At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, the Associated Press (AP) launched two new applications that fuses web-based engagement to TV consumption. Both offerings operate on TVs optimized with Microsoft Mediaroom, a separate service that integrates interactive capabilities to television.

AP's automated news ticker widget streams news headlines across the bottom of TV screens. Users can customize the headline categories most pertinent to them. To enable the ticker, they must opt in to Mediaroom TV Dashboard, which lets Mediaroom subscribers access local news in real-time, even while watching other programming.

The news ticker widget was built with technology from ES3, a Canadian software development firm. It appeared on Intel's "Internet on TV: Widget Channel" demonstration at CES.

AP red carpet events is a celebrity news application that aggregates real-time information, photos and video clips from red carpet events. This app is being demonstrated on Microsoft's Mediaroom platform, booth 7144, at CES.

With the new offerings, "AP is crossing a significant milestone in its mission to explore new digital outlets," said GM-mobile/emerging products Jeffrey Litvack of AP. "We are pushing forward with the development of AP products tailored to the consumer’s connected, digital lifestyle."

GM-marketing Christine Heckart of Microsoft supported Litvack's position, positing that "the definition of TV is changing as we move from traditional linear consumption to a two-way experience that’s on the viewers’ terms — when and where they want it."

In May of last year, AP launched an iPhone-ready mobile news network.