THE new digital channel universe is set to explode onto Canadian television screens this fall. While one of the conditions the CRTC imposed on new licence applicants was to propose interactive elements, networks say the day when most viewers will be able to ask a show host questions in real-time through their TVs is still some time away. For now, interactivity means dozens of new websites supporting the fall launches, from sextvthechannel.com to discoveryhealth.ca to ctvtravel.ca.

Many networks are testing out models of audience interactivity before embracing any particular options. For example, Alliance Atlantis Communications is planning its Web content in the belief the Internet will be the primary means of audience interaction for a few years. ‘We think we can provide a richer experience through multi-screen than through a single screen,’ says Frank Pulumbarit, recently appointed VP of interactive services for AAC. ‘People watch TV because it’s fun, because they want to ‘veg’ in front of the TV. They interact with the computer.’

Over at Corus Entertainment, coproducer of the Category 1 Canadian Documentary Channel and Country Canada (formerly Land & Sea) and producer of several Category 2s, the attitude is also one of cautious excitement. ‘We’re not going to take a ‘sit back and wait’ attitude, but at the same time, we’re being very careful about what we choose to do,’ says Steve Rolufs, director of operations for Corus Interactive.

Most channels are planning to phase in the interactive elements of their shows in three steps. The first is being referred to as ‘two-screen’ or ‘two-box’ interactivity, which is already in place for most existing networks. In this model, audiences move from their TV to their PC to find more in-depth information on shows, stars or issues, or to engage in live chats among themselves or with show hosts via the website. Among carriers, Rogers Cable, for one, launched a service earlier this year for Toronto, Ottawa and Southwestern Ontario enabling subscribers to access the Web right on their TVs, facilitating the jump between traditional broadcast and the Internet.

The second phase involves some measure of interactivity on the TV screen, such as being able to access a hockey player’s scoring statistics, potentially through set-top box technology. The third phase is the introduction of fully interactive television, defined by an audience’s ability to use their sets to transmit data back.

So far, even the technology platform that will dominate the iTV market is up in the air, with the networks waiting to measure the response to both the digi-nets and the emergence of interactivity. CTV, which has the Category 1 Travel TV and the Women’s Sports Network, plans to launch some content using OpenTV this fall. Interestingly, the first show to try out interactive technology will be Degrassi: The Next Generation, on the main CTV network. Future interactivity will take into account some of the findings CTV has already made about how people behave with interactive options, according to Ken Murphy, president of the Discovery Network and senior VP of CTV Interactive.

‘When you’re telling a story, you need personal video recording to stop the show and drill down to find out more about the issues,’ Murphy says. ‘That may not be so with a sports show, which has natural pauses.’

Gratuitous pop-up content

At Chum, one of the technologies being investigated is Wink, because it works with existing set-top boxes. The broadcaster has so far secured the domain names for fthechannel.com (FashionTelevision) as well as its Category 2 services, including sextvthechannel, and driveinclassics.ca, says Maria Hale, managing director of ChumCity Interactive. Once iTV becomes a reality, Hale says, the challenge will be to design content that builds value for the audience: ‘You don’t want to have gratuitous pop-up content.’

Corus is also tackling the question of making its interactive elements relevant to its audience. For Country Canada, the company is building on what it believes to be the lifestyle of its audience demographic.

‘For Country, you have a community of viewers who rely on old-style interactivity, exchanging conversation over a morning cup of coffee,’ Rolufs says. ‘With the interactive content, you’re just transitioning to a new technology.’ In the case of the Country Canada website, putting that reality online will mean including live chat areas and message boards. For the Canadian Documentary Channel site, Corus will also provide discussion areas, while the websites for its Category 2 Edge TV and Scream services will rely on information of interest to fans of the related genres. Rolufs says Corus will also ‘re-purpose content.’

‘We’ll integrate some of the streaming Web chat into the TV content and take the television video and integrate it on the Web.’ Corus is also actively seeking out programming that is interactive, or has interactive potential, from conception.

Waiting for iTV is forcing networks to be creative in their design of Web content. For example, AAC’s Pulumbar, although vague, promises the site for the Category 1 Discovery Health Channel will not simply be medical advice text: ‘It will be more challenging, more cutting-edge, more voyeuristic. It will be behind the scenes and behind the doctors’ masks.’

The desire to grab viewers’ mouse-clicks now with whatever type of interactive programming possible is part of the networks’ long-term marketing and branding strategies. Many other shows have already discovered that having companion websites increases their audiences’ appreciation of the show.

Eckhartonline.com, for example, offers kids many options for interacting with Eckhart the mouse, the lead character on the animated half-hour P.E.I.-based series. (Catalyst Entertainment and Cellar Door Productions produce the Eckhart series, which airs on Teletoon.) The site, produced by Crumbfest Productions and built by Virtual Media Productions, includes stories, games, puppet shows and ‘choose your own adventure’ corners, and is designed to encourage kids to use their imagination to find new ways to play online. In the future, the site plans to include a guided tour of the island, an example of the scope of information a single show can generate.

The networks are banking that even such two-box interactive content will increase audience loyalty. ‘websites associated with programs are very successful,’ says CTV’s Murphy. ‘Viewers want to interact with shows online at their own convenience.’

-www.allianceatlantis.com

-www.corusentertainment.com

-www.ctv.ca

-www.chumlimited.com

-www.eckhartonline.com