• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 29, 2002

According to Cahners In-Stat/MDR the worldwide interactive TV (iTV) market is finally beginning to take shape. Mike Paxton, a Senior Analyst with In-Stat/MDR, says "After years of trials and tentative introductions, the past year has seen interactive services become a common sight on most pay-TV networks. Cable TV operators, terrestrial broadcasters, and satellite TV providers have all been active in testing different interactive applications." This, in spite of a broad misunderstanding of exactly what iTV is, the report states.

In-Stat/MDR also found that:

The number of television households using on-demand services worldwide will jump from 1.3 million in 2001 to over 33 million in 2005. North American Video-on-Demand service revenues are forecasted to grow from $86 million in 2001 to over $1.75 billion in 2005.

In a recent survey of consumers, 75% of the respondents were familiar with several different iTV applications, but had rarely or never used them.

And, in a complimentary report on European iTV, from GartnerG2, shows that the penetration of digital TV in European households is increasing.
- 35 percent of households in the UK now have interactive digital TV, expected to be 40% by the end of 2002.
- 12 percent In France, Sweden and Spain

The GartnerG2 survey found that digital TV subscribers are unaware that interactive TV is already included in their subscription. 50 percent of British and 75 percent of French adults who have interactive TV access do not realize that they can use their TV remote control to buy products on their sets. Of those UK consumers who knew they had interactive TV services, 35 percent said they had not used them, saying that they were not interested in the services offered, and over 40 percent said they just haven't got round to figuring it out.

The 6 percent of subscribers who have purchased via interactive TV have primarily bought low value items that are part of the immediate TV viewing experience, such as ordering pizzas during films.

A complete report, Interactive TV: On-Demand Services Prime the Pump, Is available from Cahners that presents consumer attitudes in the United States regarding interactive television, covering both current interactive TV usage and intentions toward the future use of interactive TV applications.

Find out more here.