OVERVIEW

There is a good deal of talk today about integrated media. The thought is that combining interactive on-line experiences with straight TV will be the first step toward interactive television. One way to do that is to surround the linear video show with the kinds of support content that usually appears in a movie promo Web site. So while the TV show plays in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, a column to the left of the video and a row below it offer areas where more traditional Web activities can take place (Figure 17.1).

Figure 17.1: A hypothetical screen for a program that integrates Internet features and live TV programming. Photograph Virginia Iuppa, 2001.

Two things are going on here: first, there is an opportunity to just watch the TV show without interrupting it, and second, there is a chance to do some online things while the show is progressing, again without interrupting the show itself. So, there is room for chat, and there is room for polls about the stars of the show or the products that the stars are using that might interest the users. There are areas with the latest on the characters and the stars. There are informational areas on the history behind the show, the setting, and the technology that might affect the story (if there is any of that).

Sounds to...