"Channel Surfing:
The Merging Of Television, Internet and Marketing
by Geneva J. King
12/20/00
"Our underlying mission is to deliver interactive TV that looks like television, and not like the Web overlaid on top of television. We'd like to keep what is best about television."
- John Dakss, vice president of technology and co-founder of WatchPoint Media, Inc.
Click, click, click . . . As if it isn't annoying enough to attempt television viewing when a remote hog is in the room, technology is adding a new dimension, and putting the "surf" into channel surfing. Television viewing is evolving from a "push" experience to a "pull," and marketing opportunities are being layered into the programs themselves, as the line between television and Internet becomes blurred.
Although, thanks to set-top boxes, interactive television has recently taken steps toward wider acceptance, V. Michael Bove, Jr. says that the science behind the medium extends back to the 1970's. Bove is the head of the Object Based Media Group at M.I.T. Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His efforts, and those of his colleagues, helped to create the object tracking technology that WatchPoint Media, Inc. has licensed and recently displayed at the Western Cable Show.
Taking a step beyond Microsoft's WebTV, (although that system in itself offers new marketing avenues), the latest developments in interactivity provide dynamic interfaces that can provide links to further information for viewers. The promise of instant information and the ability to market utilizing the entire screen and the entire program, instead of just selected commercial times, has worldwide appeal. Acanet TV Col, Ltd of Seoul, Korea, recently displayed its version at COMDEX.
Intuitive Linking
These systems allow the creator of a program to attach a dynamic link on an object, which will move if the object moves. The link can serve to provide more information on a person or object. For instance, a viewer might be interested in knowing an actor's favorite colors or a product's best selling points. Double clicking on the link takes the viewer into a Web site for further information.
The technology will change the face of product placement. If you like the shirt an actor is wearing, you can "click" to find out who the manufacturer is and "double click" to enter an online ordering area on a Web site where you can purchase the apparel. Bove notes that M.I.T. shot a soap opera in which all the props came from the JCPenney Catalog. "It looked like a normal soap opera, but there were 8 to 10 click opportunities on the screen," he said.
A viewer watching Baywatch (left) could select the bathing suits (middle), and then order one online (right).
John Dakss, vice president of technology and co-founder of WatchPoint Media, says: "This would be a great way to leverage product placement . . . since people tend to form personal relationships with characters they see on television shows."
In trials, the company placed four to five objects per shot that were then linked to further information. Can you overdo product placement and links? Probably. Dakss suggests that the number of links should be based on the type of programming. "Where shots are longer, like in soap operas or cooking shows," said Dakss, "I think then it is perfectly valid to have ten objects and allow a person to cycle through them."
Watchpoint's system creates Internet links for Web browsing, but it can also bring up additional video. For instance, if you're watching the installation of new insulation for your home, you may want to get specific video instructions on how to select the correct thickness and type of material to place between your walls. A simple point and click -- not with a mouse, but with a channel changer -- can lead you into a picture-in-picture presentation of a video insulation selection guide.
Testing…Testing…123
Watchpoint is currently working with ten major television shows, eight of which are produced in the United States, such as Baywatch, As the World Turns, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Hang Time, The Drew Carey Show, This Old House, Zoom, and Jack and Jill. The production companies involved provided content to use in a five-week market trial. In the trial, high school students were hired to create links to characters and objects within the shows. Involving these young people was meant to ensure that the system would be easy to master. Currently, the tool is being enhanced using the input of people in the post-production industry, so that the WatchPoint user interface will be intuitive to the individuals who would be using the technology.
Ease of use is important, since added production times mean escalated costs. The WatchPoint system is aiming for 20 man-hours of overhead to produce a 30-minute show packed with links.
I Want My MTV… to Look Like MTV
Preparations are underway for a hard trial in five major cities across North America. Current data from focus groups indicate an 85 percent acceptance rate overall from consumers of all ages. Part of this acceptance, says Dakss, is due to the ability to use a remote control to do the "surfing" and the fact that their content resembles television more than the Internet.
That visual cue is very important, according to Annie Valva, director of technology at WGBH Interactive in Boston, the interactive unit of the well-known public television station. "We are very encouraged with the type of technology that WatchPoint is making," said Valva. "We feel they are trying to stay in touch with consumers in what they are doing, keeping television full screen, and trying to integrate content into the program when possible and provide choice for users."
But WatchPoint isn't the only company experimenting with the latest in product placement and interactive television. WGBH -- which may be freer than its commercial bretheren to experiment with new technology -- is working with several other interactive firms, including Liberate and TWiN Entertainment. Liberate provides a system that allows users to click on an icon on the television screen to get more information about an advertised product. For instance, a viewer might want to know what retailers in their local area carry a certain product. The Liberate TV Navigator software platform provides the ability to add features such as e-wallets to the service, so that customers can purchase online easily. TWiN Entertainment provides interactive gaming through enhanced television.
Conquering the Bleeding Edge
Currently, all enhanced television requires set-top boxes, and that additional hardware purchase is limiting the audience of the systems. Annie Valva at WGBH Interactive point out, "It is probably important to say up front that what we are doing and planning to do are different, because installation base and technology have not arrived en masse," she says. "We are just starting to study what is possible." "
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