Stare into your idiot box and imagine the changes digital TV will herald. What do you see? More channels? HDTV-picture quality? These advances make good use of digital pipes, but there are other compelling apps besides more and prettier programming. ACTV, a New York-based one-to-one television programming company, plans to exploit digital feeds by approaching the long-forgotten promise of interactive TV, but in a smart and practical way.
The company’s InSports technology allows cable viewers to seize control of sporting events. Couch potatoes need only upgrade to a digital set-top box and a remote control with four new, brightly colored buttons. Then, by subscribing to a US$9.95 premium channel offered by Fox regional affiliates Sports West and Southwest, aficionados can switch camera angles, cue up instant replays, and call for stats during live baseball, basketball, and hockey games.
ACTV’s software works within the set-top box itself. The company sends four digital video streams to the TV through one regular cable channel. Viewers pick the feed they want – a desired camera angle or a particular instant replay – with the remote control. There’s no need for upstream bandwidth with InSports’ programming – save from the remote control to the cable box – thus the problems that plagued earlier attempts at interactive TV have been eliminated.
"The problem with interactive TV services was that they were predicated on technology that didn’t exist," says company CEO William Samuels. "We’re a content – not technology – company. All we need to do is deliver four separate video feeds, and we can do this for every cable operator at no cost to them."
By 1998, between 12 and 15 million households will receive digital cable signals. If you’ve ever listened to an armchair quarterback yell at a referee, then you’ve heard the demand for individualized sports. Just think how much money ACTV could make if it could teach InSports to grab a beer out of the fridge.
Release: Late 1997. ACTV: +1 (212) 262 2570.
This article originally appeared in the September issue of Wired magazine.
