Strategic questions in the development of interactive television programs

The aim of this research was to identify questions that a person developing interactive television programs could ask himself. The topic was chosen because it is currently an emerging issue in many of the countries launching digital television. The previous research in this field was reviewed including academic research, field trials in Finland, selected field trials abroad, consumer attitude surveys and expert panels. As it turned out, not much academic work had been done in the subject. The most promising work had been done in the fields of distance education and interactive narration. Five other fields were surveyed as potential sources for suitable ITV development strategies. These fields were linear drama, infomercials and homeshopping, multimedia production, www-production and virtual communities. A group of potential strategies were identified from these fields. Several methodological choices were considered. Among them were predicative methods, scenario analysis, case study method, action research, knowledge brokering and Zetterberg’s method. Finally a combination of knowledge brokering and the Zetterberg’s method was found most suitable for this research. The initial strategies were picked by the researcher from the above mentioned fields. They were then tested with a survey form that was presented to persons involved with the ITV industry. The respondents were identified from various sources and also the snowball method was applied to gather more respondents. Altogether 103 responses were received from persons in significant posts in key companies and institutions of the field. The research can be considered valid and reliable. The main conclusion of this study is that it pays in ITV-development to use the questions that have been found useful in developing film and TV scripts, www-applications, multimedia productions, virtual communities or home-shopping advertisements. Different sets of questions are useful for different ITV-genres. A useful set of questions could be identified for six different ITV genres. These genres were ITV advertising, computer game type of ITV applications, News on Demand applications, Electronic Program Guide (EPG), distance learning applications and background information for TV programs. Other results were also discovered. The following three questions were found important for all genres: 1) How can we make the program aesthetically appealing as possible? 2) How can we make the program visually compelling? 3) What type of an interface should the program have? Another result was that the following two questions that are central in film industry were not considered important for any of the ITV genres: 1) How can we have a three act structure in the program? 2) How can we arrange a happy ending for the program? The identified sets of questions will provide a good starting point for a person developing a program in the respective genre

Strategic questions in the development of interactive television programs

The aim of this research was to identify questions that a person developing interactive television programs could ask himself. The topic was chosen because it is currently an emerging issue in many of the countries launching digital television. The previous research in this field was reviewed including academic research, field trials in Finland, selected field trials abroad, consumer attitude surveys and expert panels. As it turned out, not much academic work had been done in the subject. The most promising work had been done in the fields of distance education and interactive narration. Five other fields were surveyed as potential sources for suitable ITV development strategies. These fields were linear drama, infomercials and homeshopping, multimedia production, www-production and virtual communities. A group of potential strategies were identified from these fields. Several methodological choices were considered. Among them were predicative methods, scenario analysis, case study method, action research, knowledge brokering and Zetterberg’s method. Finally a combination of knowledge brokering and the Zetterberg’s method was found most suitable for this research. The initial strategies were picked by the researcher from the above mentioned fields. They were then tested with a survey form that was presented to persons involved with the ITV industry. The respondents were identified from various sources and also the snowball method was applied to gather more respondents. Altogether 103 responses were received from persons in significant posts in key companies and institutions of the field. The research can be considered valid and reliable. The main conclusion of this study is that it pays in ITV-development to use the questions that have been found useful in developing film and TV scripts, www-applications, multimedia productions, virtual communities or home-shopping advertisements. Different sets of questions are useful for different ITV-genres. A useful set of questions could be identified for six different ITV genres. These genres were ITV advertising, computer game type of ITV applications, News on Demand applications, Electronic Program Guide (EPG), distance learning applications and background information for TV programs. Other results were also discovered. The following three questions were found important for all genres: 1) How can we make the program aesthetically appealing as possible? 2) How can we make the program visually compelling? 3) What type of an interface should the program have? Another result was that the following two questions that are central in film industry were not considered important for any of the ITV genres: 1) How can we have a three act structure in the program? 2) How can we arrange a happy ending for the program? The identified sets of questions will provide a good starting point for a person developing a program in the respective genre