New Kinds of Television

[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

Broadcast Architecture transforms television into a multimedia experience. The combination of television with broadcast digital data displayed on a computer offers a new world of entertainment possibilities. It gives you the flexibility to become more actively involved in the television programs you watch, when you want to.

Digital data broadcasts synchronized to television shows can provide all kinds of annotation and extension of existing television and advertising content, using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Microsoft® Visual Basic® scripts, and controls based on the Microsoft® ActiveX® technology platform.

The combination of television and computer content can offer these new possibilities, among many others:

• During sporting events, you can ask about statistics, track your favorite players or teams, and scan your preferred syndicated commentary.
• During dramas and comedies, you can locate cast information, recaps of past episodes, links to related Internet and bulletin board sites, and other such background information.
• Educational programs can supplement their presentations with broader and deeper information than fits into their time slots, together with links and references to additional resources.
• News and weather reports can be accompanied by local or other specialized information that satisfies the needs of limited audiences.
• Music-only channels can add background graphics containing song title, album, and artist information, so you know what you are listening to and how to find it again.

With the addition of a back channel, viewers can interact not only with the computer but also more directly with broadcasters, advertisers, and other viewers. A secure back channel also offers an unprecedented opportunity to sell directly into people's homes, letting them purchase from the comfort of their couches.

Broadcast Architecture Provides Potential for Immediate Viewer Response

Even without a back channel, television and digital data broadcasts can be synchronized and combined to let viewers interact on-screen with shows so as to play games, obtain supplementary information, test their knowledge or skills, and so on. Content providers can use common tools for World Wide Web site design to create enhancements for their shows, delivered as HTML pages.

By taking advantage of the low-cost, low-bandwidth back channel offered by the computer's modem, however, advertisers can also actually solicit real-time responses from viewers. Viewers can, for example, express product preferences, or they can inquire about products of interest.

Using the back channel, viewers can also vote on issues presented in a show, express opinions, take part in polls, play along with game shows, enter contests, and take quizzes. In addition, consumers can use the back channel to purchase products from the comfort of their living rooms.