Connected TV Awards 2013 launched; two new categories

The Connected TV Awards 2013 have been launched and will open for entries from December 1. This year they include two new categories to demonstrate the increasing maturity of the connected marketplace. The category ‘Best Use of OTT by a Pay TV Operator’ has been added to acknowledge the way these companies are harnessing OTT delivery to televisions in a bid to extend reach and target new markets as part of their wider multi-screen strategies. The category ‘Innovation in Connected TV Advertising’ reflects the increasing interest among advertisers in exploiting the unique characteristics of Connected TV platforms.

Having debuted in 2011, these awards were quickly recognised as a valuable guide to what is bold, innovative and timely for the Connected TV marketplace. The awards, organised by Videonet, embrace both services and enabling technologies. Last year we received 75 entries spread across just three categories, making this one of the most fiercely contested awards schemes in the television market.

The awards categories for 2013 are: Outstanding Connected TV Service; Outstanding Technology Innovation; The Companion & Second Screen Prize; Best Use of OTT by a Pay TV Operator; Innovation in Connected TV Advertising. The awards close to entries on February 15, 2013 (midnight UK) and the winners will be announced on May 22 at an awards ceremony at Connected TV Summit 2013, hosted at the Royal College of Physicians, Regent’s Park, London.

Last year zeebox, the Second Screen content discovery and social TV app, was the overall winner, while BBC iPlayer, BBC News connected TV app, JAZZTEL’s JAZZBOX, DIRECTV & Samsung RUI Client/Server Solution with RVU, Accedo Application Sphere and TV App Agency Engine were also honoured.

The robust independence and therefore credibility of the judging process means that any company can win one of the 11 prizes available, based entirely on the merit of their entries. The judging panel for 2013 is: Ben Schwarz, CEO, CTOi Consulting; William Cooper, Founder and Chief Executive, informitv; Ian Nock, Managing Director, Altim Media; Graham Lovelace, Director, Lovelace Consulting; Jay Chinnadorai, Managing Director, Sumtotal; David Mercer, VP, Principal Analyst, Strategy Analytics; Steve Hawley, Principal Analyst & Consultant, TV Strategies; Jack Davison, Managing Consultant, 3Vision; Harish Reddy, Principal Consultant, IBB Consulting Group; Matthieu De Chanville, Principal, A.T. Kearney; and John Moulding, Editor, Videonet. A separate judging panel, taken from the advertising industry, will preside over the ‘Innovation in Connected TV Advertising’ category. Those judges will be announced in December.

In order to qualify for these awards, all products/services must be publicly announced by Friday, February 15, 2013 (the closing date for the awards), although they do not have to be deployed by this time. Evidence of their announcement must be available on request. One company can provide a maximum of five entries.

Anthony Rose at zeebox collects the awards for Companion Screen Prize and Overall Winner earlier this year

The Connected TV Awards are easy to enter and you can find full details about the awards, including payments, the entry form, judging criteria and guidance notes for each category via the Connected TV Summit 2013 website (link below). This also includes contact details for any questions about the awards process, judging, marketing and partnerships.

Connected TV Awards 2013 – all the information you should need

These awards recognise service and technology innovation, market impact and business thought leadership in the Connected TV marketplace. Video services delivered over broadband to a television screen, whether direct to connected television sets or via games consoles, Blu-rays, dedicated set-top boxes, Pay TV set-top boxes or gateways and Hybrid Broadcast Broadband platforms are all covered under the term ‘Connected TV’. You can find our definitions and criteria for Companion Screen, Second Screen and Connected TV Advertising at the dedicated awards page (link above).

For marketing executives, here are some reasons to enter:

• Genuinely independent judging with no favour shown to anyone. Any company can get onto the shortlist or win these awards based on the merit of their entry alone. Judges have full control of the process from start to finish. The judges are all subject experts and the advertising category has its own specialist panel drawn from the advertising industry.
• The awards are highly regarded, partly because they are so competitive, as illustrated by the 75 entries in just three categories last year.
• Great marketing and exposure for shortlisted companies and prize winners via Connected TV Summit, (the leading event in the world focused on Connected TV), Videonet, (one of the foremost publications covering post-convergence TV) and the Connected TV LinkedIn Group, (the largest and most active LinkedIn Group covering this subject with 6,400 members).
• Awards are presented during a ceremony at the close of Day One at Connected TV Summit 2013 in front of a highly relevant audience.
• Full use of awards logo for winners (all marketing materials made available free and freely).
• Attractive engraved trophy.
• Simple to enter with 650 word entry form featuring three primary questions.
• Keenly priced compared to other awards, starting at £195 (+VAT) to enter.

Justin Lebbon, Conference Director for Connected TV Summit and Publisher at Videonet comments: “These awards were incredibly well received from day one and going into our third year we expect further growth for 2013. It is the level of competition, the quality of the companies entering and the complete credibility of the judging process that gives them such a good name. We look forward to receiving entries and to the awards ceremony at Connected TV Summit in May.”

About the Author
John Moulding joined Videonet as editor at the start of 2010, having spent over 10 years writing about digital TV and the various technologies that have simultaneously disrupted and enriched the television business. With Videonet he is focused on the unstoppable march towards multi-screen, connected and personalized television. John was launch editor at Cable & Satellite International (now CSI), where he spent six years, before helping launch New Video Technology, and helped develop the IPTV World Series (IPTV World Forum, etc.) conference programmes from 2006-07. At home, he takes a Sky triple-play bundle, watches around one-third of content time-shifted, but is generally still happy to turn on the TV and see what's on (he can also remember when TV shut down after lunch!).