LOS ANGELES – Will sex be the killer app of Interactive TV?Phillip Swann, the author of “TV dot COM: The Future of Interactive Television,” says that Americans will quickly discover that new TV enhancements can be used to spark their love lives. He predicts this will help the new technology gain acceptance in the early days.
“We’ve seen this happen before. Both home video and cable TV did well early, in part, because people found they could watch mature films in the privacy of their homes,” says Swann. “You can’t underestimate how sex appeal can contribute to making a new technology a success.”
By example, for Interactive TV, Swann says:
- TV Chat, which enables two people to write online notes to each other
while they watch a show, will become a popular pastime for flirting
singles. Sex-driven shows like Temptation Island will become online
hubs for the romantically adventurous.
- The TV Video Phone, which will allow callers to see each other on
their TV screens, will lead to a dramatic increase in online dating
and some imaginative new forms of “phone sex.”
- Interactive shopping via the TV remote control will lead to an
increase in sales and interest in sexually-oriented health services.
Wink, an Interactive TV shopping service, recently reported that
49 percent of its subscribers requested information about Viagra after
seeing a commercial for the impotence drug.
“Interactive TV will allow people to do things they couldn’t do before
because they either didn’t have the opportunity or they felt they would be
embarrassed,” says Swann, whose book examines the impact of new TV features on
our culture. “Sex will certainly be part of that equation.”
“TV dot COM” offers more than 80 predictions on the future of television. According to UpsideToday.com, “TV dot COM,” which was released in December by TV Books, is “a must for anyone involved in the business of marketing the future.” The book has been featured on CNN, CBS Market Watch, Tech TV and in Cable World, Electronic Media, Broadcasting and Cable and Interactive Week among many others.
