Civolution and Broadcom make Automatic Advertisement Recognition available for Set-top Boxes

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013
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“Content aware” set-top boxes and smart TVs to usher in future of big-box retail advertising

LAS VEGAS — NAB Show 2013 — Civolution, the leading provider of technology and solutions for identifying, managing and monetizing content, today announces its integration with set-top box chipsets from Broadcom, a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. This integrated hardware and software solution will enable a new generation of “content aware” devices to open the door to opportunities for direct calls-to-action, targeted advertising, gamification, and social media integration on television viewers’ primary screens.

Civolution’s Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology will enable content to be automatically recognized on Broadcom’s highly scalable and flexible set-top box platforms for the cable, satellite, IP and terrestrial markets. This content identification includes, for example, the automatic recognition of broadcast advertisements, thereby enabling companies to trigger synchronized and interactive calls-to-action on the TV screen itself. Such ACR-based ad triggering would allow big-box retailers to present actionable promotions, discounts and specials to targeted viewers, fully synchronized to a televised ad pertaining to the relevant product, store, or region.

“As the primary screen becomes linked to the web by way of connected set-top boxes and smart TVs, the ability to make these devices content aware opens the true potential of television advertising,” said Alex Terpstra, CEO, Civolution. “We’re very excited to bring our ACR technology to one of the top semiconductor manufacturers in the business and, in working together, create a powerful relationship between next-generation hardware and content-recognition software.”

“Leveraging Broadcom’s highly integrated and scalable solutions allows Civolution to automatically identify the content an individual consumer is viewing in real time,” said Stuart Thomson, Senior Director of Marketing for Consumer Electronics, Broadband Communications Group, Broadcom. “The potential for new forms of communication between a subscriber, their social networks and advertisers represents a new form of active viewership and interaction for today’s consumers.”

Civolution’s state-of-the-art content identification platform, SyncNow, allows broadcasters, content producers and interactive application providers to offer time-synchronized-to-media applications such as ad-(re)placement, live voting and content-related overlays. Based on Civolution’s powerful watermarking and fingerprinting technologies, it allows for accurate and rapid synchronization of interactive content.