AccessDTV Finds Early Success at 2001 Consumer Electronics Show

It seemed like every direction one looked at the 2001 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that WRAL's HD footage, from the Duke-NCSU football game to the Cape Light documentary, appeared in displays. DTVPlus Vice President & General Manager Sam Matheny said, "WRAL footage was being featured in virtually every HDTV demonstration I saw." CBC's influence became evident in another way as well; TechTV honored Raleigh start-up AccessDTV, a digital technology company in which Capitol Broadcasting Company has invested.

Tech TV's "Best of CES" made its first annual selections to recognize and honor the most outstanding new consumer technology products on show at CES. The awards were presented at a gala ceremony on Sunday, January 7, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. AccessDTV was a finalist in the video category, and being on this short list is "a clear indication that your product is one of the top 30 new consumer electronic products to be released in 2001."

Nokia won the category for its Media Terminal-Internet enabled set-top box. The other finalist in the category, Snapstream, was nominated for its Snapstream Media Personal Video Station; it turns your PC into a personal video server.

AccessDTV turns a PC into an HDTV receiver. The company launched in January at CES and has done some work in conjunction with CBC subsidiary DTVPlus.

TechTV's on-air host, editorial director, and coordinator of the awards, Jim Louderback said, "The competition was truly fierce. I was very impressed with the overwhelming number of truly impressive and innovative products…The judges' decisions were difficult, but in the end, they came through, selecting the most outstanding consumer technology products."

Formerly ZDTV, TechTV is an on-air and online network dedicated to the digital lifestyle. CES took place January 6-9 in Las Vegas and is considered the world's largest annual trade show for consumer technology.