Ionoco

P R E S S R E L E A S E
** March 2009

IONOCO SELECTED TO POWER THE COLOUR OF MONEY WORLDWIDE

ionoco, the technology provider for hit Saturday night ITV1 game show The Colour of Money, has secured a deal to roll its integrated technology solution within the format out internationally. The Colour of Money is a 12 Yard production hosted by Chris Tarrant

Under the deal ionoco’s system is being offered by ITV as part of their distribution package around the world. The company, a major technology force in the broadcast, lottery and gaming markets, has developed a self-contained system that controls the game play functionality of the show. Based on their ionologic software platform, the system, controlled by a single operator, provides synchronised graphics feeds to the cash machines, transmission and video walls as well as triggering, lighting and sound effects.

Chris Goss, Founder and CTO of ionoco, says: “We worked with 12 Yard from a very early stage to develop a state-of-the-art technology solution. The system has been developed so it can be rolled out smoothly and cost effectively to international markets. We’re delighted to be working on a format with such huge potential worldwide.”

David Young, Managing Director of 12 Yard Productions, adds: "The experience of working with ionoco has been incredible; they are a cut above the rest. The ability of the technology to relay the graphics live into edit has saved us a huge amount of time and money.”

Remy Blumenfeld, Director Formats, ITV Global Content, says: “The Colour of Money is establishing itself as one of the UK’s best performing new shows. We’re looking forward to launching the format at MIP TV, which will include offering our broadcast partners the opportunity to use ionoco’s proven technology solution as part of its integrated production.”

Colour of Money is hosted by Chris Tarrant and features specifically designed cash machines which can deliver huge sums of money if the contestants can hold their nerve. Twenty multi-coloured cash machines are all pre-programmed to issue a set maximum amount of money between £1,000 and £20,000. As the seconds tick by, the figure you receive slowly increases by £1,000. The longer you hold your nerve the greater the amount available to you, but wait too long and the machine is locked down, leaving you with nothing!

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

About ionoco
ionoco is the world's leading broadcast technology provider of game play, control and graphics systems for TV game shows, TV programmes, channels and interactive TV. Their clients include production companies, broadcasters, gaming channels and lotteries, large and small, from all around the world.

ionoco’s solutions power many of the world's best known television productions and have been proven in thousands of TV shows and studios. Their proprietary software platform, ionologic, running on ionocore computers, is uniquely configurable, can be easily integrated into any equipment or software and has unrivalled functionality, including a stunning real time 3D graphics engine.

The company prides itself on extremely competitive prices and their extensive resources mean they can quickly provide local solutions, roll out and support formats worldwide while also providing low cost systems for run throughs, demos and pilots. They now also have a full suite of interactive TV applications. The ionoco team is constantly developing exciting new technologies, such as motion capture, tilt sensors and touchscreens for new format ideas which showcase the power of ionologic.

Most recently the company has launched voting and opinion polling applications for its viewer participation products. The real-time applications, which run on any mass viewer participation platform, provide viewer response and profiling capabilities, which can track and dramatise viewer interactions live on screen, via a secure and fully auditable platform.

TV2GO WEB, described as an ‘OB in a box’, was also launched recently under the name Web2TV. The renamed TV2GO WEB is a low cost technology that delivers broadcast quality live content via the internet using network cameras. The first of its kind in the marketplace, TV2GO WEB offers full gallery functionality.

The company was launched in 2008 after the merger of G-Graphics, Randomaker and TV2GO. Clients include Endemol, BBC, ITV Productions, FremantleMedia, 2waytraffic, GTECH, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Projects by ionoco include Million Dollar Password, Deal or No Deal, Power of 10, 20Q, and Colour of Money.

ionoco is based in Winchester in the UK, with offices and associates in France, the US and Asia. For further information, please visit game_show_solutions.aspx or contact simon.ingram@ionoco.com

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