Online video is all about engagement and rapid advances are being made to offer snazzy interactive features to advertisers. But there's no reason why program producers can't take advantage of the same technology. PBS announces a new integration with ad insertion platform Panache today into PBS's video management system, allowing PBS producers to place interactive casual game elements directly into the video streams. At certain points during the episodes of shows such as Arthur, Cyberchase and Wordgirl the website's video content pauses to present viewers with the option to play educational minigames. PBS says viewership numbers tripled month-to-month after the feature went live and that engagement increased exponentially. Panache's reporting capabilities allow the PBS Kids Go! portal to track how effective the interactive elements are at guiding users through a lesson and gage how well kids performed actions within the games. Word has gotten out about just how effective the games have been, says Panache President Steve Robinson ­- spurring inquiries from a variety of programmers. Such interactivity and the data resulting from it should prove invaluable to producers in their quest to create programming that takes advantage of the medium. Also, if these kinds of integrations don't motivate cable operators to get serious about interactivity, we're not sure what will ...

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