New Media, Old Ideas: The Organizing Ideology of Interactive TV

Abstract

The building process of a technology system involves more than a mechanical combination of technical components. It follows particular organizing ideas and principles—the organizing ideology—of technology. This organizing ideology guides firms in their use of technology and in its manufacturing and marketing. Since the 1970s, telecommunications firms have conducted a great number of technical and commercial interactive TV trials. Interactive TV was believed to be a revolutionary new medium. Contrary to such rhetoric, the organizing ideology of interactive TV varied little from that of traditional TV. It was effectively a return to the concept of the conventional model of TV mass media. This mass media ideology was then inscribed onto the interactive TV system, actually determining its design, how it was built, and its strategies of technical deployment. This conceptual and institutional inertia was a main factor in the development of biases in the technological, institutional, and cultural structure of interactive TV.

Direct Marketing and the Productive Capacity of Commercial Television

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“…As with previous ITV ventures, however, Canoe was dedicated to exerting power at an institutional level to the advantage of its cable partners as they compete in markets for audiences and consumers (cf. Kim 2001).…”

“…The promise of increasing productivity has continued to pique corporate interest in ITV despite a history of false starts and failures (Kim 2001). Though falling well short of some projections, Canoe has equipped approximately twenty-five million US cable households with the EBIF protocol to support t-commerce and RFI (T.…”

Can PSB Stake its Claim in a Media World of Digital Convergence?

“…The potential and reality of digitization was brought to the attention of governments, industry and academia as early as the 1980s and definitely in the 1990s, producing much hype but with a price tag that took both politicians' and industry's breath away. Yet, the possibilities and potential success of the 'new' digital media, combined with an increasing stress on interactivity, freedom of choice, pull rather than push media, user generated content (UGC) and bricolage rather than linear media use (see d 'Haenens and Bink, 2001;Galparin, 2004;Kim 2001;Lawson-Borders, 2006;Steemers, 1998), gained enough momentum in recent years to dominate PSB discussions. What is the exact place and role of PSB amidst this digital (multi)media frenzy?…”