PORTLAND, Ore. and MILL VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Ensequence(R), the world's leading provider of interactive TV authoring software and services, and TVWorks, a joint-venture between Comcast Communications and Cox Communications focused on developing next-generation interactive cable technology and services, today announced a strategic partnership to help bring enhanced television applications to North American cable subscribers. Under the terms of the partnership, programming networks, advertisers and cable operators can use Ensequence interactive TV authoring software to quickly and easily create interactive TV applications that run on the TVWorks enhanced TV platform.

The TVWorks platform enables deployment of applications based on the CableLabs ETV-BIF (Enhanced Television - Binary Interchange Format) standard. The standard speeds the time-to-broadcast and return on investment for interactive TV applications and allows a set of interactive TV applications to be created once for the majority of the installed digital cable set-top boxes in North America. Authoring tools play an essential role in enabling developers to quickly and cost-effectively create compelling interactive experiences that run on the TVWorks platform.

Comcast and Cox selected the TVWorks platform as their interactive application platform on Motorola and Scientific Atlanta set-top boxes, which are already in more than 13 million customer homes. Ensequence software now supports the TVWorks ETV-BIF platform in addition to PowerTV and OCAP standards for cable. The integration of the Ensequence on-Q(R) Create authoring suite with the TVWorks platform will benefit the interactive TV industry by providing robust, functional and easy-to-use tools to create and broadcast interactive TV applications on any standards-based platform.

"The Ensequence on-Q Create software provides the right balance between ease of use and depth of functionality," said Irv Kalick, President, TVWorks Applications Division. "Ensequence software is modular, based on open standards and plugs right into our existing standards-based platform, which is a huge benefit for the cable industry."

"TVWorks has been a pioneer in interactive TV set-top box and deployment software and was one of the first to demonstrate and implement an interactive TV application platform on the Motorola DCT2000 and the SA Explorer2000 set- top boxes," said Dalen Harrison, Ensequence CEO. "We have been working together for the past year to push the limits of the interactive TV experience that can be delivered to digital cable viewers cost-effectively and quickly, using Ensequence authoring tools."

About Ensequence (http://www.ensequence.com/)

Established in 2000, Ensequence is the world's leading provider of interactive TV software used to create, manage and broadcast interactive shows and commercials. Ensequence on-Q(R) software suites and professional services deliver cross-platform interactive TV capabilities to advertisers, programmers and operators worldwide. Leaders in interactive TV rely on Ensequence software and services to create and broadcast their interactive TV shows and commercials, including the BBC, BSkyB, Cox Communications, DISH Network, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MTV Networks UK & Ireland, Sky Sports, TV Guide and UKTV. For more information about Ensequence, visit http://www.ensequence.com/.

About TVWorks (http://www.tvworks.com/)

With TV Works software, cable subscribers can enjoy new advanced services such as electronic program guides, personal video recorders, video on demand, interactive advertising, enhanced programming, portals and games. These services can run on today's deployed set-top boxes as well as emerging standards-based OCAP devices. TVWorks' long history in the cable industry traces back to 1973, with the founding of Cableshare, where TVWorks' ground- breaking technologies led to some of the world's earliest interactive television trials and deployments. Next, TVWorks teamed with Oracle's NCI division and Netscape's Navio spin-off and became Liberate Technologies, building the foundation of the TVWorks platform technology. More recently, TVWorks added MetaTV to the team, enhancing the platform with advanced application technology and services.

TVWorks is located in London, Ontario and Mill Valley, California and is a joint venture between Comcast Communications and Cox Communications, two of the largest cable operators in the world.

CONTACT: Aslam Khader, Vice President, Marketing and Strategy of
Ensequence, +1-503-416-3807, or aslam.khader@ensequence.com; or Bruce Jacobs,
Account Supervisor of Weber Shandwick, +1-425-452-5421, or
bjacobs@webershandwick.com, for Ensequence; or Greg Thomson, SVP, Product
Management & Business Dev. of TVWorks, +1-415-380-6233, or
greg_thomson@tvworks.com

Web site: http://www.tvworks.com/

Web site: http://www.ensequence.com/