Frequently Asked Questions (continued)

Q: Will the competition between cable, the Internet, telecommunications and satellite companies help or hurt iTV?
A: Competition among all of the content delivery organizations is a good thing for the deployment of iTV. Specifically, with more companies working on iTV and particularly the development of standards for Interactive Television it is likely that more functionality will be available to users in a shorter time period. Interactive Television will only meet its full potential when consumers have access to local information, t-commerce and information on demand during the viewing of specific programs. With more households being served by Interactive Television, content providers will be more likely to build interactivity into their programming (on demand information about cast, crew, sets, costumes, t-commerce, voting and polling).

Q: What is the role of standards in iTV?
A: Standards are very important to the long-term development of Interactive Television. The early development involved the creation of a number of proprietary platforms by both content delivery organizations and set-top box manufacturers. This means that certain set-top boxes only worked on specific cable or satellite systems and applications had to be developed specifically for that system. The cable industry formed CableLabs, in part with the intention of developing common standards that would ensure interoperability of devices and applications on different content delivery systems and across multiple cable operators. The result was the development and adoption of the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) (now called Tru2way TV), which provides all parties with the ability to create applications and devices that will work on any OpenCable-enabled system.

Presently the IPTV/Telcos do not have standards for iTV.  There are several standards groups which are working on standards for IPTV.  What the results of these efforts will be and whether they will merge is a question.  Verizon has publicly stated that they will be using the OpenCable and ETV standards used by cable.
 
Satellite does not have standards in the US but the two prevelant systems DirectTV and Echostar do have National Footprints and each uses a different single though different technology.

Q: What are the primary benefits of iTV for consumers, advertisers, content providers and content delivery organizations?
A: All of the players in the television industry are interested in a more engaged and active audience. Interactive Television provides an environment that moves the viewer from being a "couch potato" to being more actively in control of their viewing experience. For the consumer, iTV offers better and more interesting content as well as ways to take action on that content (vote, buy, rate, play). For the advertiser, it provides a way to target consumers who are truly interested in their products and to provide them more information about the product and where to buy it at the push of a button on the remote control. It also provides more detailed and accurate information on how many people viewed the ad, their level of interest and what further action they took. For content providers, it helps to build fans by providing more information about plots, cast, crew and elements of the program at the push of a button as well as voting, polling and even choosing alternative endings for the show. This helps to build the overall audience and set the value of the problem to the network or cable channel. Finally, for content delivery organizations, the implementation of iTV functionality helps to reduce the overall churn of consumers making alternative choices and moving to other ways of getting their entertainment.

Q: Hasn't iTV already come and gone?
A: There have been many experiments with Interactive Television in the United States and throughout the world since the 1950s. Many of the largest and most publicized have not been successful. This was often due to either hardware or software limitations or to being ahead of the marketplace. However, each of these experiments ranging from Winky Dink to Qube in Ohio to the Full Service Network experiment in Tampa, Florida have provided useful information on which the current development of iTV is based. The creation of common standards and platforms for the deployment of iTV has helped to pave the way for a wider range of applications (beyond video-on-demand and electronic program guides) to be available to consumers. If anything, Interactive Television is just starting!

Q: What role do content providers play in iTV?
A: There are a number of different types of content providers in the world of Interactive Television. If we focus on the producers of television programming for network and cable channels, to date, content providers have not been very active in building and using iTV applications. A number of game shows have built in the ability for viewers to play at home. A few programs have included voting or polling into their broadcasts and a few offer the ability to buy DVDs of the programs with your remote control. As the demand for interactivity increases, the role of content providers programming interactive elements into their content will also grow. In the realm of iTV, there are a number of other types of content providers, however. Producers of applications and content ranging from video-on-demand, games, shopping and local information have been very active in the development of Interactive Television.

Q: How will advertising be interactive?
A: Approximately 30 million households now have the ability to receive and view some form of Interactive advertising. The first form involves lead generation. An advertiser places an interactive overlay on their ad that by pressing a button on the remote control the viewer can request more information, contact from the advertiser, or some other form of request (e.g., brochure, quote or test drive). The viewers' names and addresses are compiled and sent to the advertiser. The second form is telescoping advertising. By pushing the “thumbs up” or green button on the remote control, the viewer is taken to a video on demand channel where the viewer can watch a closer look or longer form advertisement (up to 60 minutes). The third form of interactive advertising is featured on the Free Video-on-Demand channels on the television. Advertisers have the option of either providing a showcase feature of their products and services or of doing a sponsorship of pre-existing entertainment content on the channel. In both cases, the advertiser has the ability to present a longer form advertisement or several ads in the context of the content.

Q: How do I place an interactive TV ad?
A: Currently, an advertiser has to place interactive advertising on a system-by-system or market-by-market basis. That is, the advertiser or their agency has to contact the cable or telecommunications company in the market to advertise on their system. In some major markets such as New York and Los Angeles there are interconnect services that represent all of the content delivery organizations in the market and placement can be made on a full market basis. However, the formats of the advertisement may have to be slightly different for each system operator.

Q: How do I know if my iTV ad has been viewed?
A: The major difference between interactive advertising and traditional television advertising is the ability of the advertiser to track the how the viewer interacted with the ad. With traditional advertising, an advertiser only knows the total number of households that viewed the television program and not the number who actually watched their ad instead of getting up to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. With interactive advertising as the viewer pushes a button to ask for more information or to see a longer form advertisement, the systems can track those clicks and provide that usage information to the advertiser.

Q: What companies are leading the iTV wave?
A: Interactive Television like any major change in media is being lead by participants from each part of the industry. Content delivery organizations, particularly in the cable industry, such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Cox Communications have invested heavily in building the infrastructure to support interactive television. The cable industry as a whole, through the support of CableLabs and the development of an open standard are promoting the implementation of interactive television. Telecommunication companies like Verizon and AT&T are also investing heavily in the future of interactive television. Content providers are also beginning to support the production of interactive programming as has happened with game shows and some Disney children's programming. And advertisers like Nike have jumped into the realm of Interactive Television. All of these participants help to make a major difference to the development of the technology and applications. Beyond these major players there are dozens of software and hardware companies like Vidiom who are working behind the scenes to provide the products, services and applications that make interactive television work.

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