Interactive television and why it needs to grow responsibly

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Authors
Gargan, Colm
Issue Date
2002
Degree
BA (Hons) Business Information Management
Publisher
Portobello College
Rights
Items in Esource are protected by copyright. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/copyright holder.
Abstract
Within the vast spectrum of today's Information society, Television is considered to be central to most people's domestic life and to the cultural, socio-political and consumer awareness of people throughout the world. However, it has been primarily a medium that is passively viewed when a broadcaster wishes to make programs available. The arrival of Interactive Television promotes the development of new techniques concerning interactive television and devices that enable a person to customise their television viewing and services This is fundamentally changing the way the television industry has operated over the last 50 years. Interactive television or ITV (not the troubled broadcaster) is simply defined as the meeting of television with new interactive technology. ITV is domestic television with interactive facilities, usually delivered through a back channel (see glossary). Equally importantly, interactive television allows users and viewers to interact with the content. Interactive television is also a way of empowering the previously passive viewer to use television in new ways; these ways range from the World Wide Web to Home Shopping; from Movies on Demand to Video Telephony. The unifying factor is that television is central to the entertainment, education, information, leisure and social lives of many homes all over the world.