* Pay-per-play gaming and gambling
* Movies-on-demand
* Interactive advertising and shopping
* Email, internet and voting

Resonant interactivity via your television screen will rely on the return path, built in to set tops or mobiles and the ability to communicate via the TV or any of a range of other devices will be commonplace and the challenge will be to provide a consistent journey for the viewer. There are many technical and business hurdles to overcome before we really switch on the big ‘return channel’. One is simply that the current networks available on Digital Satellite and Digital Cable are swamped on occasion with large numbers of viewers interacting with popular iTV programmes.

The TV’s role will change and viewers will use a range of display devices for different activities and services delivered to them. There will be mobile, personal screens (mobiles/PDA’s) alongside the lean-forward work screens (PC’s) and sit-back sofa displays (TV’s).

We are also seeing the dawn of Personal TV, where what you want is captured for you for anytime viewing, Sky+ and TiVo for example. In the very near future there will be a multitude of ways that a viewer can store and carry content around with them, from small video clips for phone and PDA to high quality archiving of BBC programmes, sitting alongside their own home movies on large disks centrally located in the home.

After all is said and done – most of the viewers – some of the time – will need simply to be passive – to sit back and be told a ‘story’. The real challenge is being able to make interactive TV and other services as natural and engaging an experience as our greatest linear programming.

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 that the TV’s role will change and viewers will use a range of display devices for different activities and services delivered to them. There will be mobile, personal screens alongside the lean-forward work screens and sit-back sofa displays.

Storage solutions: There will also be a multitude of ways that a viewer can store and carry content around with them, from small video clips for phone and PDA to high quality archiving of BBC programmes, sitting alongside their own home movies on large disks centrally located in the home.
Remote control: The viewer will also have different ways to control their iTV experience. Broadcasters are involved with companies developing services which range from – in the near term – extensions to PDA devices that become remote controllers, or mobile phones that become the iTV return path to – ‘real’ blue sky systems – that allow viewers to interact with their ‘screens’ simply by pointing or using verbal cues.

Tomorrow’s world: After all is said and done – most of the viewers – some of the time – will need simply to be passive – to sit back and be told a ‘story’. The TV networks are guaranteed longevity in this space. The real challenge is being able to make interactive TV and other services as natural and engaging an experience as our greatest linear programming.