Gray Television (NYSE: GTN) will launched interactive TV technology from Backchannelmedia, a Boston-based firm specializing in TV click-throughs.
Backchannelmedia technology enables someone watching TV to click an on-screen icon using a remote control, which then sends the corresponding information to either a private Web portal or an e-mail address. Broadcasters can then sell advertising on a per-click basis as well as in the traditional impression-based model.
Gray has 36 TV stations with a combined reach of around 7 million households comprising 6.2 percent of U.S. TV homes. Backchannelmedia said it would deploy its opt-in technology one Gray station at a time.