaster or by other viewers — with their input taking effect on Web and broadcast television in almost real time. For its Tour de France coverage, TV 2 will rely on never.no's Interactivity Suite, four software applications that enable media owners to integrate user-submitted content into their programming, track viewers/consumers from medium to medium, communicate with them individually, and tailor content to suit them. never.no has recently enhanced the Interactivity Suite's Auto Dialogue System (ADS) to enable interaction with Twitter, and the Tour de France represents the first live national broadcast to take advantage of the new capability. Relying on Twitter and similar applications, TV 2 journalists can instantaneously share their thoughts about the race and incorporate audience buzz into their coverage. "We expect our viewers to be very enthusiastic about this new way of experiencing the Tour de France — not just as passive viewers but as active participants," said Håavard Myklebust, TV 2 managing editor and head of acquisition. "In particular, we think our audience will enjoy the immediacy of seeing snapshots in almost real time taken by fans on the route or at the finish line. The never.no technology is giving us the opportunity to bring our viewers together in a way we could not have imagined even a few years ago."
Company	never.no
Date Published	1/7/2009