NTN Buzztime
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| NTN Buzztime, Inc. | |
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| Type | Public (AMEX: NTN) |
| Founded | 1983[1] |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California |
| Key people | Dario Santana, CEO and president |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Employees | 169[2] |
| Website | www.buzztime.com |
NTN Buzztime (AMEX: NTN) is a company which produces interactive entertainment across many different platforms. Its most well-known product, simply called Buzztime, and formerly known as the NTN Network, since 1985, broadcasts trivia and other games via broadband over a national network to over 3,800 bars and restaurants in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The North American and British networks have similar games, but are ranked separately. Typically, independently-owned bars and restaurants offer Buzztime. However, it is also offered by major chains such as Buffalo Wild Wings and Damon's Grill. Buzztime offers several different kinds of trivia games based on a variety of subjects, including pop culture, entertainment, world history, geography, sports and music, as well as general trivia games with questions in many categories.
NTN Buzztime, Inc. is based in Carlsbad, California. The company was founded as Alroy Industries[2] and formerly went by the name NTN Communications, Inc. from 1985 to 2005.
In January 2008 Buzztime Entertainment filed a legal suit against Sony Computer Entertainment Europe alleging that Sony had violated several of its trademarks with its Buzz! series of video games. The suit accused Sony of a "malicious, fraudulent, knowing, wilful, and deliberate" violation of its trademarks. In the suit Buzztime is seeking the recall and destruction of all infringing products and is asking the court for actual damages, punitive damages, legal fees and an order to the US Patent and Trademark Office not to register Sony's pending Buzz trademarks.[3]
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[edit] How Buzztime works
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Buzztime players use "Playmakers" to answer the questions that are displayed on the television screens. Questions are answered by pressing numbered buttons that correspond to multiple-choice answers. The region on the right side of the "Playmaker" is known as the "Playzone" and it features a numbered keypad. However, many players also effectively utilize the row of numbers at the top of the "Playmaker" to respond to questions.
After each game, the top 20 individual winners as well as the top 20 establishments on the entire network (based on an average of the five highest scores at that establishment—top six for Showdown) are broadcast in a "Network Rankings" summary for each game. Many teams gather together in their respective establishments to partake in the battle of wits.
Many frequent Buzztime players are enrolled in the "Players Plus" program. Players earn Players Plus points by participating in a game, and can earn additional points by beating a target score that is given before the start of each game. Players earn 500 players plus points for minor games if they don't get the target score; however they get 1000 points if they do. For major games, players get 1500 points for a non-target score, and 3000 points for passing the target score. However, for the game "Showdown", 2000 points are given for non-target scores and 4000 points are given for the passing of the target score.
[edit] Games
The most frequently played Buzztime game is Buzztime Trivia (formerly called Countdown), which is a 30-minute game of 15 multiple choice questions, each with five possible answers, on a variety of topics. Players can earn up to 1,000 points per question based on how fast they answer; the number of points decrease as time passes. Clues are given to help the player eliminate incorrect choices, with the third clue usually alluding to what the correct answer is. The answer is given once time runs out. A score of 15,000 is considered a "perfect" score.
Several specialty games use the Buzztime Trivia format but are based on a single subject. Some of the more commonly played games are Showdown, a diffcult, general interest trivia game, and Spotlight, which focuses on movies, music and the world of entertainment. Topix is a series of 15 questions based on one topic, which changes with each game, Abused News is a game based on current events with a focus on offbeat news stories, Hockey Hall of Fame Legends is a game of hockey trivia (in Canada only), and Tuned In is television trivia. There are two variations of Buzztime Trivia played every day. Appeteasers, played in the first two hours of Buzztime's broadcast day, consists of seven questions in 15 minutes (7,000 points is a "perfect" score) but otherwise is identical to Buzztime Trivia. Wipeout is a 15-question game in 30 minutes where no clues are given; instead, incorrect answers are eliminated until there are only two possible answers left.
During the week, several "premium" trivia games are played. Most of them are one hour long.
- Sports Trivia Challenge on Sundays
- Sports IQ on Mondays
- Showdown, a 75-minute general knowledge trivia game, on Tuesdays. After Showdown, a 15-minute game called Speed, with 18 rapid-fire questions, is played. This is followed by the 30-minute Mini-SIX, a short version of the Thursday game. Showdown is preceded by PasTimes and Brainbuster (a Countdown version game with harder questions and clues). On the East Coast, Glory Daze precedes the aforementioned set, while on the West Coast, it is played after Mini-SIX. This combination of games, combined with the supposed prestige of Showdown, usually results in a high turnout for the Tuesday premium games. (This schedule was changed on January 22, 2008[4], for most Buzztime sites. Mini-SIX was replaced by a Wipeout-style game called The Nth Degree, and two new games were added following The Nth Degree -- Boys and Their Toys, and Duh! These games are also repeated on Friday night. They are all 30-minute games.)
- SIX, a Trivial Pursuit-style game where the questions are grouped into six categories, on Wednesdays.
- Thursday is entertainment night, with a series fo games focused on pop culture, movies, music and television. They include Blur, the celebrity gossip game, Get Reel movie trivia, and Spotlight entertainment trivia (the Thursday Spotlight game is an encore showing of the previous Friday's game).
- Spotlight, an entertainment trivia game, on Fridays (as of October 2007, this game is repeated on the following Thursday.)
- Playback, a music trivia game, on Saturdays. Preceding Playback are two warm-up games. Jukebox, a Countdown-type music trivia game with 14 questions (14,000 points is a "perfect" score) played in two halves. The first half is a standard Countdown-style Q & A, while the second half polls the players in each establishment which of two categories is desired for the next question, with the majority of the players in the establishment ruling which question is posed there. Tuned In is played immediately before the Playback game.
QB1 is an interactive game that Buzztime offers to participating locations during NFL and college football games. Players earn points by correctly predicting which plays the offense will make during the game. QB1 is Buzztime's oldest game, having premiered during Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.
In the past, Buzztime trivia offerings were available over online services such as the now-defunct ImagiNation Network. Now, Buzztime trivia can be found on other platforms, such as an electronic home-system version and a mobile phone version.
In 2004, the company launched the Blast channel that is available to establishments that upgrade to the ITV2 system. (New Buzztime installations are ITV2.) This channel features the games Blackjack, Cutthroat (a form of billiards), Texas hold 'em poker, and Crazy Golf, a miniature golf-type game. It also can be used to broadcast some of the QB1 games, allowing the first channel to broadcast the trivia games.
In January 2006, the company renamed the NTN Network "Buzztime." Furthermore, the "Blast" brandname was discontinued. It also launched an expanded players' website, which features more-detailed player statistics and a phpBB-based forum.
[edit] Other products
NTN Buzztime used to produce a variety of wireless paging products, the most common example being a device that vibrates when a food order is ready. The wireless product division was sold in 2006.
NTN Buzztime also once produced and distributed ProHost Seating and Reservations Software for managing door and floor operations in Restaurants, Casinos, Theme Parks, Hotels, in its Arlington, TX office- known as "Software Solutions". Signature customers include Harrah's Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Universal Studios and Hardrock Cafe. The software solutions division was sold by NTN Buzztime, Inc. in 2007.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Yahoo. NTN: Profile for NTN BUZZTIME INC. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ a b Larson, Mark (2008-05-05). NTN Looks to Create Buzz With Two New Games. San Diego Business Journal Online. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan (2008-01-28). Sony Buzz-ed with trademark suit. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ January Schedule Changes - Buzztime Player Site
