Former Software Exec Turns On Internet TV

George Riviere Laguna Beach resident George Riviere teamed up with a former colleague to invest in KoldCast TV, an Irvine-based start-up that offers cable-style on-demand entertainment programming over the Internet.

At its site, KoldCast TV is currently offering 13 channels of programming, ranging from comedy to filmshorts to one for viewers 18 and older. At present, the company that bills itself as "the next generation television network," offers just a few individual programs at each channel. That will change as the site attracts advertising, its backers promise.

Riviere is married to Eileen Garcia, an outspoken antiimmigration activist. The couple were plaintiffs is an unsuccessful lawsuit that aimed to shut down the Laguna Canyon Road day labor center.

A 56-year-old veteran of the software industry, Riviere offered creative input to the development of KoldCast, persuading designers that the network's screen shouldn't look like an Internet site, nor should it operate like one. He says his earlier work in refininguser interfaces for accounting software convinced him that it was important to create controls similar to the start-up menu of a DVD and to give viewers the option of making selections with a remote control device. "Expecting a viewer to make selections with a computer mouse would be a mistake," he explained.

Previously, Riviere cofounded State of the Art, which he sold in 1999 but stayed on with the new owners until 2006. He joined David Samuels, a former colleague from State of the Art, who is KoldKast's chief executive and primary investor.