MY FAVOURITE FILM

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Future X Box developments

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2331985/Xbox-One-track-EVERYTHING-watch-TV--reward-watching-ads.html

An article which goes through the features of the X Box One.  Interesting to read about how the machine will be able to potentially monitor the way audiences react to particular adverts (using their facial movements and heart rate) and will also reward users for watching adverts.  Perhaps a way of drawing advertisers in by guaranteeing them an audience?

Facebook and the misogynistic pages urging people to attack women

Facebook in trouble this week for allowing people to set up groups about raping women.  Lots of companies that advertise on Facebook are withdrawing their adverts after finding out that the ads for their products could appear down the sides of these pages.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2332028/FBRape-campaign-Companies-pull-adverts-Facebook-refuses-remove-anti-women-content.html

Fashion brand criticized for racist photo shoot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325295/Designer-racist-photo-shoot-called-Be-My-Slave-white-women-dressed-high-end-clothes-waited-young-black-boy.html

A fashion brand has been criticized for their apparently racist depictions of black / asian child slavery in their recent campaign photos released online.

Disney's Brave - In trouble for making her more "princessy"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2325181/Disney-bows-public-pressure-pulls-Meridas-blatantly-sexist-princess-make-website.html

Disney in trouble this week for featuring the star of the Brave film looking decidedly more princessy / glamorous / thin etc on their website.  Lots of people complained that this was bad for children, a poor message, etc.. Disney have finally removed the image and apologised.  An example of a market liberal perspective at work?  And audience regulation?

Controversial ad campaign for dating website

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2325042/Incredibly-offensive-billboard-Cougar-Life-dating-website-shows-breastfeeding-woman-question-Jealous.html

US dating website Cougar Life has been criticized for using a picture of a breastfeeding mother and sexualising the act by using the word "jealous?" as a slogan.

Google's new music streaming service

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2325052/Google-reveals-streaming-music-service-games-battle-Apple.html

Will Google be able to compete with Apple's I Tunes and with sites like Spotify using their new site?  Check it out.  This article explains what their site will / won't do.

American Apparel - Objectifying women?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2325474/American-Apparel-branded-sexist-degrading-ads-unisex-shirt-featuring-half-naked-women-g-strings-fully-clothed-men.html

Fashion brand under fire for advertising the same product to both men and women but in all the ads aimed at women, objectifying them in a sexual way.  Why aren't both ads representing people in this way?

Advertising Campaign - teen pregnancy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325100/New-billboard-campaign-launched-Chicago-features-images-pregnant-boys-remind-baby-isnt-just-girls-responsibility.html


New shock advertising campaign designed to raise awareness of teen pregnancy

Iron Man 3 - being censored / re-edited for the Chinese audience

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324077/Iron-Man-3-execs-changed-film-Chinese-audience-adding-minutes-film-Chinese-actors-toning-ethnicity-lead-villain.html

An interesting article about the changes made to Iron Man 3 so it can be legally shown in cinemas in China.  These include cutting out some scenes, filming an extra 4 minutes of footage featuring chinese celebrities and putting in product placement for Chinese products.  In China, the government control the film censorship board and they get to decide what does and doesn't end up at the cinema.  As the previous films in the franchise made so much money in China, the produces were happy to re-edit the film and add extra things in to ensure the Chinese government were happy with it to ensure it's release in Chinese cinemas was granted.

Candy Crush - the world's most popular mobile phone app?

An article discussing the success of Candy Crush.  Interesting to think what impact this might have on the video game industry?  Do people like this game because they can play it on all different platforms - phone / tablet / facebook and still save their progress?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2324228/Candy-Crush-Saga-overtakes-Angry-Birds-WORLDS-popular-game.html

Google Glass - risks of hacking and harm to eyesight?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320168/Could-Google-Glass-damage-eyesight-Fresh-fears-health-impact-children-BANNED-wearing-them.html

An article which discusses the new Google Glass asking whether they might be harmful for children.  Also some discussion about the risks of them being hacked.

You Tube to start charging this month

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320152/YouTube-set-charge-watching-videos-A-monthly-subscription-launch-early-week.html

An article which discusses the plans for You Tube to start charging for viewing some channels.

Ad campaign laughs at women's weight struggles

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2320442/Try-romantic-body-shapers-New-ad-pokes-fun-torturous-extremes-women-try-rid-cellulite.html

An advert that pokes fun at the lengths women will go to in order to look thinner and more toned.

Child Abuse Ad Campaign that is ONLY viewable by children

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2320324/The-anti-child-abuse-poster-seen-children.html

A new ad campaign which uses new technology so that ONLY children (or people the height of children) to view the advert.

Does Facebook cause psychotic delusions?

An article about a recent report which suggests Facebook causes mental health problems such as delusions and depression

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2318771/Facebook-causes-psychotic-episodes-delusions-claims-study.html

Teenager stabs friend after playing Call Of Duty

An article about a boy who plays a lot of video games, attacking his friend.  He is in court on trial at the moment and this story has re-ignited the row about video games causing violent behaviour.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2318846/13-year-old-Xbox-player-slashed-friends-throat-knife-row-met-online-playing-ultra-violent-game-Gears-War-3.html

Has You Tube beaten TV?

An article about the impact of You Tube on television, and how successful You Tube is..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2318273/YouTube-defeats-television-battle-viewers.html

Britain's Got Talent in trouble for exploiting children again

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2316452/Britains-Got-Talent-2013-Viewers-shocked-Asanda-Jeziles-sexualised-performance-Rihannas-Diamonds.html

An article discussing whether Britain's Got Talent was wrong to allow an 11 year old to perform a sexualised song on Saturday night.  Were they taking advantage of her for entertainment purposes?  Should there be rules in place to regulate how children appear on television?  Are Reality TV shows exploiting contestants?

Apple & ITunes - changing the music industry

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2316473/A-decade-iTunes-How-Apple-revolutionised-way-buy-music.html

An article discussing the way I-Tunes has changed the face of the music industry!

Is Facebook losing its popularity?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316447/Facebook-loses-2m-UK-visitors-MONTH.html

An article which discusses the evidence this week that Facebook might be losing 2 million uk visitors a month..

Britain's Got Talent - contestants fake?

Controversy hits this week as Britain's Got Talent is accused of creating fake / different back stories for contestants to make them more popular..

For example

A pair of brothers are accused of making themselves out to be "just sandwich shop workers" to increase their likability and appeal to a working class audience.  In reality they only work in their family's shop when they are not touring the world singing on a cruise ship having already released an album that has been mentioned on TV (see article below)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2313739/Panini-Pavarottis-How-humble-singing-sandwich-makers-Britains-Got-Talent-actually-pair-slick-cruise-ship-crooners.html


Another contestant was seen shaking with nerves and saying she suffers from stage fright which makes her more likeable as the audience feels sorry for her.  She has been accused of faking this because she was also seen appearing on the BBC show The Voice showing no signs of these nerves, as well as appearing confident and sexy on her You Tube channel (see article below)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2311837/Britains-Got-Talent-contestant-Alice-Fredenham-accused-faking-stage-fright-shes-seen-looking-confident-bubbly-The-Voice.html

Might be good examples of how "reality tv" cannot be relied upon to be "real" anymore.  How tv institutions are creating these Propp style characters (the hero, the underdog, the victim etc) to improve ratings because their real life personalities are not enough to raise ratings.

The dangers of citizen journalism

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2311248/Sala-Barhoum-track-star-teenager-denies-involvement-Boston-Marathon-bombing-picture-widely-circulated.html

An article showing what the dangers can be when real people take news reporting into their own hands.  This man was incorrectly identified as a possible suspect of the Boston Bombings by users on social media websites.

Advert trivialises drug addiction?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301770/TV-advert-E45-cream-parodies-interview-drug-abuse-addict-accused-trivialising-abuse.html

New advert for E45 moisturiser has been criticised and complained about for making a joke out of drug addiction.  What do you think?

Facebook to start charging for messaging celebs?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305396/How-people-going-like-Facebook-starts-charging-UK-users-10-send-messages-celebrities.html

Why do you think Facebook are trialling this idea?  What advantages and disadvantages does it have for them?

New rules about press regulation

Two articles about the possible new rules regarding the regulation of the press.  Lots of debate about whether they will be able to regulate internet websites as well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295067/Oh-shambles-Party-leaders-hail-deal-Press-fears-grow-threat-free-speech.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295658/Press-regulation-Internet-targeted-MPs-time-chilling-threat-free-speech.html

US Government censors US war films

A very interesting article about how the US government (from The Pentagon) uses its power and resources to control the film industry and how they portray the US and their enemies in films.

For example, if a director wants to make a film that shows the US army in a positive light, they are often given the "green light" by The Pentagon and are offered free equipment eg fighter jets for scenes etc..

If a director wants to make a film which criticizes the US army, they are often censored by The Pentagon, or refused help and support.

Some people argue that as video games don't need actual helicopters, or actual jet fighters to make their war based games, then they might be said to be a more accurate portrayal of the US Army

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/criticalintel/10180-The-Pentagon-Goes-Hollywood

Film Censorship by a government

A story about how Ben Affleck's new flm Argo (oscar winning film) has been banned in Iran because of the way it portrays the Iranian government and their people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292054/Iran-sue-Hollywood-unrealistic-portrayal-secretive-state-Ben-Affleck-movie.html

Music - downloading and sharing online

The future’s bright the future’s virtual – music and the internet

Instant, no risk, legal music on your desktop? Gavin Luhrs suggests that together music and the Internet have a bright future.

Case study
For OCR’s New Media Technologies 2732 unit you need to prepare a case study. Ideally you will cover more than one technology, and get a balance of material relating to both audiences and institutions. The important thing to bear in mind, which may well reassure you, is that you won’t need to have detailed knowledge of the technology itself.

At first, ‘The Internet’ may seem like an excellent topic for your research – but you’ll quickly realise that there’s too much of it. If asked to research the geography of a particular place you wouldn’t choose ‘The World’ – which is practically what would be involved in doing ‘The Internet’. This article attempts to offer some starting points for your research into ‘Music and the Internet’. I stress the starting point: you’ll soon see that while music provides a narrower focus, there’s still a lot to consider.

File ‘sharing’
A few years ago, a software program called Napster was created and then closed down for allowing the illegal sharing of copyrighted material, mostly music files. An exploration of theNapster case has filled whole books, so further research on your part is needed. It may now be out of date in the rapidly shifting world of New Media Technologies, but it still serves as a useful illustration of why the future of music distribution is digital. Conservative estimates put the number of Napster users at 40 million only 18 months after it was created and having used no conventional advertising. Okay, Napster was allowing access to music for free, much of it months before it was available in the shops; but such a high figure, gained before significant broadband rollout, does indicate a keen appetite for a new way of accessing music. And the fact that media giant BMG effectively bought Napster for a reported $55 million (whilst involved with the prosecution of the service for copyright infringement!) suggests that even the ‘suits’ see the potential.

Napster may have been stopped but other services persist: Audio Galaxy, Morpheus, Grokster and KaZaA are just four examples. A recent survey by the British Phonographic Industry Ltd (BPI) suggests that around five million people in the UK download over one billion tracks a year using peer-to-peer file sharing programs, creating 126 million CDs using computer CD writers. Despite such huge figures, the exchanging of music files allowed by these programs is actually illegal. Some suggest that the lack of legitimate music online has forced people to use alternative sources.

Buying music online
However, this year there have been signs that the music industry is beginning to catch up with the rest of the world. In April EMI was the first of the big five record companies to make the majority of its music available online (90% or around 140,000 tracks). As the number of broadband connections rises, we may see a new way of purchasing music become the accepted standard. Legitimate downloads are now tracked to create a weekly chart, a sign of growing acceptance. It is predicted that almost 20% of all music sales will be in digital format within 10 years. At the moment there are two ways of buying and downloading music from the Internet:subscription and pay-as-you-go.

Subscription vs. Pay-As-You-Go
Subscription based services offering many of the features of Napster-type programmes – with the difference that they are completely legal, even if they are not free – are now widely available from the likes of MSN, Freeserve, HMV, BT and many others. The most common pricing structure is 500 credits for a £4.99 monthly fee. With these credits users have a choice: you can stream tracks at a cost of one credit each, download tracks for 10 credits each, or burn to CD for 100 credits. As you can see, the pricing encourages users not to create physical copies of the music, but instead access them on demand. The tracks downloaded using subscription services are encrypted so they can’t be played by others or by non-subscribers. This process is referred to as Digital Rights Management (or DRM).

This last point is a vital shift: if these services prove popular, in the future you won’t buy music, but instead will rent it. On Demand Distribution (OD2), the company providing the infrastructure and management of many of these services, acknowledges that for older consumers this is an unfamiliar concept. Younger users aren’t put off, according to OD2; as the market matures, so acceptance of ‘renting’ will grow. The issue for many music lovers, however, is the commitment to a perpetual subscription, as the downloaded tracks become useless once your subscription to a service ends (it doesn’t have to be the same service, but you do need to subscribe to one of them). On a per track basis, these services are certainly cheaper, but their success depends on a shift in consumer thinking.

Some providers, most notably Apple, offer songs for download on a pay-as-you-go basis (PAYG). Launched at the end of April, and only available to US Mac users, the Apple iTunesshop sold over one million tracks in its first week of operation. By the end of 2003 a Windows version is expected. Whilst still employing DRM technology, Apple’s approach is more relaxed, and it appears more popular. PAYG services have the advantage that they don’t require such a huge shift in consumer behaviour; the tracks become the permanent (digital) property of the consumer, and aren’t dependent on long term commitment.

Whilst it is still unclear which method will prevail, what is certain is that buying and downloading music from the Internet is here to stay. It will change the way audiences think about buying music, and it will lead to changes in the home: media servers delivering content to wirelessly networked stereos doesn’t sound as far-fetched as it did just a few years ago.

Discovering music online
Part of the reason buying music online is potentially so popular is the interconnected nature of the Internet. It is possible – indeed increasingly common – for someone to see a new band mentioned (perhaps on the message board on the site of another band), visit the official site, read reviews from the music press (www.nme.com or www.q4music.com for example) and by fans (at places like www.amazon.co.uk), download previews and then buy a CD or download tracks from an online retailer. All of this is legal, and could happen in a very short space of time without leaving home. With the Internet no music purchase has to be a risk, and can be virtually instant.

For institutions, this type of integration is invaluable. Not only can official websites encourage fans to buy music, but they can also direct audiences to outlets of the music at the click of a mouse. By using legal online distribution services record companies can significantly reduce costs – and help to reduce the number of illegal downloads.

For audiences, the Internet has all but replaced the ‘fanzine’ (underground music ‘magazines’ usually devoted to particular bands and sold at gigs). Rather than selling poorly photocopied material, now anyone can produce a slick looking ‘fanzine’, sharing with the world their thoughts on a band or genre of music. The creators of such sites are also contributing to a shift in the behaviour of music-buying audiences. In many ways, such sites are more valuable than official sites in that they are often lovingly created with no thought of payment, just the desire to encourage more people to buy the music. And that’s the point to remember: the technology and the competing business models will always be secondary to the music itself. MM

Glossary
Broadband – High speed Internet access.
Encryption – The ‘locking’ of computer data so that only users with an authorised ‘key’ can access it.
Peer-to-peer file-sharing – A peer-to-peer network directly connects users to each other, allowing the sharing of data, most commonly music and video files. As peer-to-peer networks don’t have to use a central server, newer file sharing programs cannot be stopped as easily as Napster, which did rely on a central server.
Server – A computer that delivers data to connected devices, for example a web page to another computer.
Stream – Accessing music and video ‘on demand’, viewing it as it downloads rather than after the whole file is on your computer. When streaming a file no copy remains on your computer once it has finished playing.

Gavin Luhrs

This article first appeared in MediaMagazine 5, September 2003

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TV On Demand - a guide

Just press the red button

a student’s guide to interactive television

What is interactive television, and how is it changing the way we watch? And how are institutions adapting to these changes? Elizabeth Vickers investigates.

Television has changed. Once we were assumed to be passively entertained by that magic box in the corner of the living room, fed a steady diet of sitcoms and soaps and expected to be grateful for it. However, slowly but surely those little red dots have started creeping on to our screens, almost begging to be pressed...

How technology has made it possible
The basic reason why interactive television (iTV) has become more prevalent in recent years is simple: it’s only possible with digital television. Digital television can be broadcast by cable, satellite or received, like analogue, through a normal rooftop aerial. The main difference to analogue is that the signals are compressed, which means much more information can be transmitted in the same amount of bandwidth. The immediate consequence of this has been the remarkable explosion of channels – Freeview has meant that even households which had previously been reluctant to pay for television can now enjoy a range of free-to-air channels undreamt of a few years ago. Freeview, cable and digital satellite viewers can all access interactive television content, meaning it is now available to well over half of all households. The number should grow, as there are plans to ‘switch off’ analogue transmitters by 2010 at the latest.
Some digital television boxes are connected to a telephone line, enabling a two-way transfer of information, similar to an internet connection. This has meant that Internet services such as banking and email have become available even to people without computers in their homes.

What is currently available?
In the last few years, interactive television has become more and more widespread, with many channels offering some sort of interactive content. At present, this content ranges from the very basic to the highly sophisticated, and it is constantly evolving.

The simplest interactive television is simply an update of the outdated analogue text services such as Teletext and Oracle. Channel 4’s text service is generally of this type, with a familiar roster of lottery numbers, weather and cheap holidays. However, once a year Channel 4 makes better use of its interactive capabilities when it enters its annual Big Brother frenzy. What exactly they provide has varied from year to year but during various series viewers could choose camera angles, read about recent events in the house, and vote online through their set-top box. On E4, their entertainment-focused channel, Big Brother coverage is available all day, every day by pressing the red button, an indispensable service for those viewers who are worried they might miss an argument about which of the housemates should do the washing-up!

ITV is another broadcaster which has recognised the opportunities provided by reality television. Although latecomers to the interactive arena, their red button content offers viewers the chance to vote on popular shows such as I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! and The X-Factor. In addition, viewers can play games linked to the shows, read behind-the-scenes gossip and enter competitions. Interactive television gives broadcasters the chance to keep viewers interested 24 hours a day – a key weapon in the fight to keep hold of the fickle youth audience. Broadcasters are also linking more content with their websites and looking to mobile phone networks to help them widen their audiences. Channel 4 are offering mobile phone-only mini-episodes of Hollyoaks for download for 50p each. This could be a money-maker and a way of keeping one of their brands at the forefront of people’s minds.

Commercially, iTV has proven to be a revenue-generator for some institutions. Pay-per-play games are part of nearly all interactive television services apart from BBCi, and the UK’s rather relaxed gambling laws have meant gaming companies have been quick to exploit the possibilities of interactive television. A number of digital channels now offer ‘real money’ gambling, with virtual slot machines, poker games and horse racing just some of the games available. In these cases the channels themselves act as little more than portals to the more profitable interactive content, with the programmes themselves being low-quality time fillers.

Advertisers, too, have recognised the potential, with the red dot appearing in the corner of more and more advertising slots. These offer the chance to enter competitions, read more about the product, get a free sample or test drive, or even watch an extended version of the advert itself. Volvo used a recent advertising campaign as a trailer for a documentary about its cars, and we can expect to see more of this sort of thing as the technology develops. In addition, the interactive portals themselves often carry banner ads or embedded advertisements in much the same way as web pages do – so if you thought you could switch to the interactive content to avoid advert breaks, forget it – they’re way ahead of you. The blurring of the lines between entertainment and advertisement has been predicted for a long time, and this is one way that it could happen.

Pushing the boundaries – 2 case studies
In the UK the main institutions pioneering the use of interactive television are the BBC and Sky. Their different remits mean they have made very different use of the technology, demonstrating the true versatility of iTV.

1. The BBC
As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a responsibility to provide services to the widest audience possible, including those minorities which may find they are not adequately catered for by commercial television. Their iTV system is known as BBCi, and has largely replaced the Ceefax system on analogue television.

The BBC’s system of page numbering on its interactive content means users can easily find the page they want by inputting a number using their remote control. This has superseded their previous system, which involved an often lengthy and frustrating search through a series of menus. The slow response of the BBCi pages to the remote control meant casual browsers were discouraged from investigating further and, in some cases, stopped using it altogether. However, it has now been subject to a series of improvements and users have reported that they are much happier with the service.

To date, BBCi encompasses a wide range of content, from ‘added-value’ content that provides extra information about BBC programmes, to stand-alone content. The added-value pages cover the same things as Ceefax, for example recipes from cookery shows or the names and addresses of organisations mentioned in factual programming. It moves beyond the limited capabilities of Ceefax, though, to include things such as games for children based on their favourite Tweenies and Balamory characters.

For sporting events such as the Olympic Games and Wimbledon, BBCi has had great success with running multiple games or events concurrently on BBCi. In 2005, the number of people watching Wimbledon via BBCi went up by 30% – demonstrating that viewers respond positively to true choice.

The BBC have also been exploring ways to add interactive content to shows that have traditionally inspired some level of interactivity from home audiences – even if that used to take the form of shouting at the screen! Their Test the Nation quizzes offer the audience the chance to take part, by answering the questions shown on screen and comparing theirscores against those of the studio audience. This tactic is not only an enjoyable experience, it also encourages viewer loyalty, as you need to watch the whole programme in order to get the most out of it.

In keeping with its public service remit, BBCi has also begun to offer viewers the chance to have their own say, putting viewer-generated content on BBCi. Previously this has only been possible through public access television, rare in the UK, and could be a real chance to make television production truly interactive.

2. Sky
Sky Television, on the other hand, is a purely commercial business which has no public service obligations, and is free to exploit the new interactive technologies for profit. It is significant that Sky’s most lavish interactive services have been aimed at the demographic with the greatest amount of disposable income – young men. Or, to be more specific, young football-watching men.

Sky Sports, a series of ‘premium’ subscriber-only channels that come only with Sky’s most expensive packages, is aimed overwhelmingly at men and, due to the cost, attracts a self-selecting group of viewers who are very attractive to advertisers. This provides a powerful incentive for Sky to use iTV facilities as a USP to make Sky Sports indispensable for sports fans.

On days where more than one match is being played simultaneously, such as Champions League heats, the interactive button takes you to a selection of screens where the viewer can watch one, four or even eight matches at once. During Premiership matches, the sports fan can choose the commentary they wish to accompany the match, from the professional Sky commentators to the Fanzone, where supporters of each team provide their own, often very entertaining, view of the game. Alternatively, they can use ‘Playercam’, where one footballer is tracked for ten minutes of the match.

Sky has also exploited interactive technology for another set of premium channels – the movie channels, where the most prestigious film premieres are available as Multi-Start movies. By pressing the red button, the viewer is given the choice of starting the movie every ten minutes between two certain times. Not quite the much-anticipated ‘video on demand’ that has been ‘around the corner’ for many years now, but certainly a useful service.

As with BBCi, Sky also offers extensive interactive news content, with channels devoted to headlines, other news, politics, sport and entertainment.

This gives the main Sky News channels the freedom to drop scheduled programming when major news stories break, such as the 7 July London bombings, while continuing to cover stories of lesser importance that will nevertheless be of interest to some viewers.

What does this mean?
One side effect of the rise of iTV is the potential that has arisen for fictional programming to become truly interactive. Channel 4 have been one of the first broadcasters to explore this, producing an urban drama aimed at young people called Dubplate Drama. Broadcast in December 2005, episodes were available to view not just on Channel 4, but on MTV, E4, and available to download from the PSP website and on 3 mobile phones. The BBC has also begin to look at interactive drama, with viewers of an episode of Holby City having a choice of two characters to kill off.

However, these programmes exemplify the limited ‘choose one of two alternative endings’ format which, up to now, has been the extent of interactive fictional programming. One of the attractive features of iTV is that it offers instant feedback. Imagine a scenario in which the interactive content offers viewers four choices at each key point in the narrative, selectable by using the four coloured keys on the remote control. The number of choices effectively means the viewer is choosing their own programme from one of dozens or even hundreds of potential programmes.

This raises some interesting subjects for debate. First, the cost of producing such a programme would be much higher than one that followed a normal script – how would such a venture be commercially viable?

Secondly, do audiences really want choice? Part of the appeal of television it that it delivers narrative to its audience with little or no effort demanded on their part. Maybe a television viewer wouldn’t enjoy making narrative decisions, seeing it more as a burden or a chore.

However, the trend in recent years has been towards personalisation, with iPods and PVRs letting consumers create, respectively, their own radio stations and television channels. The Internet is awash with re-interpretations of popular texts, such as re-cut edits of Star Wars, re-written versions of Harry Potter and even Lord of the Rings re-created in Lego! Perhaps this shows that young, tech-savvy media consumers would welcome a legitimate arena for such creativity.

Another area for concern is the question of advertising. If embedded advertising in interactive content becomes the norm (and it certainly appears to be), and we see more blurring of the boundaries between programming and interactive content, will we eventually end up with some sort of advertising on screen at all times? PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) such as Sky+ have already worried advertisers, as they drastically cut down the amount of time people spend watching advertising. As more and more people adopt new technologies, institutions will be forced to find ways to make up for the loss in revenue, and this may mean exploiting iTV more. Ofcom will be keeping a close eye on developments, but there is little doubt that things will change.

Thinking points for students
When studying interactive television, perhaps the best way to start is to keep an eye on how different generations approach new technology. Are the younger members of your household more comfortable with interactive television, or does it tend to be older people who use it more often, finding it less intimidating than the Internet? What would encourage you to use iTV more often, and for what services would you be prepared to pay?

Watch out for news stories about iTV and how it is being used in conjunction with programming, especially in programmes aimed at teenagers. Youth programmes often give broadcasters a chance to experiment with new technologies, knowing that their target audience will be comfortable with the interfaces and concepts involved. Take note of the ways people you know interact with television programmes – do they text to vote for winners of reality shows, for example?

Think about whether the technology is driving the changes, or whether it is just keeping up with the new demands institutions are making. Do you think we have reached the limit of what can be achieved using the technology available, or should institutions be doing more with it?
To find out you’ll need to keep pressing the red button!

Elizabeth Vickers

This article was first published in MediaMagazine 15.

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