© Gary Hayes 2004 The chart below represents a non-exhaustive list of the formats that one would find across a range of interactive tv platforms. These are very high level descriptions but give the reader some sense of the scope of interactive TV, particularly the differences between synchronised, dynamic and video led services. Service types [...]
© Gary Hayes 2004 The simple diagrams below hopefully help the linear producer understand in visual terms the extra elements that can exist alongside their linear program. The common formats below are of course non-exhaustive but serve as introduction to a viewer perspective on a service – tthe white arrows indicate suggested routes a viewer [...]
Below is a non-exhaustive collection of services either designed or produced by Gary Hayes while Senior Development Producer at the BBC © Gary Hayes 2004
By the end of 2006 half of the USA will be receiving digital television, nearly 55 million households. Whether PayTV digital satellite, free-view digital terrestrial or digital cable never before have broadcasters and media companies been able to have such a direct and interactive relationship with their TV viewers. Interactive TV often refers to the [...]
Some say that true interactive TV is only enabled when the viewers can communicate with both the content providers and each other – rather than simply navigate and filter a range of pre-prepared content (video, text etc). The Interactive TV broadcasters role in the iTV future will be as a facilitator of the US conversation [...]
It is perhaps obvious from all the above that there are many exciting possibilities on the horizon for the iTV audience. Screening process: The PC (whether as a central server or online conduit) will begin to play a more central role in how content is managed for the viewer. Key to this is the fact [...]
Synchronisation and Automation Engage: The most compelling part of traditional TV is the fact that most of the time it tells you a story – it is linear and carries you along with it. In the best TV – you feel part of the narrative. Connect: One of the great benefits of interactive TV applications [...]
These are most commonly PC based software packages that allow developers, designers and even producers to create services ready for transmission on a range of target interactive TV platforms – often two or more platforms from the same, single build. Most separate the presentation from the content itself and each tool has a specific type [...]
As the number of platforms grows so does our need to manage the content that we deliver to them. The role of the content production system is to collate, store and target content to a variety of platforms. An example would be taking a news story from a web page which could be quite detailed [...]
Advanced interactive TV departments produces additional content viewed on the viewers TV screen regardless of the delivery mechanism. In many parts of the world present there are four main ways to deliver this content: * Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) * Digital Satellite Television (DSat) * Digital Cable (DCable) – Broadband internet * Digital Subscriber Line [...]