The Future Of Interactive Television

 

Introduction

 

The days of gathering before the television set to watch TGI Friday are fading into a distant memory. What was once primarily controlled by the big broadcasting names, dictating what you were watching, when, and where, is now becoming an experience of personal preference. People are not only selecting what they want to watch and when, but they are also deciding whether to watch their favorite shows on their televisions, laptops, Ipods, and cell phones. There is a shift of content, audience participation, and space, but will broadcasting companies be able to keep up with these new innovations?

 

Traditional Television

Internet is not slowly killing television

 

Studies have shown that the number of viewers watching full television episodes and shows on the Internet have doubled over the past year. About 16% of American households with Internet access watch television broadcasts online. Four out of five viewers have claimed that their viewing habits have not changed by watching their programs online, but there are a small number of those that have claimed that their traditional TV viewing has decreased (The Conference Board). According to the media execs of the Web 2.0 Summit, the rise of the Internet is not killing television, “TV is merely changing with the times.” (Needle) Essentially, it doesn’t matter what screen the content appears on, just as long as people have easy access to it and can interact.

Although some might prefer to watch shows on a traditional television, Internet television gives viewers the opportunity to watch when they want to and when it is convenient for them. Internet television has the opportunity to reach a far greater audience and things like MySpace TV prove that, producers and networks have really begun to take notice.

 

Television moguls crossing the gap

Television broadcast over Internet protocol, is called IPTV. Although we feel the full aspects of IPTV have not been realized there are many ways in which IPTV is already in existence. Producers and networks have begun embracing forms of IPTV and it will be only a matter of time before all possible aspects of IPTV will be realized.

The thought by most companies is that they must embrace this change or they will be left behind. David Lebow, former general manager at AOL Media Networks, now runs Internet Broadcasting (IB). Essentially IB runs websites for many of the nation’s premier television stations.

The thought behind IB is that these television stations are trying to stay relevant to its viewers and to be more than just TV. Lebow sees the change that is taking place between the web and television. He suggests that television stations should not just be extending their brands online because they will be missing out on a lot of revenue and missing the point. Lebow feels, “The opportunity is to create a local forum for discussion, sharing, polling, user-generated content- the things you see light a fire on the Web.” (Malone 2007)

Major television networks have also begun to embrace this growing trend, realizing that if they do not embrace this trend they will be left behind.  CBS Television Distribution has teamed up with Madison Road Entertainment and Maverick Television to promote their online talent contest, Big Shot.

The formula that CBS has created for their first online show is based around users uploading their video to compete in seven daily talent categories. These videos are then broadcast in a five-minute online show. The winners are decided through daily online polls and the winners go to Hollywood to audition.

CBS has also paired Entertainment Tonight with the show to promote it. They will have a weekly segment that shows how celebrities got their big break. This segment will help to encourage viewers to participate in the show. CBS says that this is an experiment for them and attempt for them to get viewers from the web to TV and then back again. This is an attempt from CBS to reach younger viewers.  (Grossman 2007)

CNN has also joined the Interactive wave by using citizen journalism posted online to their site to create a television show.  It has been very popular and has a been helpful in keeping their users involved but it has also been helpful to CNN as a whole by helping them with their breaking news stories (Palser 2006).

On the cutting edge of these changing times is Joost.com., a website the provides free television over a broadband connection. Already, companies like CBS, Nike, Intel, and, just recently, the MLB have joined forces with Joost to provide content and ads for their service. Joost is an example of the industry crossing the gap of Internet television and audience participation. Not only does the site provide content, but it also provides plug-ins and applications for people to chat and comment about what they are watching.

 

Audience Participation

The active viewer

 

It isn’t that the companies “fear ubiquitous Wi-Fi access” from companies like Google (Needle) but they are finding it necessary to combine efforts with such powerful companies to keep themselves in the business. The greatest adversary that the broadcasting companies face is not the attention that the Internet receives, but the changing attitudes of the next generation of television viewers.

TV viewer and Internet users are becoming more of the “do-it-yourself-ers” than the passive consumers. The Internet has provided tools for people to take control of various aspects of their lives – social networking, news, entertainment – and this interactivity has started to move outside of industry control (Deery, 162). Yet the industry see this and is slowly making attempts to keep the interests of its viewers by spending mass amounts of money to cross the gap of television and the Internet. They invite viewers to be “players, communicators, and voters” (Deery, 162). They also establish websites where the viewer can watch episodes of their favorite shows, but it is the viewer-generated sites that are in the majority and receive regular attention.

 

 

 

Internet as a muse

 

The Internet would not be the Internet if there were not open forums and social networks full of rumor speculation and criticism, but the shift is also moving towards viewer created content. With websites like the Current, Rocketboom, and Quarterlife, independent creators are picking up video cameras and creating content that they know people want to watch. Rocketboom, a three minute daily videoblog, focuses on art, technology, and weblog drama, topics that the current Internet generation is interested in. They spend no money on promotion and rely on word of mouth, yet they are one of the most popular videoblogs.

The Current lights the creative fires of its viewers to report on the current pop culture. All the videos are independently done by people with an idea and are broadcasted on the Internet and television. They not only provide a channel through Comcast and satellite to show the videos, but they also provide ways to be sponsored by other companies and be paid for content that the company uses.

The creators of Quarterlife were once part of the Hollywood industry, but frustrated with production restraints, decided to create a site that is an open forum for people to network, much like Myspace. Herskovitz, creator of the show revealed. “Ed and I have a great interest in being independent, and for several years, we’ve realized the Internet offers that possibility (BBC News).” Quarterlife is primarily geared to the twenty-somethings and focuses a great deal on arts and pop culture. Not only is it a meeting ground, but they have also created a show with new episodes being posted twice a week. Mark Burnett the creator of the show Survivor and has also been shopping around a show for MySpace. He thinks, “People gravitate to MySpace, where they are really heard. By combining MySpace with the TV show, you can take it far past just a vote…I believe Americans are ready to hear a voice that reflects who they are and what they believe (Schneider 2007).”

This is the competition that corporate broadcasters are facing – independently run websites that provide news and entertainment. The technology is out there and accessible to the active user. Camcorders can be obtained as cheaply as a hundred dollars and free editing software can be found on sites like Jumpcut (Lawton). The quality can be poor as long as the content is interesting – Youtube is a prime example of this standard. Yes, people still want high quality video, which is being provided through high bandwidth, but it’s the content and interactivity that attracts people’s attention. “The market needs companies that provide high-quality video and content that’s curated and packaged in the right way where frequently the content owner is the editor,” says Mike Volpi, CEO of Internet TV play Joost (Needle).

 

The Search for Standards

 

Mass Media as we have discussed is in a transitional period, nowhere is this more evident than on television. Recent findings suggest that the future of television lies with Interactive Television, which is sometimes called ITV. Celia Quico defines ITV as “The convergence between television and interactive technologies”. Interactive television is itself a very broad topic and usually ranges from low interactivity, which can be things such as changing channels on the remote to high interactivity, which is when the viewer actual had control over the content they are viewing. At this point in time we are transitioning from a moderate level of interactivity to a high level. Many people are under the assumption that the Internet is the downfall of television. Our research shows that this is not completely true. Rather than a takeover by the web, there seems to be a merging of both mediums.

One of the most talked about technologies is IPTV. This is television that will be delivered over your existing broadband connection. One feature that will be enhanced by IPTV is the triple play option that many providers and customers have been experiencing with. Triple play is simply bundling your television, phone, and Internet into one package. With IPTV, not only will your bill be consolidated, but all the technologies will work off the same network as well. There are some problems with the technology that have to deal with connection speed and working on a wireless network. IPTV is not a new concept, and people are desperately trying to work out the kinks in order to make it something that is present in every household.

When we first started researching this topic, we had set out to describe the technology that is evolving. After some research, we found that most of the studies out there have to do more with the concept of social learning rather than technological advances. Social learning is described as, an approach that focuses the attention away from technology as the source of social action and instead highlights the way that new and old technology is incorporated by people in pursuit of their own aims often accompanied by struggles over definition uses and control (Williams and Edge 1996). Like AIM and You Tube, the new phenomenon is finding the next killer application. The web is so wide open, and if television is going to merge with it, the long tail is going to have to be included. The problem doesn’t lie in the technology, but in the way we use this technology. Many of the researchers have urged for standardization and for developers to be open-minded and more importantly open sourced about the creation of new technology. Social learning research is being conducted in order to find what could possibly be this next killer application.

Another popular form of research that is being conducted is called user-centered research. This is where the subjects study themselves and then based on their findings they form what there preferences for future applications would be.  Most of the subjects had long tail interests from downloadable do-it-yourself videos to a collaborative social networking game based on the show Futurama. Most of the findings also included that people envision a singular set top box that will allow access to the Web-TV combination.

Some of these ideas are in use by the ITV Cabo network, which runs in Portugal. The ITV network was launched in 2001 and included a fully interactive television service that included DVR and a Set Top Box. The most popular features were the ability to converse with others during a soccer match and multi user games. The research done regarding the ITV Cabo network showed us that Virtual Communities are not just for the computer anymore.  One aspect that was very popular in Portugal was the Noites Interactivas, which are talk shows in which the viewers can interact and even have control over the outcome, which the author points out is something that will keep the audiences interest. The other important finding was the standardization process that worked for national network; if it can work in Portugal, why not the United States?

The research surrounding the future of Interactive Television is one that will need to continue to develop. Many researchers believe that the next killer application will be one that perfects the television and social networking worlds. There is also a call to standardize the interactive television experience, which is predicted to be a process that will be done by the users themselves.

 

Conclusion

 

The point of all of this is that the attitudes and perceptions of the younger generation are very different from the TV audiences of no more then a decade ago. No longer is television just a place for passive viewers, it is a place where active viewers can learn, create, and become more involved. Technology is improving and people’s attention spans and commitment to entertainment are morphing to the fast paced lifestyles and quick delivery of information.

 Television producers and companies have begun to realize how important it is to embrace this trend and many have begun. The opportunity to reach a greater number of viewers is out there and companies are just figuring out how this will all work. In the future the number that embrace this trend will be much greater. Interactive television is still growing and the better the technology the more interactive the user can be with the things they watch and do. This leaves endless possibilities for the future of Interactive Television. Television will never die it will just be viewed in different forms. Realizing that this is not your Grandparents TV is the key and keeping an open mind to the possibilities is vital to the full realization of interactive television. The television/internet hybrid needs to relinquish control to its users and viewers and cater to their independent and creative attitudes.

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

 

BBC News (2007). Cancelled TV Show Goes to MySpace. BBC News Entertainment.

 

Deery, June (2003) TV.com: Participatory viewing on the Web. Journal of Popular Culture, 37(2), 161.

 

Grossman, Ben (2007). “Big Shot” Has Big Local Plans. Broadcasting & Cable.

 

Lawton, Christopher (2007). Video for Everyman. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 24, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119076444203939332.html

 

Malone, Michael (2007). Lebow Ponders Web 3.0 for IB. Broadcasting & Cable.

 

Needle, David (2007). Video Meets the Web Meets TV. Retrieved October 24, 2007, from http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3706386

 

Palser, Barb (2006). Mining the Web. American Journalism Review.

 

Schneider, Michael (2007). Burnett, MySpace get political: ‘Independent’ timed to 2008 elections. Variety

 

The Conference Board/TNS (2007). Consumer Internet Barometer. Retrieved December 1, 2007 from http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerBarometer.cfm