Selevision Chooses Irdeto to Bring Interactive TV to the Middle East

Ground-Breaking Project Will Grow Customer Bases and Increase ROI for Content Providers and Advertisers

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — Irdeto (JSE: NPN), a leading expert in content and business model protection solutions and services, today announced that middleware and interactive TV technology provider Selevision has selected Irdeto’s middleware solution and conditional access system (CAS) for its new High Definition Personal Video Recorders (HD PVRs). The HD PVRs, currently in field testing in Saudi Arabia, will enable content providers to run highly tailored advertisements – a market first in the Middle East. In addition, Selevision’s HD PVRs will be protected by Irdeto’s CAS and secure chip set – another first for the region – to allow the company to comprehensively secure premium content, while delivering a personalized experience for consumers, through uniquely selected programs and commercials.

“Irdeto’s technology meets our needs for a flexible solution that enables us to deliver targeted content to consumers, while protecting it against piracy, which continues to be rife in this region,” said Dr Raed Khusheim, CEO and founder of Selevision. “Irdeto’s solution allows us to constantly enhance our targeted advertising capabilities. Irdeto was a natural choice for us, given the company’s proven track record of delivering industry-leading conditional access solutions in the Middle East. We look forward to expanding our services to other regions, and to continuing to work with Irdeto.”

According to Informa, at the end of 2014, the Middle East and North Africa region will have approximately 50 million multichannel TV homes. This means that more than 70 percent of households will have either cable or satellite television. In response to this growth as well as the need to differentiate themselves to both advertisers and viewers, Selevision selected Irdeto’s industry-leading middleware technology to empower advertisers to effectively reach a wide range of viewers with ads that are directly relevant to consumers.

“The advanced features and functionality that the Selevision HD PVR offers to consumers and advertisers is a testimony to the maturity that Irdeto middleware has reached, ” stated David Canellos, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Irdeto. “The Middle Eastern market is ripe for innovation, and the ability to reach viewers with targeted advertising is increasingly important, as audiences are progressively looking for content that is personalised and relevant.”

Moreover, advertisers can now measure the effectiveness of commercials through Irdeto’s comprehensive reports which outline the exact number of views received. Additionally, Selevision is able to customize its end-user interface, easily add third party applications and support optional PVR extensions as well as other feature-rich add-ons Irdeto’s unique solution helps advertisers and content providers alike increase the power of each commercial and maximize return on investment.

Many of the world’s largest broadcasters and set-top box manufacturers have selected Irdeto’s industry-leading middleware technology and have already successfully deployed the software in fast growing pay-TV markets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.