Interactive television (iTV) has finally reached critical mass is posed for explosive growth within the next few years.

The CEO of Comcast said in a recent earnings call that 25 million U.S. cable-enabled homes will have access to iTV by the end of 2009. Combine this with the 30 million satellite and IPTV subscribers who already receive iTV and there are 55 million households that will be able to access iTV

iTV has huge money-making potential for programmers. Opportunities for programmers abound.  Programmers can offer shows with iTV functionality that lets viewers engage with favorite shows. iTV is already a huge success with shows such as American Idol and Dancing with the Stars where viewers are happy to pay a buck or two to vote for winners. Think as the possibilities sports broadcasting with access to statistics and other trivia.

iTV holds promise for distributors as well.  For example, iTV means advertising can be interactive. This lets consumers to respond to an ad in real time, highly beneficial for marketers and advertisers, driving immediate revenues, building brand awareness, and providing metrics.

Consumers will embrace iTV. Already used to interaction on the internet, consumers want more interaction with TV. The young generation, in particular, finds TV boring because there is no interaction. But, add interactivity and television goes to a whole new level.

Mobile payments and the communication benefits provided by mobile billing technology will be vitally important to the iTV industry