Desktop Television is believed to be the world's first digitally stored, satellite delivered, video on demand multimedia service in the world.
It delivers video, sound, text and graphics directly into the desktop PC for recall as and when the viewer requires the information.
The service was launched in January 1994 offering Desktop News on a daily basis (Monday through Friday).
In the autumn of 1994 a second service - i/o-net - was added. This is a dedicated, encrypted service to a discrete business audience.
Both services are being delivered via Eutelsat II to locations throughout Europe.
To receive Desktop Television, each receive location requires a satellite dish, a decoder and a server which stores the digital information. Individuals may then access the server from their PC to play out the information required "on demand".
Gary Mitchell is Director of Programmes at CTN (Corporate Television Networks).
CTN is the corporate television arm of ITN and Burson-Marsteller, producing Business Television and corporate programming for many international companies and organisations.
Gary has been a journalist for 25 years, including 10 years as a producer and Programme Editor at ITN. He set up and ran ITN Productions for three years, before helping to launch CTN three years ago.
He has been instrumental in the development of Desktop Television with IBM.