SeaChange t-commerce app launches with SureWest DVD service

Video-on-demand technology vendor SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC) says it is seeing demand for a t-commerce application that allows cable subscribers to buy DVDs with a click of their remote controls.

SeaChange's VoDLink interface, which enables SureWest to launch the "Watch & Buy" app.

Cable overbuilder SureWest Communications (Nasdaq: SURW) is the first provider to launch its "Watch & Buy" application, which it is using with VoD software from SeaChange. SureWest is deploying the Watch & Buy app on its systems in Kansas City.

SeaChange spokesman Jim Sheehan told FierceCable Tuesday that the Acton, Mass.-based company has seen interest from other U.S. and international customers, but he wouldn't say which provider plans to roll out the "Watch & Buy" app next. SeaChange supplies VoD technology to several major MSOs, including Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC).

Cable operators and interactive TV technology vendors have touted the potential of t-commerce for more than a decade. The SureWest rollout shows that the technology may slowly begin to see deployments on U.S. cable systems, and could eventually provide a new revenue source to major cable MSOs. Several cable technology firms are pursuing t-commerce, including iCueTV and Canoe Ventures.

SureWest is initially pitching Warner Bros. DVDs and Blu-ray discs to subscribers with the SeaChange app, including "Arthur," "Hall Pass," "Something Borrowed," "Sucker Punch," "Red Riding Hood" and "Unknown."

For more:
- see news release

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