Dyke Forecasts Leap For Interactive TV With BT Technology
Greg Dyke has forecast a leap in capability for interactive TV with the launch of new broadband technology from BT, allowing viewers to choose from personalised programmes at the touch of a button.
Writing in the Independent, Dyke applauded the recent uptake of interactive TV, and expressed amazement at the rate which British viewers are adopting the latest red-button interactive services.
He said: “Every so often on television something suddenly goes from being a minority activity to being mainstream. The latest television service suddenly to go mainstream is the interactive red button on digital television.”
Citing the BBC’s coverage of this year’s Olympic Games as a turning point in the viewing habits of Britain’s sports fans, Dyke said: “Figures recently published show the big breakthrough for interactivity came with this summer’s Olympics. Amazingly, nearly 10 million people chose to watch a different event to the one chosen for the main BBC channel.”
However, the former director general predicted that merely allowing viewers to choose between four video feeds would not remain cutting edge for long, and that technology in development by BT held the key to interactivity in the future.
He said: “True television interactivity – where the individual viewer will be able to pull down a programme just for him or her – will only come with the broadband television that BT is about to pioneer.”
BT was understood to be in talks with several broadcasters interested in broadband TV earlier this year. The telecoms giant is believed to be one of many broadband providers preparing to roll out television content to customers’ homes through their telephone lines (see BT In Talks With Broadcasters Over Broadband TV).
Several internet giants are lining up to provide TV content to customers, including Wanadoo, which will deliver a similar service to BT through its new Livebox wireless broadband product (see Wanadoo To Offer Customers TV Content On Demand). However, the only company to currently offer such a service is HomeChoice, giving customers a mix of internet access, streamed TV and video on-demand content through a single broadband connection.
HomeChoice recently signed a deal with ICTV, owners of a powerful interactive delivery system known as HeadendWare, to provide interactive content to its customers, potentially opening the kinds of next generation services hinted at by Dyke (see HomeChoice Signs Interactive Content Deal).
BT: 0207 469 2337 www.btplc.com
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