What does the word “interactive” mean? Does it mean expensive premium rate telephone calls or some other charge?
The word “interactive” is used by most broadcasting and broadcasting-related organisations, including OfCom, to refer to truly interactive features such as viewer phone-in “competitions” and polls, and shopping. Programmes with these features are usually marked with an “i” symbol in television programme schedules. Some organisations, notably NTL, use the word “interactive” to refer to digital text services. The BBC uses the word “interactive” to refer to the selection of extra television channels by means of the text system on digital television. On Freeview, these extra television channels (301 and 302) can be accessed free of charge, despite the word “interactive”. Since almost all Freeview set-top boxes are not connected to the phone system, there is no information path from the viewer to the broadcaster, so these additional channels are not actually interactive in any sense. Some people argue that selecting a channel by means of the text system involves pressing a button on the rem
