Web TV Allows Viewers to Go Beyond Networks, Cable
Whether interactive TV is for you depends on what you want from your TV.
If you watch ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” think you know all the answers and want to pretend you’re in the hot seat, you may love it.
Interactive TV refers to information going out through your TV as well as in. It typically means accessing the World Wide Web at your television.
So instead of yelling out the answers to the dog, you can play “Millionaire” using ABC’s “enhanced TV” site either on a personal computer or with your television if you buy a set-top box and wireless keyboard. Your TV then becomes a game board allowing you to send back answers in real time or to compete with others similarly signed on.
This merging of the PC and television may appeal most to the person who wants to have Web access and be able to send and receive e-mail without buying a home computer. But that is not to suggest that the system is simple or for the technically impaired.
For those with a bit of computer savvy, the attraction is cloudy. Proving how smart you are during “Millionaire”--enough to win a T-shirt or baseball cap--may give you bragging rights, but do you really want to shop while watching “ER” or order a product directly from a commercial?
On the other hand, as people get accustomed to having information delivered at faster speeds, it makes sense that consumers would pay for the convenience of the Internet from the television or telephone. Buying sports tickets, following a news sidebar or finding a store location would be easy.
“The question is ‘Do people want to click on their TV screen?’ ” said Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research Inc., a group that studies new technologies. “The fact is: yes.”
Web TV will succeed, he said, if viewers can have a “lazy interactivity,” where they don’t have to work at anything to watch from the couch.
As an example, Bernoff cited a West Coast company called RespondTV that aired a Domino’s pizza spot, and 220 out of an estimated 1,000 people watching ordered a pie. That’s “a spectacular response rate,” Bernoff noted.
“There is no commerce medium like the Web. Sure, no one’s going to say, ‘Deliver that SUV to my driveway tomorrow, please.’ But they might say, ‘I’ve been looking for an SUV. Send me information.’ ”
Several companies--RespondTV, WebTV Networks, ACTV, ICTV, Open TV, Intertainer and Wink among them--are vying to be the one that people think of first should interactive TV catch on. All require laying out cash for electronics or satellite receivers.
In addition, America Online’s 22 million subscribers will soon have access to the new AOL TV, which is nearly ready for market.
Among the companies trying to expand the way people watch is Wink. With Wink enabled, a little “i” shows up on your screen when a show has interactive elements. Sometimes this means shopping; other times it means more information, related games or even batting averages. Wink has agreements with major TV stations, both broadcast and cable, and although you pay nothing to use it, it does require a set-top box.
Another company, Intertainer, offers video and more on demand. “It’s the beauty of experiencing ‘A Room With a View,’ clicking over to a Tuscan cooking show and then buying a Puccini CD,” boasts the company Web site.
Intertainer is available only to those with high-speed, broadband Internet connections. It may be awhile before this comes to your TV.
There are set-top boxes available now that will make sure you can compete on “Millionaire,” “Jeopardy!” or “Wheel of Fortune,” all of which have enhanced games for the home user.
The company with the most weight behind it appears to be WebTV Networks. It was started in 1996 as a cheaper alternative to buying a PC for Internet access, using the logic that nearly everyone owns a TV but many do not own a computer. Microsoft bought it in 1997. The business has doubled each year since 1996, WebTV says, with subscribers now numbering 1 million.
WebTV requires a set-top box the size of a VCR. Sony, Magnavox, Philips and RCA make the boxes, which are connected to the TV and a phone line. Of the four ways to subscribe to the service, two use boxes and two use an EchoStar satellite receiver with a hard drive:
WebTV Classic Internet ($99 for the set-top box) gives access to the Web with up to six e-mail accounts; WebTV Plus Interactive ($199 for the box, $249 including a wireless keyboard) adds interactive game playing, seven-day TV listings and automatic VCR record.
WebTV Personal TV for Satellite ($199 or $399 for the EchoStar DISHPlayer) has no Internet access but offers searchable TV listings, one-touch VCR recording, instant replay and digital picture and sound; WebTV Plus for Satellite offers the Web but not auto-record and instant replay features.
Web TV Firms Wagering on Future
Playing the interactive “Millionaire,” which would use picture-in-picture technology in the corner of your TV screen, requires either the WebTV Plus Interactive or the WebTV Plus for Satellite. “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” have superimposed game boards on top of the screen.
Once the equipment is bought and installed, users must pay to use the WebTV service. If you live in an area where this requires a toll call, you can use your Internet service provider and the company will discount its fee (currently about $25 a month).
All of the Web TV companies are wagering that people want more control over their sets. So with WebTV’s Personal TV for Satellite option, a listings screen allows the user to select a program, letting the satellite search for and record it. The box also will record the last 30 minutes of whatever the viewer watches, allowing for picture freezing, rewinding and fast-forwarding, and joining the show in progress, as well as instant replay.
Forrester Research predicts that there will be 24 million homes using interactive television by 2004. There are now an estimated 99.4 million television households in the United States. So regardless of which Web TV companies make a dent in this market, expect to see more shows tailored for it.
Besides “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel,” others that are interactive with Microsoft’s WebTV include:
* “Judge Judy,” where subscribers can cast votes in a case, chat with others or buy her book.
* Discovery Channel’s December special “In Search of Liberty Bell 7,” documenting the recovery of Gus Grissom’s NASA capsule, offered more information to those with enhanced TV.
* E! Entertainment Television offers polls and celebrity information.
* The Learning Channel’s “Great Quakes” October special and Home & Garden Television’s “Restore America” series have interactive components such as maps and related facts.
* “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” offers added details for those who select them.
* And NBC, which has a business relationship with WebTV-owner Microsoft, has enhanced elements on “Dateline,” “The Today Show,” “Nightly News” and MSNBC.
In addition, the Weather Channel, Notre Dame football and HBO’s boxing are all on board.
So is America ready for Web TV? Maybe, if the graphics are good and the Web speed is better.
“The time has come--definitely,” Bernoff said. “And the difference between the last [push] in the mid-’90s versus now is that the infrastructure to deliver it is in place.”
With Web TV in people’s homes, Bernoff said, the revenue potential is “serious money.”
