I think that this idea of TV being an interactive media, is a real one. Mostly for the reason that to survive the new era a television program must make it self, interactive. Starting with shows like America's Most Wanted... A show that veils itself in the cloak of public service, showing the terror and cunning of some of Americas "best" criminals. I used the word best, for only the most skilled criminal are able to do things so shocking and terrible to catch the eye of the FBI and be getting away with it. What makes the show exciting is that fact that these people are still out among the free. This is the basis of the interactivity. What makes the consumer connected with the show is that this criminal may be in the house next door. That they are walking around free, and that you can be a part of their capture. If it was Americans worst locked up criminals... the show would have no aspect of interactivity. The hook in this marketing expedition, is that the big fish are all landed by the common citizen.
In the case of Mark Cerino

Capture #859 , Sep 11, 2005 Waterloo, NY
Cops in Florida are tried to track down Mark Cerino. A man who was running around Florida praying on the elderly in the aftermath of a terrible storm. Estimating jobs, collecting money and disappearing. Unable to find him, he lands on America's Most Wanted....

The Capture
"When the show aired, the phone lines on our hotline lit up. One after another, after another call came in, nine in total, stating that Cerino was living in Waterloo, a small town located between Syracuse and Rochester."

For people of upstate new york this brings the interactivity directly into their back yard. Like a winning lottery ticket at a local gas station, it makes the possibility of aided capture seem much more likely.