there seems to be about 3 zillion interactive play-a-long/sing-a-long/dance-a-long type dvds advertised on tv at the moment. who stands to gain? is it
a) the content license holders?
b) is it the technology makers?
c) is it the dvd retailers?
d) nobody as they will all end up in the 50p bin at woolworths very soon?

press red for a , green for b , yellow for c or blue for d :))

cheers, soul. that's the kind of thing i was looking for. do you know of any other companies who are providing the technology or content?

No idea, Bos - it's not my speciality - just got wind of BGT's massive rise in the summer. NB it could be a very risky investment; as you'll see the SP has already been through the wars. I'm not holding, just watching; too busy with SOLA :o)

just been looking at zoo. they seem heavily involved with it, too. from last year's results.

"Interactive DVD

The interactive DVD market in the UK, pioneered by ZOO, has demonstrated
significant growth in the past year. Around 30 titles in the category were introduced
prompting retailers including HMV, Virgin, WHSmith and Borders to dedicate
in-store shelf space to the genre for the first time. Collectively interactive
DVD titles sold around 3 million units over the Christmas 2005 period, of
which we estimate around 70% were produced using DVD-EXTRA STUDIO.

According to data reported in the British Video Association (BVA) Yearbook 2006,
interactive DVDs were responsible for a significant market share gain of the
'special interest' genre, up from 2.3% of volume in 2004 to 3.8% in 2005. Of the
top 20 special interest titles, 17 were interactive DVDs and of these 13 were
created using DVD-EXTRA STUDIO. These titles were hugely popular over Christmas
2005 and companies produced a whole range of products to meet demand, growing
the sub-genre by 100% in the year. The best seller in the special interest
category was 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 3' developed by ZOO Interactive Video
and published by Universal with 344,000 units sold, making it the 14th best
selling UK DVD overall in December 2005. In the first half of 2006 this product
has sold through a further 71,000 units bringing its total volume sales to
415,000.

A particularly impressive performance was shown by the title 'Now That's What I
Call a Music Quiz' published by EMI/Universal, selling over 410,000 units in
December 2005 and making this title the best seller in the 'music' category for
the year demonstrating the significant revenue and profit potential of interactive
DVD to music publishers.

The UK interactive DVD market is showing further significant growth in 2006 in
terms of the number of new titles in development. We expect there to be over a
hundred titles available over the Christmas period of which we estimate around
half will be created using DVD-EXTRA STUDIO.

New licensees are being added on an on-going basis; in North America new
agreements with Scholastic Media, Brighter Minds Media and Endless Games for
products that use ZOOtech's technology for new interactive DVDs will produce a
broad range of new titles based on popular television, film and book properties.
In Europe further licenses have been agreed with Vivid Imaginations Ltd, Big Red
Frog, Silenn and Compedia. ZOOtech has also signed its first developer and
publisher contracts in Italy with Cinehollywood, demonstrating the continued
expansion and growth in the market for interactive DVDs across multiple
territories. These additions contribute to a robust publishing schedule for 2006
and 2007 across a number of DVD game categories.

ZOO Interactive Video Ltd ('ZIV')

ZIV is focused on the development of interactive DVD titles and partners with
publishers to provide the channel for its products in the market. ZIV's efforts
have been responsible for the establishment of the interactive DVD category at
retail, with dedicated point-of-sale areas appearing for the first time in
December 2005. In the year four new titles were developed by ZIV: 'Who Wants to
be a Millionaire? 3', 'Wallace & Gromit DVD Game', 'Telly Addicts' and
'Interactive Championship Challenge 2', which were published by Universal Pictures
across eight territories including UK, France, Germany and Japan.

At the DVD Association Excellence Awards held in May 2006, ZIV received six
awards including two for technical achievement and one for children's DVD
excellence. The British Video Association presented ZIV with three Retail
Performance Awards for 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 3', 'Telly Addicts' and
'Wallace & Gromit DVD Game'.

ZIV is increasing its output for Christmas 2006 to seven titles which will be
published by Universal Pictures and 2 Entertain Ltd. ZIV's strategy is to grow
the interactive DVD market through the development of premium branded titles for
trivia as well as non-quiz genres, and its products rank amongst the most
sophisticated in the market."

also, it looks like zoo have been in the sp wars too although there are small signs that it's starting to turn around.



ps, well done on sola ;)

Hmm - ZOO enjoying a revival as we speak - up 10p! could be worth a go, but I have done no research as yet. May give it a look if I get time.

BOS, have you seen ZOO's SP this p.m.??

bollox!!! been meaning to look at interactive dvds for a week now. looks like the boat's been missed ........

Bos, check out my new ZOO thread (and also the old one started by Goldfinger if you feel like lot of reading).

I think it's possible that ZOO is up for a turnaround - have staked a few hundred quid on it anyway, so although you missed the 40% gain (and so did I, having bought at the day's high!) there may be more to come. It's a gamble, to be sure, but as I said on the new ZOO thread, I think the winds of change are blowing for ZOO. If investor sentiment changes the turnaround could be quite snappy.

Actually it was the article you posted above that convinced me to have a go, as that seemed to be ful of encouraging news about the co's prospects. With Universal Pictures on board, the Christmas season coming up and that Italy deal in the bag as well as the breadth of the other agreements, I think ZOO has a fighting chance.

FWIW: If they made 250,000 profits that would place them on a PE of 18 at current SP. Just a thought . . .

Still, don't take my word for it; PDYOR and I am sure you'll make a decision you feel happy about.

Best of luck.
ST.

http://www.interactivedvdstore.com/index.htm

http://www.zoo-tech.com/

a couple of links. can't seem to find any other companies providing the technology.