Following the initial terrestrial broadcast of Pyramid, Pyramid Challenge is currently running 24 hours a day to digital satellite and terrestrial (Freeview) homes.

Pyramid Challenge - The Book of Buried Pearls" is, according the the BBC, "the world's first interactive TV adventure story". The programe uses the switching of four seperate video feeds so that the viewer can choose their own path throughout the adventure by using their remote control.

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Following on from the success of interactive TV donations in 2001, the BBC has again offered interactive television viewers in the UK the chance to donate from the comfort of their sofa with this interactive application made possible by BBCi, BT and GoInteract. Viewers can choose an amount to donate from £5 to £1000 and then enter their credit card details using their remote controls. The application is accessed from the BBC Text portal and also from branded "Donate" call-to-action that appears during relevant 'Children in Need' programming. Once the card details and personal info has been entered, the box then dials up and connects with a cute spinning animation of the 'Children in Need' Pudsey Bear.

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This application launches automatically when the viewer switches the the Mad TV music video channel- the 'OK' call-to-action appears on the screen letting the viewer know they can interact. By pressing the 'OK' button a banner appears on the screen giving the viewer 3 options:

Ringtones: A list of top 10 ringtones appears (code - title - artist). The viewer can order their favourite ringtone via a premium rate phone line with the order being confirmed via an SMS to the subscribers' mobile phone.

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This voting application follows the same template structure as the applications used for MTV Hits, the Mobo awards voting and pretty much all the enhancements on MTV's channels in the UK. Obviously it is relatively easy for MTV to re-skin their core application - although as can be seen from the 4th still below, and from our video, they do seem to be having problems with text extending beyond its boundary.

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The banner to launch this voting application appears shortly after selecting the MTV Spain channel on the CSD Spain platform. Pressing the "SERV" interactive button takes you to a branded pop-up interface featuring the 2002 EMA design and the logos of the event sponsors (D&G, Vodaphone, Amex and Foot Locker). By entering the vote, viewers have the chance to win an invite to the EMA's taking place in Barcelona on 14th November.

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This application accompanies the "Great Britons" series on BBC2.

The show profiles the lives of 10 Great Britons including Churchill, Brunel, Darwin, Shakespeare, Newton, Diana etc. The application allows the viewer to vote on who is the greatest Briton of all time out of the 10 selected candidates. Viewers can also submit their votes via telephone and the web. Cleverly the application also asks the viewer their age and sex - and the results are shown broken down by these groups.

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In May 2002, Disney Channel embarked on a mammoth search for a group of talented youngsters who would form a pop group to record a single, shoot a video and finally perform to 10,000 fans at the London Arena as well as millions of TV viewers during the 2002 Disney Channel Kids Awards.

To have a chance of being in the group, 5,000 hopefulls attended 5 workshops around England, Scotland and Wales.

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BBCi have taken a truly multi-platform approach with their new show Fame Academy.

The show is supported by round-the-clock news updates, highlights packages, profiles and pictures available across all three digital interactive TV platforms, the internet, broadband, SMS, WAP and PDA.

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BBC's IQ show "Test The Nation" was broadcast live on Saturday May 11th, 2002.

On the night of the test, 9.1 million viewers watched Anne Robinson and Phillip Schofield put six studio groups through their paces. Viewers could also interact with the show and obtain their own score via digital satellite, digital cable or via the web.

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Accessible on the MTV Bass channel (one of MTV's new digital music genre based channels) by pressing the Red button, this application is essentially the same template as the MTV Hits enhancement that has been on air for several months, but reskinned.

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Following on from "Single Girls", this new dating show from Shine Productions (Elizabeth Murdoch's production company) has been designed with interaction in mind.

The show allows the viewer to decide who gets to appear in each weekly episode using their interactive remote control or by telephone voting.

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Launched by pressing OK from the special 24 hour Big Brother channel (channel 37) on the Multichoice DTH platform, this full-screen application featured news from the Big Brother house, an overview of the tasks the contestants had to complete, a moderated forum featuring viewer comments and detailed profiles of the housemates.

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This enhanced TV game show, broadcast by "Challenge?" on the Sky Digital platform and developed by TwoWayTV presents a number of challenges...

How do you enhance a TV game show with interactivity without detracting from the programme? How do you replicate the gameplay of the board game "Scrabble" in the interactive TV world?

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This interactive version of the Saturday Show once again makes good use of the BBC's multistream capabilities. Pressing the red button during the regular broadcast takes viewers to the familiar choice of feeds that has been seen previously with Wimbledon, Winter Olympics and various other BBC applications.

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The Enhanced TV gameshow Defectors launched on Flextech's "Challenge ?" channel on May 20th 2002 - After 3 weeks, 18% or around 1/5 of viewers who watch the show are opting to interact with it.

Whats more, the application is extremely simple in terms of the interface - just a score calculator and the question colour choices superimposed over the video.

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Following the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, this application, created in partnership with UK developer GOiNTERACTtv surveyed the BBC's Sky Digital audience over one week in early June. Viewers were able to access the interactive poll by pressing the ‘red button’ on the remote control during live BBC News broadcasts or through BBC News 24, and also via the BBCi-bar accessed by pressing the ‘text button’ on the handset. The survey asked just 6 questions, easily selectable via the left and right keys with the results being sent back via the STB modem at a drop charge of 25 pence.

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Some people are actively criticising the BBC's interactive TV teams for not having actually developed any interactive services. Why? Well its not entirely true, but many of BBCi's services are not based on pages and pages of text and still images or clever return path usage, but on the delivery of multiple streams of video. These streams are simply cross-linked and offer small amounts of text and interactivity. After all, interactive TV is all about television!

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The new series of Big Brother commenced towards the end of May 2002 with a 24 hour multiple stream feed accessible via a red button call-to-action which features semi-permanently on E4 and occasionally Channel 4 during Big Brother programming.

Interactivity via the Sky platform is a little more ambitious this year with viewers first reaching a menu screen that leads to a variety of services including what is effectively the same Mosaic/Vote application as was used last year.

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The primary aim of this service is to allow Canal Satellite France's viewers to participate in a vote to influence who leaves the loft (Big Brother style format). However in addition some simple news pages have been added which are updated on a daily basis - plus there is what is effectively a video hyperlink through to channel 89 - which is where the Loft Story PPV service is broadcast. Viewers who subscribe to the special event are able to follow events in the loft 24 hours per day.

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I should have added this application to the video vault nearly 2 years ago when this application first launched, however here it is at last. MCM is the main rival to MTV in the French market and has a well established audience.

This application allows MCM's viewers to consult what the current, previous and next videos to be played on the channel plus find our additional info on each artist.

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Its a pity that a Paris Premiere channel doesn't exist in a similar form in the UK.

It has some pretty innovative programmes that make the most of France's culture. You should definitely check out Paris Derniere - which looks at French night life in an unique way.

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Using virtually the same template as "Watch your own Week" (See Below) Nickelodeon used the Easter school holidays to capture its audience and offer them the opportunity to vote for their favourite striker.

Votes cost 25 pence - and although a message tells the viewers that they are only able to vote once - the connection still appears to go through.

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Whether rebranded or syndicated for other markets, Antiques Roadshow from the BBC has been running for many years and captures the attention of a wide cross-section of the audience. This simple enhancement produced by TwoWayTV for the BBC shows how play along elements can significantly enhance viewer enjoyment and loyalty. Unlike other iTV services, this one doesn't feature a revenue generating premium rate call to "submit your high score" - but there's no reason why it couldn't.

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Sky News Active has been relaunched to include 8 selectable video streams instead of the 4 that were included in the original application. (see BroadbandBananas video vault) A similar interface (also with 8 screens) is used in the customer service application on channel 998.

Once in the News Active Service, pressing (1) will take you to the 8 separate video windows which can be highlighted using the remote control's left, right, up and down keys.

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MTV's latest interactive application runs on MTV Hits - a digital only version of MTV that only shows videos and who has its primary reach in the UK. The application is being heavily promoted on air (see Platform Marketing Section) - and uses a discreet call to action in-vision which invites the viewer to interact.

Once the service has launched, viewers can see news/gossip, enter a quiz draw (50 pence per entry) or stick simple bitmap "stickers" at 8 pre-determined locations on screen.

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