Aimed at broadcasting and new media producers and anyone interested in implementing interactive TV, this is a practical guide to the technology and production processes, offering technical descriptions of how interactive TV works.

Interactive Television Production is essential reading for all broadcasting and new media professionals - whether in production, marketing, technology, business or management. It will also be of interest to media students and anyone looking to get an insight into the future of television production. It provides a practical, step-by-step guide to the processes and issues involved in taking an interactive television idea through to being an operational service - based on the knowledge and experience of leading interactive television producers. This book can be used as a quick-and-easy reference guide, with each chapter containing a 'Chapter in 30 seconds' summary for easy reference, or read from cover to cover. Using accessible language, the author provides detailed descriptions of iTV software technologies (OpenTV, MHEG-5, TV Navigator), delivery technologies (cable, satellite and terrestrial) and production tools. There are also entire chapters devoted to key issues like the commercial side of iTV and the latest work on usability and design. The accompanying web site www.InteractiveTelevisionProduction.com contains useful links designed to help with common iTV questions and issues. There are also entertaining quizzes for each chapter that let you test your knowledge of the concepts introduced in the book.

The concept of Interactive Television (ITV) is not an easy one to pin down. It has taken many forms, spurned good and not-so good connotations, and has confused the public and experts alike. Producing Interactive Television aims to unravel the confusion by taking an in-depth look into how the merging of digital and Internet Technologies is changing the way people receive, watch and react to TV, and the way TV producers plan and develop productions. For easy understanding and clarity of the topic of ITV and its content development process, the book is divided into three parts. Part One offers the necessary background information on ITV's origins and future. Part Two is a start-to-finish guide to the enhanced TV development process, including hands-on lessons for the prototyping and HTML implementation of ITV interface designs. In Part Three, TV producers and ITV developers share their real-world ITV projects, providing insightful advice on the pitfalls and successes of ITV content creation and the overall industry.

Television is changing almost beyond recognition. In the battle for consumers, social media sites, smart phones and tablets have become rivals to traditional linear TV. However, audiences and producers are also embracing mobile platforms to enhance TV viewing itself. This book examines the emerging phenomenon of the second screen: where users are increasingly engaging with content on two screens concurrently. The practice is transforming television into an interactive, participatory and social experience. James Blake examines interactive television from three crucial angles: audience motivation and agency, advances in TV production and the monetisation of second screen content. He also tracks its evolution by bringing together interviews with more than 25 television industry professionals - across the major UK channels - including commissioning editors, digital directors, producers and advertising executives. These reveal the successes and failures of recent experiments and the innovations in second screen projects. As the second screen becomes second nature for viewers and producers, the risks and opportunities for the future of television are slowly beginning to emerge. Television and the Second Screen will offer students and scholars of television theory, industry professionals and anyone with an abiding interest in television and technology, an accessible and illuminating guide to this important cultural shift.

&Quot;This forward-looking book focuses on interactive television (ITV), and illustrates how it is changing the face of TV broadcasting. The book provides professionals with important technical, strategic, and creative expertise to help in the development of ITV systems and with the assessment of their future business potential. Interactive TV Technology and Markets explains how bandwidth limitations associated with analog TV signals are eliminated as cable, satellite, and terrestrial TV network operators switch to digital bandwidth."--BOOK JACKET.

Television is the dominant mass medium of the current era. Its lifeblood in whatever form it takes is content - the programs it broadcasts to the public. This book is an insider's view of the business of production of TV programs, for university-level courses and for those in the industry wanting to upgrade their skills. It is the story of the TV producer, and the leadership of creative people, the management of resources of production (including funding) and the guiding of the production process. Covering all genres of television - drama and comedy, documentary and current affairs, infotainment and reality TV - it goes step-by-step through the journey from program idea to program delivery and beyond.