A method wherein an operations center processes a video program signal to allow for insertion of virtual objects, the method further comprising: identifying a plurality of virtual object locations (37, 39) at different spatial positions within a video program; generating one or more rules for selecting one or more of a plurality of virtual objects (38, 40) to display in each of the plurality of virtual object locations (37, 39), wherein for each virtual object location (37, 39), data is defined representing a likely compatibility of image content in the video program surrounding the respective virtual object location with each of a number of groups to which reception sites are assigned, the data being used to determine which groups of reception sites to assign to the virtual objects for each virtual object location; transmitting the virtual objects and rules to a terminal at a reception site; and receiving the virtual objects, by the reception site, and inserting the received virtual objects, by the reception site, into the virtual object locations according to said rules; and wherein: a virtual object management center generates the virtual objects (38, 40) and provides the generated virtual objects to the operations center, each virtual object being identified by a unique virtual object identifier assigned by the virtual object management center, and provides interactive virtual object response management guidelines to an interactive object servicing center; and the interactive object servicing center processes an interactive request provided by the reception site driven by selection of a virtual object, and responds back to the reception site while using the interactive virtual object response management guidelines to determine a response upon receipt of the interactive request from the reception site. identifying a plurality of virtual object locations (37, 39) at different spatial positions within a video program; generating one or more rules for selecting one or more of a plurality of virtual objects (38, 40) to display in each of the plurality of virtual object locations (37, 39), wherein for each virtual object location (37, 39), data is defined representing a likely compatibility of image content in the video program surrounding the respective virtual object location with each of a number of groups to which reception sites are assigned, the data being used to determine which groups of reception sites to assign to the virtual objects for each virtual object location; transmitting the virtual objects and rules to a terminal at a reception site; and receiving the virtual objects, by the reception site, and inserting the received virtual objects, by the reception site, into the virtual object locations according to said rules; and wherein: a virtual object management center generates the virtual objects (38, 40) and provides the generated virtual objects to the operations center, each virtual object being identified by a unique virtual object identifier assigned by the virtual object management center, and provides interactive virtual object response management guidelines to an interactive object servicing center; and the interactive object servicing center processes an interactive request provided by the reception site driven by selection of a virtual object, and responds back to the reception site while using the interactive virtual object response management guidelines to determine a response upon receipt of the interactive request from the reception site. a virtual object management center generates the virtual objects (38, 40) and provides the generated virtual objects to the operations center, each virtual object being identified by a unique virtual object identifier assigned by the virtual object management center, and provides interactive virtual object response management guidelines to an interactive object servicing center; and the interactive object servicing center processes an interactive request provided by the reception site driven by selection of a virtual object, and responds back to the reception site while using the interactive virtual object response management guidelines to determine a response upon receipt of the interactive request from the reception site.