Dubbed green-button advertising, because it is accessed by pressing the green button on Sky remote controls, the service is being pitched as a further on-demand ad service from Sky to sit alongside its existing interactive TV red-button service.
The service complements its other on-demand, ad-supported offerings, such as Sky Player and Sky Anytime.
Viewers will be offered the opportunity to watch extended versions of ads, or book content to watch later.
This content could include, for example, an extended edit of an existing linear TV ad; a behind-the-scenes "making of" documentary, outlining how a particularly innovative ad was created; access to exclusive content, or advertiser "mini-sodes".
The first campaigns to take advantage of the new service include a Warner Brothers campaign, booked by PHD, for upcoming film release Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In addition, a MediaCom campaign for T-Mobile will feature at launch.
Each piece of green-button content will be made available to homes with standard Sky set-top boxes at least twice a day.
This is in contrast to Sky's existing red-button service, which offers content as and when requested, and offers viewers interactivity - for example, the ability to request a brand's brochure via the TV.
Chloe Smith, head of interactive advertising at Sky Media, explained that green button was cheaper than red-button advertising. Red button, she said, requires advertisers to buy channel bandwidth so their content can air round the clock and be accessed on-demand.
However, with green button, advertisers' content is only available at certain times of the day, which means advertisers book certain time slots on the "channel".
She added that green button could be more appealing, given that accessing red-button content diverted viewers away from the channel being watched, whereas, green button content could be accessed separately.
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