Searching for the Holy Grail: Images of Interactive Television

This website is an online presentation of the results of an academic research project that aims to compare concepts of interactive television in communication science with images of interactive television held by corporate experts in the field.

This research tries to reveal more realistic perspectives of future interactive television and business models based on these concepts, hence the title 'Searching for the Holy Grail'. The quest for the meaning of interactivity by both communication scientists and ITV professionals resembles the hunt of medieval knights for the Holy Grail, a cup or platter supposed to be used by Christ at the Last Supper, an object they also did not know what it looked like exactly.

In the summer of 1999 an online qualitative survey has been set up to make an inventory of the different perspectives on interactive television that exist among providers of interactive television programmes, services and navigation systems. Seventy-four international experts of ITV engaged with the development and supply of ITV, filled in the questionnaire. They were asked for their images of current and future ITV and they had to explain the source of these images.

The results of the research published on this website are divided into different sections which can be reached by clicking on the navigation bar above. For a brief introduction to this research I recommend you to start with the section Introduction where you can find the introduction, the research question and purpose, an overview of the chapters, and some preliminary concepts and theoretical notes. The section Scientific Images of ITV contains a theoretical investigation of the concept of interactive television. In the section Professional Images of ITV the findings of the empirical survey concerning the images of interactive television held by corporate experts in the field of ITV, are discussed. The section Business model of ITV reveals the first contours of a feasible business model based on these concepts. In the Conclusion the concepts of interactivity in communication science are compared with the images of interactivity held by corporate experts in the field. For the full version of the report of this research you can also download the pdf-file.

You are welcome to use the guestbook to share your opinion and remarks about this research with me and other persons interested in the development of Interactive Television.

This research is for academic purposes. It is conducted independently and not initiated by any commercial party. This research is for my final thesis at the Utrecht University and for a master's title. It is conducted with the support and collaboration and under the supervision of staff members of the University of Utrecht (Department of Media and Communication), the European Media Masters of Arts Program 1999 and the Utrecht School of the Arts.

This website was created in close cooperation with wowie Z. productions.