Ebay and Cable Tv

Cable Tv has long been considering ways in which they could create an interactive experience for viewers. Most plans fell to the wayside and were not taken seriously due to lack of interest, as well as, a surge in more profitable sectors including digital cable, high-speed Internet, and telephony. Any interest that was given to Interactive Television (ITV) centered around shopping. Analysts such as Gary Arlen, president of Arlen Communicaitons, note that the rise of e-commerce has made consumers more comfortable with buying things from a screen. Despite the reluctance of consumers to adapt, and due to the change in consumer spending habits, cable TV operaters have a renewed interest in ITV and are trying to work out a way that viewers can use a remote control to make purchases as instantly as they change channels.

Time Warner Cable has teamed with eBay to smooth the transition and for a test group of 50,000 participants in the Austin, Texas area, ITV became a reality last Thursday. Those researched were already renting boxes from the cable service and subscribed to its digital video recorder service before being introduced to the new concept. This "trial" effort is being offered at no charge and marks the first deal for the Plano, TX-based Biap System's eBay on TV service.

Users of the service can access their eBay accounts, submit new bids on watched items, and track existing bids with a remote control, but no search of eBay is currently offered unfortunately.

Though using eBay to revitalize the ITV concept is a smart move, eBay is not the first ITV channel. Always on the cutting edge of consumer technology, Sharper Image launched its ITV offer in February on satellite TV programming provider Dish Network. Sharper Image senior vice president of marketing Roger Bensinger implies that ITV is the next step in ecommerce evolution saying, "Much like e-commerce, interactive TV shopping is available 24/7, and you don't have to get off your couch to do it."

Someday, we'll probably be doing most everything from our television screen. Hopefully, we won't be as attached to our couches!

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