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TIME MAGAZINE, JUNE 4, 2001, VOL.157 NO.22
Coming Soon: Me TV
Want to be in showbiz? Soon you'll be able to design the set, write the plot and compose the tunes—without leaving home
By JENNIFER L. SCHENKER Paris
The scene is a posh hotel room. The mission? To destroy at least 12 things in your suite before collapsing in a drunken stupor. That's what rock stars do, right? And now, thanks to MTV's first broadband interactive channel, idol emulation is moving way beyond strumming an air guitar.
Trash Your Hotel Room, a program that lets players assume the role of rock maniac on the road, is just one of the many ideas for interaction at broadband TV channel MTV Live, which will launch in Sweden and France in June. Want to be a graphic artist? Viewers can assemble virtual environments and e-mail their creations for consideration as background images. Is screenwriting more up your alley? MTV Live will let you select characters and write dialogue for short videos. Would-be maestros can mix and submit music to serenade MTV Live presenters. The new channel will also feature exclusive content for digital cable viewers, such as live video of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performing in Moscow's Red Square.
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This may well be the future of entertainment. Fast two-way connections over PCs, TVs and mobile phones are converging, plunging us into a world where viewers become part of the programming. Once platforms switch from analog to digital technology, interactive applications like personalized programs, chat rooms, takeout food orders and online banking will become interactive options for your TV. The size of the potential market is immense: there are already 1.1 billion households worldwide with televisions. Today, about 34 million get digital TV; according to a report by Merrill Lynch, that number will jump to 221 million within four years.
Europe is setting the pace in digital TV technology and services, with a 12- to 18-month lead over the U.S. Interactive game shows in particular are already drawing fans across the Continent. That's one reason MTV, which reaches more than 340 million households in 150 countries, chose France and Sweden as the launchpads. Penetration of digital cable is higher in those countries than elsewhere. Since streaming media via the Internet Protocol Standard is not yet possible over TV, MTV Live will initially air over PCs, then migrate to television after their standards merge. "It is one way to stay ahead of the curve," says William Roedy, president of MTV Networks International.
MTV has other experimental projects in the works for Europe, too. Starting in June, viewers with set-top box receivers will be able—with just a click of the remote control—to get music news, text info about artists, MTV charts and tours to pop up on their screens while they watch videos on regular MTV channels. In Britain, the company is testing ways to integrate both Internet and mobile data services with TV. A live interactive request show called Videoclash lets viewers vote for their favorite music videos via the MTV U.K. website or by using text messaging. Votes show up instantly on the TV screen.
While Europe is in the digital TV vanguard, MTV is trying to leverage the most advanced applications in every region, treating each as a kind of interactive television laboratory. In Japan, which leads the world in mobile phone applications, viewers of Select MTV vote via text messaging or PCs for their favorite tunes. But because the television platform is not yet fully digital, their votes don't appear instantly on the TV screen. Shoji Doyama, chairman of MTV Japan, says that by year's end the company plans to introduce "some interactivity into all of its TV programming, permitting voting, e-commerce or tie-ins with real shops via mobile or PC-based Web access."
To cater to the U.S. market, which has the world's highest percentage of PC users, a recently introduced initiative, MTV360, integrates the company's two cable channels with the mtv.com website. In Latin America, chart countdown shows like MTV's Top 5 Interactivo are driven by the choices of users on the mtvla.com website. An on-air DJ announces fans' votes.
If pundits are right, it won't be long before all types of shows get more interactive. Then you, too, will have a chance to call the tune—or trash a virtual hotel suite.
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MTV UK
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