2012 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: /jdtv _1

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1 JDTV 3 (2) pp Intellect Limited 2012 International Journal of Digital Television Volume 3 Number Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: /jdtv _1 Special feature Célia Quico Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias David Geerts Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Interactive TV and video: Papers from the EuroITV Conference, Introduction by the Conference Chairs This special feature within the International Journal of Digital Television presents a selection of some of the best papers from the EuroITV2011 conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 29 June to 1 July. It was the ninth edition of the EuroITV conference series, which has established itself over the years as the premier international conference on interactive television and video. EuroITV aims to cover every aspect of interactive television, from user experience and interface design, over media studies and business modelling, to technical issues and system development. Keywords digital TV interactive television ubiquitous TV multiple devices interactive advertising audience measurement 181

2 Célia Quico David Geerts The theme of the EuroITV2011 conference was ubiquitous TV, reflecting the current changes that (interactive) television is going through. Television is no longer seen as a static device with linear broadcast programmes, potentially enhanced with interactive features through means of a set-top box (STB). The current television eco-system no longer relies on a specific device, but rather involves audio-visual content that can be consumed through different devices or networks, from the traditional TV set, via the PC, on tablet devices or mobile phones, and, just as well, on screens in taxis or large screens throughout the city. This frees the concept of television from the TV set, effectively making it a service that can be consumed anywhere in the home or even out of the home. Similar to ubiquitous computing, ubiquitous television will bring about new ways of integrating television content into everyday life, something which is already visible in the use of smartphones and tablet devices in conjunction with the television set. The four articles presented here are based on, and subsequently developed from, the proceedings of EuroITV2011. The four papers were selected from the conference track on Media, Social and Economic Studies, chaired by Petter Bae Brandtzæg, from SINTEF (Norway) and Wendy Van den Broeck, from IBBT-SMIT of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). For the first paper, Technological convergence in audio-visual technologies, the viewing practices of more than 13,000 individuals were scrutinized by Cédric Courtois, Evelien D heer and Dimitri Schuurman from IBBT-MICT- Ghent University (Belgium). With multiple technologies currently competing for the audience s attention as the delivery means for television content, the authors drew on the theory of the niche and media spending to understand better how consumers assess which medium provides them with the highest level of gratification. Adoption diffusion and the use diffusion gap are also explored, focusing on whether new technologies to access audio-visual content are actually incorporated into people s technological repertoires and whether and how these technologies are used. Two major classes of consumers were derived from the large-scale survey: the traditionalists, who unveiled a somewhat conservative stance towards audio-visual technologies and the technological omnivores, who have a higher probability of owning and using all kinds of mobile devices video capabilities as well as higher chances of owning computers. The user experience of the elderly as well as young teenagers with digital TV is the focus of the paper User experience with digital television: A qualitative investigation about young and elderly people by Filomena Papa and Bartolomeo Sapio, from Fondazione Ugo Bordoni (Italy), and Felicia Pelagalli, from the Culture Institute (Italy). The paper presents the findings of a qualitative investigation, mainly using the focus group technique, developed in the framework of the project Monitor DTT (looking at user experience with digital terrestrial television). The authors note that older people have been the population segment that has encountered most difficulties and problems during the transition process to digital TV in various parts of Europe and also that there are few systematic studies on elderly users experience of digital TV. The introduction of DTT brought new equipment, multiple channels, a double remote control and new interactive services, which, by contrast with younger age groups, the elderly found to be a challenge. Also significantly, the research suggests that older people who are now extensively using the new digital TV channels and functionalities are also using the Internet for a range of functions, such as looking for old friends on Facebook or reading online newspapers. 182

3 Interactive TV and video The EuroITV conference 2011 Célia Quico Cédric Courtois Filomena Papa Evangelia Mantzani Iris Jennes 183

4 Célia Quico David Geerts Interactive TV advertising is the major theme of the paper Evaluating program-embedded advertising format for interactive digital television, by Paraskevi Vennou, from Hellenic Open University (Greece) and Evangelia Mantzari and George Lekakos, from Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece). The evaluation of the effectiveness of a new format of interactive advertising is explored in this paper, investigating the user s interest and preference for a product while watching a TV programme of relatively high interest. At a time when the effectiveness of the 30-second TV spot model is increasingly contested, new ways of reaching consumers are needed by all parts of the media industry value chain. The authors have designed and evaluated two different formats of interactive ads a Microsite ad format and a product placement ad model designated by Selectable item ad (SIA), in order to measure the effect of different presentation styles to the viewer for the promotion of the same product. The empirical findings suggest that the new ad format (SIA) was more effective for product promotion, provided more information about the products, offered a better opportunity for interaction, provided users with better control of interactivity and created less disruption to the flow of the broadcast TV programme. Finally, the challenges of measuring digital TV audiences were addressed by Iris Jennes and Jo Pierson, from IBBT-SMIT of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) in their paper Audience measurement and digitalization: Integrating TV and Internet?. The authors describe the changes and challenges for different actors in the television industry, such as the TV distributors, broadcasters, audiences and advertisers. The specific issues regarding the TV audience measurement in our current digital era are explored, in which the traditional passive exposure model seems to be more and more inadequate. Also, the difficulties faced by the measurement of online audiences are addressed, in which the current model of impression like exposure in the case of TV audiences is also considered as deficient. To conclude, the authors make the case for broadcasters, advertisers, distributors and measurement firms to experiment with the possibilities of digital and connected television in order to keep up with the changing environment. We hope that this selection of papers from the Media, Social and Economic Studies track from EuroITV2011 provides insights into the current issues that are affecting the changing landscape of digital television and the challenges which the different actors in the field audiences, advertisers and broadcasters are facing. Suggested citation Quico, C. and Geerts, D. (2012), Interactive TV and video: Papers from the EuroITV Conference, Introduction by the Conference Chairs, International Journal of Digital Television 3: 2, pp , doi: /jdtv _1 Contributor details Célia Quico is a professor and researcher at Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias and she has a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences by Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Her main research interests are media audiences, adoption of innovations, interactive television and media convergence. celia.quico@gmail.com 184

5 Interactive TV and video David Geerts is research manager of the Centre for User Experience Research (CUO) at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), and has a Ph.D. in Social Sciences at the same university. His main research interests are human computer interaction, user experience design and evaluation, and social television. david.geerts@soc.kuleuven.be Célia Quico and David Geerts have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd. 185

6 Portuguese Journal of Social Science ISSN X Online ISSN issues per volume Volume 11, 2012 Editor Luísa Oliveira ISCTE-IUL luisa.oliveira@iscte.pt Editorial Consultant Stewart Lloyd-Jones ISCTE-IUL stewart.lloyd-jones@iscte.pt Aims and Scope The Portuguese Journal of Social Science brings to an international readership the best Portuguese scholarship in the social sciences. Published in English, this journal combines important work of interest to the social science community, particularly specialists in Latin America and southern Europe. Call for Papers This journal opens a gateway for the international community to engage with a high calibre of academic work in social sciences produced by Portuguese scholarship. The principal academic disciplines covered by the journal include anthropology, economics, history, social psychology, sociology, political science and social geography. intellect journals