Travertine Entertainment and Dandana TV Launch First 24-Hour Interactive SMS-TV Network in the U.S

Business Wire, Jan 25, 2005

LAS VEGAS -- Real-time, interactive Text Messaging expands programming on North America's only Arabic music and entertainment channel

Travertine Entertainment, a Hollywood-based interactive television production company, and Dandana TV, the U.S.-based Middle-Eastern pop culture network, announced today the launch of the first channel in the U.S. to offer 24-hour, real-time interactive programming using text messaging (SMS). Travertine's SMS-TV technology allows any television viewer with a text-enabled cell phone to interact onscreen with the programming in real time. No set-top box, internet connection or software is necessary. Live broadcast of the channel will be featured in the Travertine Entertainment booth #1250 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Starting today, Dandana TV's viewers can be a part of the programming in real time. Through this Premium SMS service, they now can participate in moderated text-to-screen chat, vote on favorite artists and video clips or download ring tones. For example, to send a chat message to the television screen, viewers compose a text message from their cell phone with the content 'CHAT (their message)' and send it to 32688 (D-A-N-T-V), a 'short code' phone number assigned to this service by the wireless carriers. Within seconds that message is routed from the carriers through the broadcast control room into the video signal. Viewers in turn receive a return message which confirms their cell phone bill was charged $0.99 for the service. Currently broadcasting on Globe Cast World TV, channel 151, Dandana TV will be expanding to other broadcast systems in the U.S. in the coming months.

"We're extremely excited about this whole new world of entertainment for our viewers," said Dandana's CEO, Andy Altahwi. "They have been clamoring for cell phone-TV interactivity since the network began broadcasting last year. It surprised us that SMS-TV, which is so popular in Europe and around the world, did not exist here in the U.S." He added, "We are also extremely pleased to be working with Travertine Entertainment. They are the perfect partner for us because they have given us a total programming solution. They understand the television industry and the technology that makes this all possible and are at the forefront of this new era of interactivity. After all, this form of television is very compelling; it's a live event for viewers. They can now interact with our programming -- and with each other -- from home, from restaurants or bars, from across the room, across town or across the country, in real time through their television."

Alan Toman, President of Travertine Entertainment, adds, "This addition to Dandana's network brings 'appointment television' to a dramatic new level. We're tremendously pleased to be their partner in bringing this new form of television programming to the U.S. in a powerful new way."

About Dandana TV

Beginning in July of 2004, Dandana TV (www.dandana.tv) became the first music Arabic music and entertainment channel originating in the U.S. Currently broadcasting live from its studios outside of New York City on Globe Cast World TV channel 151, Dandana reaches over 3,000,000 viewers and will be expanding to other U.S. broadcast systems in the months to come. The network's viewers can now interact via cell phone with its programming in real time, sending chat-to-screen, voting on videos and artists to determine play lists and interviews, downloading ring tones from music videos, and participating in real time quizzes and contests. Dandana TV is a member of NATPE.

About Travertine Entertainment

Headquartered in Hollywood, California, Travertine Entertainment (www.travertine.tv) is an interactive SMS-TV production company, providing audiences with a new interactive experience that is rapidly changing the face of television. Through its technology, viewers can participate in and control live TV programming, without the need for additional hardware or a set-top box. The viewer needs only a text-enabled cell phone. Dubbed "lean-forward" or "participation television," the innovative new programming also transforms TV screens into direct marketing tools, enabling viewers to interact in real-time with brand sponsors while giving advertisers the opportunity to obtain valuable market intelligence data. Travertine Entertainment is a member of NATPE, the Television Academy of arts and Sciences and iTA, the Interactive Television Alliance.