Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Ever wished your favourite cookery show would play when you were free to cook along? Or that you could get those cricket highlights or scoreboards exactly when you wanted them during the match? You’ll find all that and more in Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite provider Tata Sky’s innovative interactive services. Actve Cooking gives you four new recipes to try out everyday with on-demand videos (they’ve tied up with NDTV for this one). Actve Learning provides quizzes on maths, science and general knowledge for kids between the ages of seven and 11 (courtesy of 24X7guru.com), and Actve Stories provides TV-based story books that little children can read—and listen to— at their own pace.

“We’re redefining the way people look at TV,” says Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer of Tata Sky, which is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Star TV. “Suddenly, the TV, which has traditionally been a one-way medium takes on the power of the computer and becomes a two-way medium.”

This means that a family can take a break from TV serials and have a crack at the quizzes together—the question and the options come up on the screen, and you can choose the answer with your Tata Sky remote. Or you can try your luck at the ‘Lakhpati Kaun?’ game on Actve Games instead (you might want to make sure you’ve checked your daily horoscope on Actve Astrology first though). Those with a more religious bent of mind might enjoy the opportunity of a 24X7 darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba or the ISKCON temple in Juhu via Actve Darshan.

“Unlike with a personal computer, these activities become a collective family experience because that’s the way India consumes TV,” comments Mehra. “And unlike educational or game CDs you can tire of, we provide fresh material everyday or every week.”

Tata Sky began its interactive services about a year ago with Actve Sports, providing on-demand scores, highlights and match stats for sports nuts, and Actve Wizkids, teaching maths, English, etc. to very young children. With cookery, astrology, stories, quizzes, games and religion recently added to the interactive menu, there’s something for everyone in the family.

As of now, all the interactive channels remain free of charge, but according to Mehra, a small charge may be applied to some of the services in the near future.

DIVYA KUMAR

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail