• by Masha Geller , March 13, 2002

In the Interactive TV: Reality & Opportunity report released today, eMarketer estimates that the number of US households with interactive television (iTV) will jump by 74% from 12.7 million last year to 22.1 million in 2002, representing over 20% of all US households.

In 2005, eMarketer estimates that iTV will be in over one-half of US households (58.2 million). In the advertising segment alone, eMarketer says that expenditures will grow from $95.3 million in 2001 to $2.6 billion in 2005.

eMarketer’s projections, based on a comprehensive review of industry trends as well as a weighted analysis of numbers from other researchers, are relatively optimistic. (Estimates range from 11 million to 23.6 million households for 2002.)

“Everyone is searching for the broadband ‘killer app,’ but they are looking to the PC, which is the wrong spot,” says Ben Macklin, Senior Analyst at eMarketer. “In the long term, iTV presents a greater opportunity for broadband than the PC.”

Macklin says that after being over-hyped for years, iTV is finally reaching its potential. Internet companies, broadcast networks, advertisers, retailers, fast-food outlets, telecoms, content producers, game companies, device manufacturers, software makers — “they all have a stake in the emerging iTV market.”