With the introduction of the CableCard standard, cable TV product manufacturers can develop new products and services that do not rely specifically on set-top boxes provided by cable providers.

Taking concepts of content personalization from the Internet, advertisers and content provides could partner with cable-compatible product manufacturers to establish standards for distributing personalized content, including news, sports, WWW content.

Providing standard content layout templates, and allowing for customization using standard content formatting "languages", such as HTML and XSL, consumers could specify the layout and type of content they wish to receive on their televisions.

An example of my own potential use of this technology relates to sporting event viewing. Each network and cable channel provides the same set of content in completely different ways. Some provide more than others. Infrequently, do they provide the exact content about a game, race, etc. that I am interested in at the time that I'm curious about it. For instance, I watch quite a bit of football. I don't frequently commit to memory the schedules of my favorite teams. A hot link on the screen in my own pre-defined game data layout could allow me to pull up a team's schedule.

Another example is that of new and information feeds. I do not spend much time watching television, so I have to choose between watching something mindless and entertaining (frequent selection) or something newsworthy. Having a template setup that shows news headlines at the bottom of my screen (similar to the HeadlineNews ticker) would allow me to enjoy a show while getting updated on current headlines.

Stock tickers, eBay auction status, email alerts, weather alerts are just a few additional items for which personalized display templates could be created and desired feeds configured.

Constraints that I can think of include getting the aforementioned parties to the table to actually discuss the topic and decide on standards (which would then need to be supported by devices). Also, ensuring that novice (and even expert) users of the personalization capabilities can't "hurt" their televisions, Tivos, cable boxes, etc. Finally, getting networks and cable providers to eliminate their proprietary tickers could possibly prove to be the biggest hurdle.

There is the possibility of getting them to the table with feed sponsorship, but this should be evaluated prior to approaching them to ensure there is enough revenue to go around.

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