Around 260 exhibitors attended, ranging from ITV content providers to those providing the hardware and infrastructure for the new systems. It provided a rare chance for those at the cutting edge of many different aspects of the business to discuss progress.

Two Way TV took the opportunity to showcase their live competitive TV games, which are already available in 100,000 homes via the UK's digital cable platforms. The company claims to be the leading interactive TV company in the world. Marjorie Curtis, Two Way TV's Head of Corporate marketing, argues that initial reaction to the service "proves that entertainment will be a driving force in the digital broadcasting explosion."

Their big news was that Two Way TV and its US joint venture counterpart, TWIN Entertainment, have been chosen by Liberate as its first certified partners in the PopTVTM developer programme. This is in addition to recent deals to produce interactive gameshows with companies including Flextech, Pearson TV, and Channel 4 in the UK, and Game Show Network in the US.

FutureTV used the exhibition to unveil a series of licensing deals for their Irish DSL trials, which are being undertaken jointly with Eircom plc. This will provide a wide range of content for the video-on-demand service offered by its personalised TV system, MiTV. The new licenses will give FutureTV and Eircom around 200 hours of content including children's programmes, concerts, dramas, comedy, cooking, and sport. A six-month trial of MiTV was launched in Spain last month in conjunction with ONO, Spain's leading broadband telecommunications and cable TV provider.

A packed seminar saw Ricky Rand, FutureTV's Chief Executive, demonstrate MiTV, together with FutureTV's suite of tools for TV-based convergence between the Internet, audio, and video. While some aspects of the system, such as the email option, seem unlikely to find favour with those who are used to the PC, the system impressed with its ability to combine audio-on-demand, VOD, advertising, and Internet access personalised to the individual.

France was one of the early pioneers of interactive digital television services and there was a sizeable French presence at the conference, including a number of companies aiming to bring ideas and technology initially developed in France to the international market. These varied from established players like Canal+ Technologies, now one of the world's leading providers of interactive and digital TV software applications, to smaller players like NPTV, a small content and software provider with interests in advertising and programme-making.

According to NPTV's Helene Fearon, the company will expand into Spain this summer and aims to be in the UK by the end of the year. Having launched two years ago to create interactive advertising for the Canalsatellite platform, NPTV is exploring new areas, including interactive drama, with the creation of a series of short films. The first, "Slasher", features a young woman stalked by a psychopath. At key points in the story, the viewer makes the decisions for her, which will ultimately decide whether she survives.

NPTV's main focus, however, is Bando, a software system which promises a cost-effective solution for European advertisers who wish to run cross-platform campaigns. A Mediahighway version is already available and its Open TV counterpart is scheduled for release in September this year.

A number of exhibitors highlighted the huge potential for ITV games, with many predicting that games channels will be wholly financed by in-game advertising. NGame is developing these ideas for NTL and, according to Marketing Manager Rick Owen, envisages one option as being an "advert hell", where a player is forced to sit through several ads when their character dies before play can resume.

Static 2358, the UK-based ITV content provider, announced the launch of Playjam, the first free-to-air games channel for all digital media. Accessed via TV platforms, the Web, and next-generation mobile phones, this offers a range of games and the opportunity to win prizes.

Simon Smith, Static's Creative Manager, was closely involved in the development, and points to the success of the Trivial Pursuit game on the UK's Open... platform to illustrate what can be achieved. Viewers were charged per play and the game generated £1m income in just two weeks.

The exhibition was both a reminder of the huge range of activity taking place in ITV, in Europe and beyond, and an opportunity for people from many different areas of the industry to exchange views, via a wide-ranging programme of seminars. If the bold plans outlined by exhibitors are realised, and their ambitions fulfilled, then the coming year will be exhilarating and action-packed for Europe's ITV industry.

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Jon Dobinson is Managing Director of other*, a young and creative London-based advertising company, which creates television advertising for clients such as Newsweek across Europe. To comment on this article, please email jon@other.co.uk and itvt@itvt.com. Thank you.

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