Canoe Ventures Announces New Program to Accelerate Innovation in Advanced TV Services for Networks, Marketers and Agencies

Five Companies Named to Participate in Canoe’s Collaborative Innovation Program

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canoe Ventures, a joint venture founded by the country’s leading cable operators, is issuing an open call to companies wishing to participate in shaping tomorrow’s advanced television services today through the newly formed Collaborative Innovation Program (CIP). Participants of CIP will join Innovation Lab participants to identify and evaluate new market, business and product opportunities in the areas of Interactive Television, Video On Demand and Addressable Advertising. Canoe’s Innovation Lab, now under the CIP umbrella, was formed earlier this year to explore product and technical opportunities that can better connect television viewers with networks and marketers through innovative next-generation TV services.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us and for our programming partners.”

Joining CIP to specifically explore RFI and T-Commerce opportunities are: Catalina Marketing; Delivery Agent; FourthWall Media; icueTV; and PayPal.

“This is a call to action for the entire marketplace: We are open and committed to working with others who can help bring the promise of advanced television to life for networks, marketers, agencies and consumers alike,” said Kathy Timko, COO of Canoe Ventures.

“Finding ways to harness the power of television to deliver coupons, promotions, and product information to shoppers from the comfort of their sofa will help the industry revolutionize the way brands and retailers interact with their shoppers,” said Dick Buell, CEO and Chairman of Catalina Marketing.

“We are bullish about augmenting our commerce expertise by expanding into the set-top box environment,” said Michael Fitzsimmons, founder and CEO of Delivery Agent. “This is an exciting opportunity for us and for our programming partners.”

“We are thrilled to be taking part in CIP. We support and believe in the vision of advanced TV products and services,” said Ellen Dudar, FourthWall’s Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder.

“icueTV is honored to be participating in CIP,” added Michael Huegel, icueTV’s CEO and Founder. “We look forward to facilitating EBIF-based commerce testing in the Innovation Lab.”

“PayPal makes payments easy and secure across connected devices like the laptop and mobile phone, and television is another frontier,” said Osama Bedier, PayPal’s VP of platform, mobile and new ventures. “Being able to make payments with a cable remote will change the way we watch TV and entertainment forever.”

“We are eager to expand our relationships across the television ecosystem to drive forward on several ITV fronts, including RFI and T-Commerce,” explained Jim Turner, Senior VP of product management at Canoe Ventures.

“Through collaborative programs such as CIP and Innovation Lab, we are pushing technologies ahead with collective intelligence gathering and sharing versus going it alone,” added Arthur Orduna, Canoe’s Chief Technology Officer.

About Canoe Ventures®

Canoe Ventures, LLC is a company founded by the nation’s leading cable operators including Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications Inc., and Time Warner Cable. The company is focused on making cable’s advanced television solutions easier to buy, use and measure. Based in New York City, Canoe also maintains an engineering office and lab in Colorado. www.canoe-ventures.com.

Innovation Lab’s formation was announced earlier this year at NCTA’s Cable Show.