Interactive Tv

1.1 Interactive television (May also be known as: ITV, iTV, i-TV, ETV, eTV, Enhanced Television, Enhanced TV, Transactional Television, Fully Interactive TV, Interactive Digital Television, Interactive Tv etc) allows the exchange of information between the sender and the receiver. Potentially, it offers increased control over programming content by enabling the viewer to immediately respond to the programming--and even alter it. By offering such control, interactive television has the potential to redefine what producers of television and viewers mean by "television" and to redefine communication processes in society. Information flows not only from broadcaster to viewer, but also back from viewer to broadcaster. Another feature common to all iTV systems is the ability to offer each TV set, or each viewer who uses that TV set, a different choice of content.

There are different hardware configurations and it is possible to build interactive service using analog systems. But the type of systems now being offered, that will dramatically change how viewers live, are digital - either cable or satellite.

People are talking about interactive television for three main reasons:

 T-commerce: You will be able to buy a pizza without dialing a phone.

 Interactive Goodies: You will be able to pause live TV or record shows. You will be able to click on advertisements to "find out more".

 Click stream Analysis ("telegraphics")

Viewers will be told a great deal about the first two uses for interactive TV. If you are not seeing them already, prepare for a blizzard of advertisements showing happy families ordering gifts through their TV sets, choosing camera angles while watching their favorite sporting events and sending email to friends. Expect to hear words such as "control".

But it is time that viewers and reporters started asking about that third use for iTV. The issue no one likes to talk about.

1.2 Click stream Analysis

With interactive television every click of your remote control goes into a database. This is called your TV set's "click stream", and it can be analyzed to create a sophisticated

...