Interactive component is key ingredient for planned Vegas Television Network

Developers of a cable television network that would showcase Las Vegas are among the interested spectators checking out the technology at the Consumer Electronics Show.

One of the highlights of the 2000 CES that opens today is Digital Hollywood, a collection of about 20 booths showing products that deliver interactive entertainment to consumers on their televisions or personal computers.

CES, which is closed to the public, runs through Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Alexis Park Hotel.

Tony Oleshansky and Larry Namer, who are part of a team developing the Vegas Television Network, say having an interactive component will be a key to the success of the network, which Oleshansky said would debut late this year.

"With interactive enhancements, you could be watching a concert by Wayne Newton and you will be able to buy a hat from the Stardust (hotel-casino, where Newton performs), book a reservation at the hotel, buy a ticket to the show to see him live, all while watching the concert on TV," Oleshansky said.

Do people really want to buy something while watching television?

"I don't think it's something people will want all the time and I don't think people want blatant in-your-face advertising," Namer said.

"But if you're watching Las Vegas on television and you have nothing to do this weekend, why not have the ability to click a button and have the means to book airline tickets, reference information about hotels, shows and dining and make all the arrangements from your chair?

"This is the year the interactive component sets in," said Namer. "VTV (Vegas Television Network) is made for interaction. Most people don't sit in front of a television to interact, but at one time or another, everybody would like to be able to reach out."

Oleshansky and Namer are members of the Entertainment Development Corp. of Las Vegas, which is working to attract more motion picture production to Southern Nevada to boost the local economy.

The concept for VTV was announced in July. The cable television channel would broadcast programming related to Las Vegas, from showroom entertainers to game shows originating from casinos.

Namer, who heads Comspan Communications Inc., Santa Monica, Calif., was hired as a consultant by the Greenspun family's Greenspun Corp. to explore the feasibility of developing the channel. Namer is the founder of the E! Entertainment Network.

The Greenspun family also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

Oleshansky said plans are forging ahead to launch VTV in the fourth quarter.

"Advertising and impulse purchases are very large," so the technology that puts the means to buy in the public's hands is important, Oleshansky said.

And that technology is what will be shown at Digital Hollywood.

"This will be a fantastic show," said Victor Harwood, founder of New York-based Digital Hollywood, which conducts shows and presentations on technology nationwide. "This is where the entire Internet, computer, consumer electronics and entertainment industries get together. It can't get any more fun than this."

Harwood said with a number of Internet technologies emerging, he expects the Digital Hollywood exhibits to be heavily trafficked by the more than 90,000 delegates attending CES.

In addition to the exhibits, Digital Hollywood will include a three-day series of seminars and panel discussions. Among the topics: the development of streaming video, downloading music with the Internet and digital piracy and copyright infringement.

"Bringing in music and video off the Internet is huge right now," Harwood said. "But Digital Hollywood is dedicated to all aspects of the business, from content and the method of delivery (of the product) to actual playback devices."

Playback systems range from televisions, sound systems and computers to new hand-held devices.

"The entertainment industry gets reborn every five years or so," Harwood said. "We had black-and-white television, color television, cable television, VCRs, HDTV (high-definition television) and DTV (digital television). The Internet is a whole new world that is opening up for us."

Harwood said he is not familiar with Namer's and Oleshansky's VTV plans, but he recognizes the potential for developing an interactive channel based in Las Vegas.

Namer said he doesn't expect to see much new technology that he hasn't already seen -- but he wants to be at CES to be sure.

"We're pretty far out in front of the industry on this," Namer said. "We are anxious to see what AOL (America Online) comes out with. They're offering a new Internet access product via television. It's an existing technology, but we haven't seen theirs yet."

"Some day, the whole world is going to have television you can interact with," Oleshansky said. "It's not a toy anymore. It's a revenue stream people will want to learn quickly."

Two other Las Vegas companies also have expressed interest in Digital Hollywood -- one of them, a separate company with which Oleshansky is affiliated.

Oleshansky says a startup company called Video Entertainment Inc. will be "the hottest dot-com company at the end of the year" when it launches technology that allows a viewer to watch television-quality video on a computer screen via the Internet.

"It's been done the other way, an Internet connection over a television, but not this way," Oleshansky said.

Oleshansky said he is collaborating on the project with Novell and a senior marketing officer with the McDonald's hamburger chain.

Another Las Vegas company, HelloNetwork.com, will attend CES to view the Digital Hollywood exhibits, but does not plan to show any products.

Amy Black-Ellins, vice president of public relations and advertising for HelloNetwork.com, said Digital Hollywood executives have met with her company.

"We both know each other is out there at this point, but we haven't gotten together," she said.

HelloNetwork.com offers streaming media products and has entertainers on its client list. The company's streaming media products allow computer users to view video without special software downloads or plug-ins.

The technology has numerous applications, from live demonstrations of products by businesses to live or taped performances.

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