Two companies that will sell their products in this manner are Winn-Dixie Food Stores and Eckerds, and they will deliver the goods to the viewer's home after selections are made. ITV polling has been discussed primarily in conjunction with public-affairs programming and talk shows. The Eon Corporation, previously known as TV Answer, has an agreement with ABC to ask questions about the issues of the day during World News Tonight and Nightline. QB1, the first ITV program in the U.S., is the most popular example of play-along interactivity. The game runs simultaneously with live football games, and the object is to predict what play is going to be run.
Players compete to be the top scorer at their site, and send their scores in for a national ranking.
QB1 is played in bars, hotels, on GEnie and AOL, as well as ITV companies GTE main Street, Interactive Network and others. NTN, the producer of QB1, estimates that it has more than 5 million players today. If you want to experience ITV, QB1 seems to be the most widely available example at the present time. The Sega Channel, which has been tested in 12 cities, gives Sega Genesis owners with a special adapter the chance to receive games through the TV signal. Time Warner's Full Service Network has plans to include videogames among its offerings.