The company signs a letter of intent to acquire ViewCall America in an effort to shore up its TV-Internet offering.
The firms declined to disclose financial details of the deal.
Following the merger, NetChannel will launch a new TV-Internet service this summer that combines the two companies' development efforts to make Internet content available to television sets equipped with set-top boxes and to network computing devices. The service will bring together NetChannel's TV-friendly Internet access and special entertainment programming, as well as ViewCall's delivery channel.
NetChannel has already struck up alliances with Thomson Consumer Electronics' subsidiary, the giant television maker RCA, and Oracle subsidiary Network Computer.
NetChannel's CEO Philip J. Monego will continue to run the larger company to emerge from the acquisition and his senior management team will be culled from the top ranks of the two companies, they said.
ViewCall stockholders will receive NetChannel shares in the deal. The new company will be run from NetChannel's San Francisco headquarters, the companies said.