Interactive TV has been derided for many years, but things are about to change.  It is still a bit early, but the market for iTV will soon be fertile.  iTV is already taking off in parts of Europe and Korea. 

Many U.S. satellite TV and IPTV viewers already get a limited form of iTV.  Soon, many of the 65 million cable subscribers will get iTV, too.  But, consumers won't call it iTV.  They will call it voting for their favorite American Idol, checking for tornado alerts, caller ID, getting free samples, ordering a necklace, playing a popular cartoon game, getting team statistics, or messaging friends about the season finally.

One of the keys to enable this market is the OpenCable^TM Application Platform, also known as OCAP or OpenCable Platform, and now branded as tru2way.  In theory, application developers now have a "write once, run anywhere" target.  OCAP shares a worldwide linage and is based on a set of standards that came from the Internet world.  OCAP is already in trials today, and major cable companies are starting full deployment.  They are incented by recent FCC rulings and a desire to increase their competitiveness against satellite and IPTV.

OCAP is creating new business models, cable system elements, consumer electronics, application development, advertising, services, tools and testing methods.  But, there are a few clouds in the picture, too.

This report, OCAP iTV - Issues, Opportunities, Threats, explains what OCAP is and how it works at a level aimed at marketing and technology managers.  It identifies 22 issues that should be considered if one is looking to enter this market.  It gives a sense for the market's timing by forecasting OCAPs rollout.  It points to 49 companies that might represent your competitor or partner.