02.10.02
Walking
with Beasts Interactive hit in Oz
Walking
with Beasts Interactive proved a huge hit with Australian television
audiences, according to the results of a recent audience survey.
Research
conducted by ABC New Media in Australia in August 2002, following
the broadcast of the award-winning interactive TV series Walking
with Beasts by the ABC channel, found that 98% of those who responded
to the survey wanted to have more interactive television documentaries.
Of
the survey respondents who used the interactive TV features, 93%
were positive about their experience and 89% felt the information
that was available through the interactive streams improved their
enjoyment of the series.
Almost
80% of the respondents were aware of the interactive features and
used them over the course of the series, which is particularly strong
given the 'newness' of interactive documentaries for Australian
audiences.
Director
of ABC New Media and Digital Services, Lynley Marshall, said; "The
screening of Walking with Beasts Interactive was a first for Australian
audiences and one that they have embraced with enthusiasm."
"The
results show that audiences are interested in experimenting with
new services and want more interaction with TV programmes. With
this in mind, we're working towards delivering more innovative,
interactive experiences in the future."
Jonathan
Crane, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Worldwide's Director of Commercial Broadband added, "The
original agreement represented a milestone for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Worldwide and
it is extremely satisfying to see the audience's positive reaction
to the service. We are looking forward to working with our partners
in Australia and around the world to develop similar projects, building
on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's pioneering work in interactive TV."
Walking
with Beasts Interactive was broadcast through the ABC's services
on the Austar digital satellite platform and Optus' cable iTV service
from 4 July to 8 August 2002 in parallel with its linear version
on ABC TV, ABC TV digital and the ABC on Foxtel, Austar and Optus.
The service offered an enhanced viewing experience for the audience,
with an array of additional elements - from alternative commentaries
and extra video footage to textual information - all at the touch
of a button.
Notes
to Editors:
Walking with Beasts is a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ/Discovery Channel/TV Asahi and BS Asahi/Pro
Sieben Co-Production and is distributed internationally by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Worldwide
and is the sequel to the international hit Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ series Walking With
Dinosaurs. The six-part series, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, takes
viewers back 49 million years to when the dinosaurs had died out
and a new world was about to emerge. The landmark series is recreated
in a classic natural history format, using state-of-the-art animatronics
and computer generated creatures. The programme makers bring viewers
face to face with the ancestors of the whale that walked on land,
giant killer pigs the size of rhinos, sabre-tooth cats, woolly mammoths
and the first origins of man. Each episode covers a different period
in mammal evolution and charts the rise of mammals as they take
over the planet.
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