Interactive television looks set for substantial growth, with a new study from Kagan Research forecasting 69 million digital subscribers to be equipped with interactive platforms by 2009, representing more than half of the television households in the US.
According to Kagan, interactivity is expected to expand either through growth of the installed base of set-top boxes or via functionality integrated into digital television sets.
Ian Olgeirson, Kagan senior analyst commented: “The debate over the future of interactive TV has shifted from if there is a marketplace to what applications should be introduced first and how quickly.”
Total revenue for electronic revenues conducted via games, television or t-commerce and interactive advertising to estimated to reach $2.4 billion by the end of 2009, while interactive services will generate $780 million in operator revenue by 2009.
The report also estimates that digital households for cable and DBS services topped the 50 million mark at the end of 2004 and predicts direct broadcast by satellite (DBS) and telco video packages to reach more than 70% of U.S. television homes over the next five years.
According to a recent study by IDS, interactive TV advertising is becoming increasingly important for branding campaigns, with 69% of all respondents claiming to have used interactive advertising before, an 11% increase from the same time last year (see Interactive TV Advertising Increases In Importance).
Despite the rising adoption of interactive television and the potential revenue streams this offers to advertisers, research published last month from interactive specialists, Zip TV, claims that 30% of potential advertising interactors, dubbed ‘Unimpressed Pragmatists,’ are not pressing the red button because there are too few incentives (see Advertisers Urged To Engage Interactive Audiences).
According to the study, a further 22%, referred to as ‘Apprehensive Stargazers’, are too daunted by the prospect to interact with an ad.
The findings, ZipTV claims, highlight an opportunity for broadcasters to entice potential users of interactive content to use their red buttons and increase interactive TV’s return on investment (ROI).
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