Summary
The idea of making television more than a lean-back experience has been around for some time, but interactive applications have yet to take hold. Consumers want some Internet-type content and services on their TV but not a replication of the Internet and, above all, they want it to be simple.
Analysis
Interactive TV is finally taking hold, using a variety of approaches that could significantly differentiate video offerings. What is catching on today is a diverse set of applications that each service provider is developing on its own to knit together video offerings with Internet content and deliver more information, entertainment and choices to viewers.
What interactivity has yet to become, however, is profitable. Most video services are usinginformation “widgets” and services such as caller ID on the TV to differentiate their offerings andretain customers, not charge them more. That is expected to change, especially when interactiveadvertising hits the market. There are signs interactivity is catching on with consumers, who already are using widgets that display personalized news, sports, weather and other information on the TV screen.
The widget movement started in proprietary implementations but now is expanding. But even as widgets become popular, there isn’t a standard approach to doing them. There is even no clear industry definition of a “widget”, but when it comes down to how a consumer views the technology and what theywant from it, there is one common trend: The best widgets are those that leverage the power ofthe Web but do not replicate it. Consumers seem to be most focused on TV viewing, including finding current seasons of TV shows missed or those to be re-watched.
