Interactive TV (iTV) is coming to America and preparing to tarnish those copper wires of old by offering squeaky clean interactive terrestrial and satellite connection rates of between 200Kbps and 4Mbps (80 times faster than a 56k modem) to consumers.

First some figures: Forrester Research predicts that iTV will be a US$32 billion industry by 2005, while Jupiter Communications predicts that 23 percent of US homes will surf via broadband connections by 2003; IDC predicts that by 2004, 44.5 million and 81.3 million iTVs will be installed in the US and worldwide respectively -- all conservative figures with other research groups predicting even higher numbers. At present, US cable operators are already hip to the scene and spending billions of dollars to upgrade and rebuild their infrastructures to carry interactive two-way systems. In the mortal words of Glenn Frey, "The Heat is On!"

As this ever-widening arc of connection options and broadband speeds enters the American marketplace with interactivity attached, advertisers will commence engaging their audiences through the use of iTV to enrich and thereby maintain core audience numbers.

Enter AGENCY.COM, the antihistamine to cure new media hive stress, navigating within the techno landscape to develop

interactive relationships between its clients and their customers via multiple digital channels; namely the Internet, wireless and iTV. Headquartered in New York with offices across the world including Amsterdam, London, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul and Singapore, AGENCY.COM is a leading e-business builder in the global marketplace and provides strategy, branding and technology services to help clients build and grow their interactive businesses.

"You can be sure that iTV will have a big impact on the advertising community, and by extension commercial production," says AGENCY.COM's Tim Larcombe, regional president for iTV in North America. "Creatively, it offers directors and producers of traditional 30-second spots the potential to extend storylines, the time an audience spends with the concept behind the spot and therefore with the brand being advertised."

Clients of AGENCY.COM include British Airways, 3M, Colgate-Palmolive, Compaq, Heineken and Reuters. Services offered to BA are an example of what the future offers US companies. "British Airways shouldn't care by which channel they interact with customers [presently via the Internet, iTV or mobile phone]," explains Larcombe. "As a BA customer you want information or contact in a form that is most convenient for you, and that convenience is what we as AGENCY.COM promote."

Of course, the recent ebiz market dive, specifically a downturn in the telecommunications sector and slowing of the US economy, may hinder the development and deployment of iTV.

Yet however extended timelines become, when iTV becomes entrenched on American soil it will offer digital connection rates in the range of 4Mbps -- a speed that provides streaming video with image quality far superior to VHS tape. Sure, we'll all need digital equipment upgrades, but we'll require it anyhow as US regulations force all TV broadcasts to go digital within the next decade.

The bottom line seems to be with US consumers themselves, who presently possess little understanding of what interactive

television actually is. They already accept that cable and satellite services are worth the cost, but educating them on interactivity

services and applications will be a prime directive for the industry.

Additionally, consumer acceptance and that elusive interest in interactive services will require truly compelling content -- a lack of impressive services and content could hinder consumer adoption.

"You have to get interactivity discussed by the creatives at a very early stage," says Larcombe. "By far the best interactive spots done so far are the ones where interactivity has been added at the beginning of the campaign, not overlaid afterwards. Once this operation becomes widespread, I believe that we will be engaging viewers completely and moving them away from passive TV viewing."

The deployment of iTV rests on an evolution of standards, an investment in infrastructure and the availability of content and services to woo consumers across the 50 states of Americana. As the broadcast industry undergoes yet another revolution driven by iTV, we will witness advertisers utilizing new technology to enrich customers' palettes to keep businesses alive.

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AGENCY.COM> www.agency.com and www.itvagency.com