So the boob tube doesn't do it for you anymore and you're convinced theJerry Springer Show is a sure sign of the apocalypse. To the rescue is a cavalcade of idiot-box IQ boosters that let you chat, shop, and play games using your TV from the comfort of your recliner.
Already, basic-cable subscribers in LaGrange, Georgia, can use their TVs to toggle between Oprah, e-mail, and order forms for their favorite cable-shopping channel. Demand here for interactive TV is so high that local police officers and firefighters have been trained to install cable television.
Interactive TV is intended to let you use your remote control to influence at least some of what you see on the screen. But a dearth of interactive TV options make it hard to upgrade your TV with even a smidgen of smarts.
Cable Is King
Charter Communications is one of the first companies to make interactive TV commercially available in the United States. Its subscribers can surf the Web, chat, and "Channel HyperLink" to information on advertisements or programs when an i appears superimposed on their television screens.
LaGrange is on the cutting edge of what's available. Most of us are limited to only what our local cable or satellite services choose to offer. Interactive features start with electronic program guides offered by cable and satellite providers that let you browse programs and order movies on demand. Those electronic program guides can act as Yahoo-like television portals, offering links to shopping and "sticky" services.
Right now, 8 million cable boxes in U.S. homes could be upgraded with interactive features. And many will get the upgrade over the next year as cable companies finish costly upgrades to their cable plants, readying them to deliver interactive services.
The business of interactive TV within the cable world is showing signs of mimicking the computer world. Microsoft Corp. is vying with Liberate Technologies to become the operating system of choice among cable companies. AT&T Corp. Broadband says it will begin testing its interactive-television software on set-top boxes later this year and is committed to deploying 10 million boxes next year.
Bypassing Cable
Viewers who want to do an end-run around their cable company have a growing number of stand-alone systems from which to choose today.
Both WebTV and AOLTV offer Web surfing and messaging, and create synchronized content for certain programs. For now, America Online Inc.'s AOLTV is only available in some U.S. cities. Both WebTV and AOLTV connect to the Net via dial-up modems.
Microsoft offers another cable alternative through WebTV. It has partnered with EchoStar, a satellite TV service, and offers a DishPlayer Satellite Receiver. The DishPlayer includes a digital video recorder that lets you store TV programming to massive hard drive. AOLTV has a similar deal with satellite service provider DirecTV. AOL is also working on a set-top box that will combine AOLTV and the programming capabilities of TiVo, another digital video-recording device.
Video-recording devices such as TiVo and Replay TV. also let you add interactivity to your TV. Both let you record hours of programming, search out and record specific types of programs, and pause live TV shows. Both include electronic program guides that act as television start pages or portals to programming.
Along with promotions that earn them money, ReplayTV at least, is looking to add new services to its core product. It recently made a deal with Universal Pictures to promote the studio's new movie releases through Replay TV's service.
Baling Wire and Duct Tape TV
The do-it-yourself road to interactive TV is cheap, as long as you have a PC or laptop in the same room as your television. With a Net-connected PC in place, you can take advantage of a number of Web sites that synchronize content during a program.
You can play along with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire online with Regis Philbin. During the program you can compete against other Web contestants to answer Philbin's questions first. That type of interactive TV--which coordinates programming with Web content--is proliferating, with a number of networks and shows delivering synchronized, real-time Web-based activities at the same-time a TV show airs.
Future Is Still Just Around the Bend
For decades, interactive TV has been just around the corner. Predictably, experts are still announcing the dawn of interactive TV.
Driving its advancement, these experts say, are advances in technology that have lowered the costs of the set-top hardware and back-end computers needed to manage interactive networks. Furthermore, old-guard cable companies need to stay competitive with younger, nimbler cable and satellite TV rivals by offering interactive features.
At stake are untold fortunes in advertising, new subscription fees, and revenue from selling products through your television--predictably called "T-commerce."
But whether the race to roll out interactive TV services leads to a smarter couch potato is unclear.