High Fives for NetPlayTV
INTERACTIVE gaming company NetPlayTV has announced a major deal with broadcaster Channel Five.
The Lancaster and London-based group, led by entrepreneur Martin Higginson, has signed a five-year commercial tele-shopping deal with the media group. Shares rose 6% in early trading to 30.5p.
Under the terms of the agreement NetPlay TV’s SuperCasino.com live interactive TV show will be broadcast on Five, in late night teleshopping windows.
Initially the casino programme will be on air from 12 midnight until 4am three nights a week (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) starting on 17 September 2009. This will be extended to six nights a week by October this year and 7 nights from the beginning of 2010.
The agreement follows a successful one night per week, four week trial using Five’s teleshopping window during which NetPlay has been able to evaluate the commercial viability of such a venture.
NetPlay recently agreed a similar contract with Glasgow-based regional broadcaster STV, which launched last week.
As part of the deal for access to the teleshopping windows, an agreement has been reached to grant Five an option to buy 9,754,822 shares which is 5% of the current total issued share capital in NetPlay.
Five is wholly owned by RTL Group, one of the world’s largest media businesses with 45 TV channels and 32 radio stations in 11 countries. It is the largest media distribution company outside the USA.
In a trading update NetPlay said turnover was “in line with expectations”, but it warned that “short term” profits have suffered because of the cessation of a premium-rate telephone businesss and a delay in moving the SuperCasino business offshore.
A statement said: “The intention was to move this business offshore in April saving approximately £120,000 per month, however the decision was taken to delay the move in order to fully exploit the terrestrial opportunities. This business will now move offshore on 1 November 2009.”
It added: “NetPlay TV believes that the decisions taken to focus on terrestrial TV opportunities, exit the premium rate telephony business, invest in robust technology and delay the move offshore of the SuperCasino.com business have been the right ones for the long term success of the company.
“NetPlay TV understands there will be an impact on this year’s numbers although it is very confident the new revenue streams will be significantly larger and more sustainable going forward.
Martin Higginson said: “‘This year we have worked hard to ensure our business is in a position to enter into much more substantial agreements. We have strengthened our ‘backend’ technology with a five year software agreement with Playtech, thus allowing us to process more customers simultaneously.
“We have strengthened our balance sheet allowing us to enter into long term deals with confidence. We have also added new studios in Guernsey allowing us to operate in a tax efficient manner.
“‘The initial five year deal with Five reflects our confidence in the product and its suitability for the medium of television. The four day, four week test on Five confirmed the massive opportunity interactive TV gaming brings.
“Over the past two and half years we have developed and strengthened our product, SuperCasino.com, is the world’s first truly interactive TV casino. To be broadcasting on a national terrestrial TV channel heralds a new chapter in the growth of NetPlay TV.’
