Point and Click—at Your TV

Backchannel takes a remote shot at that elusive prize: profitable interactive television

BusinessWeek, March 10, 2008 — Michael Kokernak has been unhealthily gripped by a very specific obsession for more than 10 years. Fortunately, his fixed stare is trained on something socially acceptable, even though it may not make for scintillating party chat.

Since 1997, Kokernak has immersed himself in the arcana of making advertising accountable, and, more recently, in how to fuse TV ads with the measurable, click-here-now aspects of the Web. Kokernak is the founder and co-CEO of Boston-based Backchannelmedia. The company peddles technology that, to oversimplify somewhat, flashes on TV ads and programs small onscreen tokens that are "clickable" with a standard remote control, à la Web ads.