Interactivity Brings New Life To Television.

A recent Report published by the Yankee Group, titled “The Changing Face of Television,” examines the developing interactive television market in Canada

“The convergence of the television and the Internet is self-perpetuating–the Internet has the potential to change the way people use television, and television has the potential to change the way people use the Internet,” says Tosia Manka, analyst and author of the Report. “In Canada, the focus to date has been on Web access and Web-related services such as e-mail using the TV as the appliance. However,” continues Manka, “we are beginning to see the focus shift toward the integration of video-on-demand (VOD), digital video recorders, and Internet-based functionalities.”

Interactive television is dependent upon digital television penetration. “At present, approximately 900,000 Canadian households subscribe to a digital cable service. In the short term, the continued growth of digital cable will be led primarily by the availability of additional channels and programming options,” notes Manka. “However, interactive TV applications such as IPGs, VOD, chat, and e-mail are also likely to encourage subscribers to adopt digital cable, since these services will also require a digital set-top box. Thus, digital cable and interactive TV are directly linked, and their growth will be closely related,” Manka adds.

For additional information at http://www.yankeegroup.com