Sky goes interactive


13 Nov 2002

Sky launched its interactive digital television service in Ireland today. Through the new Sky Active portal, Irish viewers will now be able to play games, use email, purchase mobile ringtones, bet on sporting events and respond to numerous quizzes and votes, and in the new year, interactive adverts.

The Sky Active service will be available to all Sky Digital subscribers in the Irish Republic. Aside from the online services provided by Sky itself, the company is also in discussions with a number of Irish content partners to further the amount of interactive content available.

Sky Digital subscribers in Ireland have already been able to use services such as Sky Sports Active’s enhanced soccer and rugby coverage, Sky News Active and Sky Movies Active. Today’s launch widens the offering of the online capability via the set-top box, which is connected to a standard fixed home telephone line. Sky’s 255,000 subscribers in Ireland will not need to enhance their subscriptions and will not need to purchase any new hardware to access these new features.

According to Sky, Irish-based information providers, betting companies, airlines and financial services have all expressed interest in extending their online services to Sky subscribers via television.

By Dick O’Brien