Energis/Graham Technology

This week you may have heard that the Energis/Graham Technology joint venture finally confirmed a deal with BSkyB for launch of a new interactive digital channel on the Sky Digital platform. The channel, called “Bright Blue”, will be an alternative interactive portal to Open.
Some background:
- Sky were obliged to allow Energis Interactive to use its services after a ruling by Oftel, which forced the broadcaster to open up its digital services to competitors.
- Services available on BrightBlue will include shopping, banking, travel, betting and recruitment. They claim to be in “the final stages of discussions with a number of well-known high street names”.
- Graham Technology claim that GT-X, the core software product of the platform, enables content providers a level of interactivity that is “unique” on existing digital services.
- The group also claims that the platform will:
= make the implementation of the customer TV channel faster and more scaleable
= provide a more cost effective way of deploying offerings on digital satellite

- Energis Interactive will also have the capability to make both channels and advertisements interactive - using Bright Blue as the t-commerce interface. Working with the Digital Broadcasting Company (DBC), the UK's leading independent pay-per-view broadcaster on the digital satellite platform, Energis Interactive will explore the potential of integrating interactive and broadcast services. DBC’s core offering on Sky is u>direct TV, a17-channel pay-per-view movie and sports service.

Some Implications:
- Assuming the platform is fundamentally a viable option - from a technical and commercial perspective - it could provide retailers with much needed leverage during negotiations with Sky.
- Open will continue to enjoy the benefits of being first to market in this area. Vast amounts of Sky Digital airtime have been dedicated to building the Open brand over the past year, and it will be difficult for newcomers to match this kind of exposure in the primary content stream of the platform. (At present, nothing is known of the potential marketing budget for Bright Blue.)
- From a content point of view, Bright Blue will provide an alternative contextual commerce “back-end” for all channels on the Sky. The partnership with DBC (u>direct) is the first example of this but you can expect a number of Sky’s content rivals (e.g. Carlton, Flextech) to be keen to explore alternatives to the Sky-backed Open service.