ActiveVideo Networks Buys TV Game Platform TAG Networks

Cloud-based interactive television solutions company ActiveVideo Networks has acquired on-demand games channel creator TAG Networks, adding the firm's scalable network game platform to its CloudTV interactive streaming platform. ActiveVideo's CloudTV platform looks to bring together content from a variety of sources -- web, television, social, mobile, and more -- on digital and IPTV set-tops, CI+ enabled televisions, and broadband-connected devices. Its platform is currently accessible in nearly five million homes. With this purchase, ActiveVideo says it's extended its development platform to include games development, and that incorporating TAG's technology and content portfolio with CloudTV allows them to create a versatile platform that will support both casual and twitch/fast-motion games. ActiveVideo adds that it can create new revenue streams for cable system operators and the consumer entertainment industry by taking advantage of TAG's catalog of licensed titles and delivering ad-supported casual games to digital set-top boxes and broadband-connected devices. As part of the acquisition, TAG's management team and staff have moved from Mountain View, California to ActiveVideo's corporate headquarters in nearby San Jose. TAG's CEO/co-founder Sangita Verma and chief creative officer/co-founder Robert Craig now serve as president and CCO, respectively, of ActiveVideo's new TAG Games division, as TAG's CTO joins the parent company as SVP of Engineering. "We believe that the games category, which exceeds $25 billion, is among the most significant growth opportunities for our cable, programmer and CE manufacturer customers," says ActiveVideo Networks's president and CEO Jeff Miller. He adds, "Combining TAG's advanced games platform with our own industry-leading cloud platform provides our distribution and programming partners with a single, robust solution for delivering games, social communities, iVOD, internet video, advanced advertising, interactivity and commerce to TVs around the world."