New Gartner Study Says SyncTV Growing Fantastically
One figure tossed around quite a bit is the "26 million"
people in 1999 who use a PC and a TV in the same room.
Gartner, a research firm, is now saying in a new
report, "Telewebbers on the Rise", that the number has
jumped to 44 million - quite a phenomenon, of course. These
numbers certainly decry a passionate interest in interactivity
and data input while broadband video entertainment is present.
Several companies have emerged to develop what we have been
calling "synchronized TV" applications. These apps online run
in sync with a broadcast program on television. Last November
and early December, for example, ACTV's HyperTV demonstrated
their system in association with Turner Network Television's
"15 Days of Bond" - a James Bond marathon. Another company,
Spiderdance, developed the currently-running MTV in sync
application "webRIOT." Softcom, in contrast, develops synced
broadband sites with TV broadcasters like HBO for a boxing
series, and others developing. Gartner expects the 44 million
"telewebbers", a term [itvt] is not really in favor of, to grow
to 52 million by 2001. Other important statistics include:
a) 60% of these 44 million have looked up a product online
they saw advertised on TV. 32% actually ordered a product
online. 12% of these 44 million are surfing via broadband
connections and that number is predicted to grow to 18% next year. |
