The first interactive application has gone live on IP Vision’s FetchTV platform. Betfair’s interactive football betting app allows Fetch TV customers registered with the bookmaker to place bets on UK and European matches using the Fetch TV remote control.
The application is also the first interactive TV betting service to be made available via a Freeview set-top box.
The app can be accessed from a number of entry points including the main menu and the TV guide. Significantly, it can be overlaid onto the channel being watched, so for example it could be used to bet on the outcome of a football match being screened by the BBC.
Simon Miller of Betfair commented: “The FetchTV platform offers our customers a great way of betting on live sports from the comfort of their armchairs. We see OTT services as a great way of delivering a first-class, live and interactive entertainment experience to sports fans and plan to launch other sports apps on the FetchTV platform in due course.”
David Bloom, commercial director, IP Vision added: “Developed by Betfair specifically for FetchTV customers, this is the first app of its type for the Freeview market. It is just the first in a long line of apps that we expect to launch on the FetchTV platform in order to provide our fast-growing customer base with an even richer, connected entertainment service.”
In play betting has become a regular feature of TV advertising on UK sports channels with some providers including the latest odds as part of a half-time commercial break.