Interactive television moves the classically defined passive viewing experience to an active experience (sit back vs. lean forward). This can mean direct 1:1 interaction with content, commerce, community experiences or creating new forms of content from existing resources (i.e.: mash-ups).

It involves the integration Internet and Video or broadcasting along with other new media.

For me, interactive television has always been primarily about the social and cultural context, and less about the technology. So, Interactive Television is something you experience in your living room, at a distance of about 6-8 feet from the screen. I've also had high expectations for the definition of interactivity -- it must be something more than play/pause and more than video-on-demand. In one of our most popular prototypes, Interactive Arthur, iTV included: the ability for the viewer to turn on and off multiple streams of audio, video and text; clickable video, allowing the viewer to move from the linear stream to non-linear game experiences; and alternate input devices allowing, for example the user to take a picture of herself.

In my opinion, interactive television is a highly overused and much too broadly defined term within the technology industry. Television has always been an 'interactive' medium. That being said, the current incarnation of 'interactive' television, is about the convergence of broadcast and broadband technologies and services, which are enabling increased personalization, enhanced content, and control over their TV experience.

Anything you want it to be. ITV includes two-way TV or any response based system, including asymmetric services (e.g. broadcast out, telephone return/response. Increasingly, I see Internet video, including VOD but more importantly video mashups as the future of ITV.

A way to receive content, and provide feedback, as well as a way to choose of path through the content. Also include some on-demand elements.

Interactive television, in my opinion, is any application on a TV screen that responses to a users input. This includes Electronic Program Guides (EPG), Video on Demand (VOD) services, voting applications that are synchronized with video, interactive ad banners, and many other possibilities.

Interactive TV is a medium that allows participants to control, direct and interact with a digital content stream, composed of digital video, ancillary content forms, and (possibly related) synchronization data, to create a personal viewing experience. Example is a dual screen simulcast of a show with dynamic internet data.

Display of TV content whereby the consumer can respond to the message via the TV infrastructure or interact with other TV viewers in real-time via the TV infrastructure.

Interactive television is enhanced or synchronous content (that can be displayed in a number of ways including graphic overlays or a squeeze) that viewers can interact with via their remote controls while watching live or recorded (embedded iTV) programming.

Interactive television is live instruction with an opportunity for interaction with all participants. Our ITV courses delivered via local cable are taught live and students have the ability to call in to the studio during the broadcast. Faculty are trained to encourage communication with those students not in the studio. Two-way video conferencing also supports live interaction among all participants.

To me, interactive television includes a broad category of consumer services, including VOD, interactive sports and weather services, game play on the television screen, and certain PC-based applications which are designed as synchronous or simultaneous enhancements to a broadcast program.

Interactive television is any form of video programming that uses interactive technology to elicit a response from the audience. This includes simply using interactive guides, interactions through polls, surveys, chat, any form of Q&A, and interactive applets in any form. It can be created/delivered via traditional television channels (satellite or cable) or over broadband.

Interactive television modifies the content it delivers, based on the conscious or unconscious choices of viewers, or of programmers responding to known conditions in a specific geographical location or audience type. Both Verizon and AT&T, for instance, offer interactive "widgets" and programming guides and both offer localized content and direct access to the Web from TV advertising content.

The ability to interact with content and applications on the television. For example, in our course, we focus on news. The user can access multimedia content at the touch of a button. They can vote on national polls, customize sports, weather and stocks reports, and stop, fast forward, or rewind the news ticker.

Two way communication where there is no longer a viewer, but participants only. Directing the outcome of a story line by indicating preference of characters. Much like CNN's election coverage with a live audience providing instant feed back on the like or dislike of a speech.

iTV currently does not required a converged device alone, but also a converged experience with the TV as the primary viewing vehicle and a lap top or mobile adding the personalized companion experience. A real or apparent synchronization of the experience on the two screens is needed. For example, using a mobile phone to text in votes in a competition (Americon Idol) or a lap top offering other camera angles or other footage supporting the TV experience. Sports is particularly well suited with cable companies and satellite providers offering a 'mozaic' where the viewer picks camera angels, scores, stats etc.

There are two major components. Historically, in higher education at least, interactive television has been used to describe the system that delivers distance education over video conferencing equipment. More recently, iTV has been used to describe user-selected and controlled video content over internet protocol or IPTV. With the innovation in video delivery over the internet, and video and web conferencing, I see a real possibility of these two converging into he future.

It can be defined by what it is not, it is not passive narrative entertainment where there is a beginning, middle, and end, in that order, where the show would run the same whether someone was there or not. There is some interaction of the viewer, they are allowed to do something with the content. We have not seen the best examples of interactive TV yet.