Interactive TV Update

by Don Collins
Spring 2001

Tell Her What She Wins, Bob

The Game Show Network (GSN) has a TV companion page through Sony that allows users to play games online, find program information and play along with GSN 24/7.
Set top box users with an Internet browser can register and receive a user name and password that allows them to tune in and play anytime day or night.
But if you're not a game show junkie just yet, you can register for select shows.
Win TV Interactive is one such show. In order to play, you first need to download a Win TV Interactive player. Make sure you have Windows 98, Internet Explorer 5.01 and RealPlayer 8. Once you have the software you need, simply watch the show on TV and have your computer booted up and linked to the Web site to play along.
For WebTV and PC users there's Inquizition iTV. Inquizition is a game with no bells, whistles or crowds, just the contestants and the Inquizator. Set top users can use their browser to register and then tune in and play. PC users need to download software to play.
Win TV Interactive airs Monday through Friday 3pm ET/12pm PT. Inquizition airs Sunday through Friday 7pm ET/4pm PT. Check www.gameshownetwork.com for program schedules and information.

Give Them Their MTV

Interactive television can only get more fun, especially if you're between ten and twenty-five years old. Kids today have grown up with computers, so it is natural for them to combine television technology and interactive technology, at least that's what Intel and MTV believe. Recently at the Convergence 2000 tradeshow, Intel announced that it was working with MTV to help create interactive content targeted specifically at this age group.
MTV viewers will soon see an example of just how interactive Intel and MTV will get. Viewers at home will link directly to PCs in the studio for MTV's Live Link in a variety of ways. Videoconferencing, several different chat technologies, standard e-mail, multi-player gaming, instant messaging and video postcards are a few of the ways that viewers will interact with the host and guests of the segment. In a recent press release, Matt Farber, senior vice president of Programming Enterprises for MTV says, "Our work with Intel allows us to link our audience to our studio, create exciting television programming, and get a first look at state-of-the-art hardware and exciting new software." Farber also says that the users at home can "interact with and help steer the course of the show.
MTV isn't new to interactive programming or new technologies. They have sponsored outdoor concerts with features such as "remote applause" where online viewers could "clap" with keystrokes that sent colored lights across a backdrop. During DFX/Direct Effect viewers can vote on which video they want to watch next. Even their controversial talk show Loveline features questions e-mailed in from viewers and called in from "phone-cams.