• by Jennifer Berger , August 24, 2006

Have you ever said to your TV, "I'd like to solve the puzzle"? Well, Pat and Vanna may not be there to cheer you on, but now you can play along at home with ReacTV, a new network that simulcasts on the Internet from 7:00 p.m. to 2 a.m.

How does it work? At-home contestants answer multiple-choice trivia questions in five categories over a span of 30 minutes through one of three ways: online by logging onto 77tv.com; by tuning into channel 77 through their local cable operator using a special set-top box; or by purchasing a Reactive Remote, ReacTV's wireless remote control.

The rotating subjects include MediaMix, Fan-Tastic (sports-related trivia), TimeCapsule (pop-culture trivia in hangman form), Know-News (current events over the last 30 days), School-Daze (stuff you learned way back when), and a Wild Card category. Then, every 10 minutes, participants are shown commercials via React TV's own "CRAV" system. Players are then given the opportunity to answer questions about ads recently shown, and may win prizes for both the general trivia and CRAV queries.

Frank S. Maggio, chairman and CEO of ReacTV expects trivia buffs to participate in the 10 minutes of commercial trivia to test their true trivia knowledge because, as he says, "70 percent of the prizes will be tied to watching commercials; 30 percent will be tied to playing the games."

So far, Maggio has found that approximately "40 percent of 'Reactors' watch an hour of TV a day and are likely to make over $100,000 a year." Guess they're the ones who will be springing for the special $300 Reactive Remote.