Winky Dink to Stargazer: Five Decades of Interactive Television Defining Interactive Tv

Introduction Treatments of interactive television (ITV) in the popular press could easily lead readers to think that it is an entirely new phenomenon or, indeed, that it has yet to arrive on the scene (1). However, ITV has been tested in the marketplace under various guises in each decade since the 1950s. Our lack of historical perspective is unfortunate because there are many clues in the history of interactive television trials and services about what consumers want from ITV along with many lessons about how to overcome technological and marketplace obstacles. The lack of an historical perspective is related in part to weak institutional memories: many ITV projects have not succeeded and their institutional sponsors have chosen to let the bodies remain buried. However, there is also a significant definitional issue. What does interactive television include and not include? There is no consensus. So, a telephone company that is planning to build a state-of-the-art switched video service over fiber optic cables can argue that theirs is the first true ITV service since nothing in the past could provide what their new system will offer. In fact, most planned new services are likely to have been tested before, albeit on an earlier generation of technology. This paper addresses the definitional issue without resolving it, then takes the reader on a brief tour of ITV projects and service beginning in 1953. It provides an annotated history, drawing lessons about content, pricing, consumer appeal and user interfaces. Greater attention is given to U.S. experiences with ITV, based upon the author’s knowledge and access to documents. However, some European and Asian experiences with ITV are also reviewed.