A quarter of a million Irish subscribers to Sky Digital can now place bets, send e-mails and play online games on their television screens following the introduction of the company's interactive service yesterday.
Sky, which provides digital television to a fifth of Irish households, is the first to offer a full range of interactive services to all its subscribers. The services are additional to its enhanced broadcasting package, which enables viewers to vote on news items, view sports from different angles and get extra information on programming.
Sky Interactive will initially launch with 30 services available to its 255,000 Irish subscribers. This will increase as more local partners sign up to offer services on the platform. The firm said yesterday it was in discussions with an Irish airline and several financial institutions to offer ticket sales and banking services.
Cinema-ticketing and entertainment listings will also be available shortly and Sky is hopeful of establishing a deal with one of the main supermarkets to offer online shopping services.
The localised services, most of which will be offered by Irish partners, will be supported by Sky's own interactive content, which includes entertainment, quizzes, gaming and betting services.
Sky's betting service offers punters the opportunity of real time betting on a range of sporting events from rugby to racing. Punters must set up a credit card account before betting and their accounts are guarded by password protection.
Third-party broadcasters such as TV3, RTÉ and TG4 will also be able to offer interactive services to viewers using the Sky satellite platform. This would enable RTÉ to offer viewers the chance, for instance, to vote on their televisions for participants in the Rose of Tralee contest, said Mr Mark Deering, director of Sky Ireland.
The new interactive services are delivered to the television screen through customers' ordinary telephone wire, which is connected to the Sky digital set top box. Subscribers will be charged for certain types of transactions, such as placing a bet, on their Sky bill.