New York Times: In Search of a Way to Get Viewers More Involved With Their TV

The image of the couch potato may go the way of the videocassette and vinyl, if network executives have their way. With so many distractions pulling viewers from television, the networks are coming up with new ways to keep viewers actively involved. The American Film Institute's Enhanced TV Workshop, held over the past five months, explored means by which to include the viewer in programming.

During this workshop, an interactive program was developed for ABC's Celebrity Mole II, in which viewers will see two separate screens on their television. One will display the actual show, and the other will be an interactive area where viewers can guess which character is the mole and gather show trivia. Unfortunately, most of us will not see this, as it will only be broadcast to those who have Microsoft's Windows XP MEDIA Center. It is a positive sign that interactivity may find its way back to the television screen, but to do so, the computer and the Internet will have to co-star.