Stephen Smyth is VP of media at news agency, Reuters. He recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about Reuters' various interactive video services (which include an interactive TV channel on the Microsoft Media Center that was nominated for an Emmy Award this year for "Outstanding Achievement for Non-Program-Specific Enhanced or Interactive Television"), about the importance of interactivity to the company's consumer services strategy, about the company's interactive TV design philosophy, about its interest in video search, about its future ITV plans, and more.
http://www.itvt.com/wviwowitvtissue6.36.html#interview.01
I had the good fortune of working with Stephen and others at Reuters (like Tom Nguyen, Christopher Burtt, Matthew Waldman and Nic Fulton among others) on their video service currently in Online Spotlight. This is a 'must read' if you are interested in bringing a video blog or interactive TV experience to Media Center consumers. There are two things I especially like about the Reuters experience...
- They were the first service we had that grokked widescreen (as you will see in many of the interview screenshots).
- They are a great example of the power of our global platform (write once / run everywhere). You can get the Reuters service today from Online Spotlight in the United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Korea and they are expanding to other geographies soon.