DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/866112/social_tv_and_the) has announced the addition of the "Social TV and the Emergence of Interactive TV" report to their offering.
Social TV and the Emergence of Interactive TV - Report Explains Use of Relationships to Rebuild Fragmented TV Markets
In May 2010, Social TV was named one of the 10 most important emerging technologies by the MIT Technology Review, because it builds on relationships already established in Social Media Websites like Facebook and Twitter to rebuild fragmented TV audiences.
With Facebook now having over 500 million active users, and Twitter over 100 million, Facebook revenue is approaching US$1.1 billion in 2010, about double its 2009 revenue. Many consumers are using Social Media to connect with entertainment, like movies and TV, thereby creating the new product category called Social TV. Social TV is the extension of Social Media through the simultaneous use of a tablet or smartphone while watching TV.
Already, Nielsen has reported that 59% of U.S. Internet users browse the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. And this number is sure to grow, especially among younger consumers who have grown up with smartphones and prefer watching TV on laptops.
For now, Social TV is best with a second screen device like a PC, iPad or smartphone- because it allows for greater personalization and interactivity. Portable devices, like smartphones or iPads are popular among Social TV users because they already use Facebook or Twitter for communicating with others, and because users can message to many different devices. Social TV is about bringing social back into TV, said Jose Alvear, MRG IPTV Senior Analyst. TV has always been a social medium, but personal video devices and multiple TVs in the home have made it less social. Today, social networking sites are making it easy for consumers to get social with TV again.
Social TV's benefits for Content Owners, Consumers, Service Providers and Advertisers come in a variety of ways, including helping drive up TV ratings, rewarding consumers for watching TV, increasing brand engagement and even allowing for new rich media advertising opportunities.
The report also highlights the leading Social TV Vendors and Platforms, looking at possible business models, and showing how Social TV works with actual case studies from major entertainment brands and TV shows around the world. The report also includes detailed opportunities, risks and recommendations for Service Providers, advertisers and content owners.
Social TV Vendors include: Clicker, ClipSync, GetGlue, Hot Potato, KickFour, MediaFriends, Miso, Orca Interactive, Philo, Starling, Tank Top TV, Tunerfish, tvChatter and Vloop. Service Providers using Social TV include AT&T, BT, Comcast, France Telecom, Google TV, Microsoft (Xbox 360), Verizon and Virgin Media. Analytics involving tweets, comments, trends, and likes are also discussed.
As the popularity of Social Media has grown, a new interesting development has been the emergence of Social TV. Consumers all over the world are using Social Media networks like Facebook and Twitter to connect and converse with their friends and family. One of the most popular topics is entertainment and TV. This has led to Social TV, which is essentially the combination of Social Media with TV (for example, watching a program on TV while commenting with friends about the program on a laptop or an iPad). Although technology and social networks have given us this new term, the concept isnt new. TV has always been a social medium. Social TV is about bringing social back to TV via technology.
As indicated above, Social TV refers to the simultaneous use of Social Media tools while watching TV. Already, Nielsen reported in March 2010 that 59% of the U.S. population browse the Internet and watch TV simultaneously at least once per month. This number is sure to grow, especially among younger consumers who have grown up with smartphones and prefer watching TV on laptops. There are many types of interactivity possible from checking-in to TV shows, commenting on shows that are being shown live, to more sophisticated features like text chatting, polling, and even audio/video chatting. Although it is still very early, Social TV has the promise of making TV interactive and social, like it was when a family sat together around the living room TV.
Why Social TV? The key is engagement. Social TV drives the level of engagement up, increases ratings, and can also help increase revenues via advertising. For Service Providers and Content Owners, the advantages are many: not only do consumers get a backchannel, but they can also have a very immersive and interactive TV experience. Consumers can use an iPad, for example, and watch their favorite TV shows. They also can comment and talk to their friends (and so much more) while still watching TV.
Social TV isnt for every person, nor for every TV show. It works best on shows that have a strong element of live TV, which encourage a greater immediate need to discuss what's happening as it happens. Popular live shows like American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, are good examples because they have large audiences, and are unscripted reality shows with a weekly contest to draw viewers in over a TV season and which often use voting or polling from the audience. Sports and news are other good examples of the type of content that attracts Social TV.
Currently, there are many Social TV Vendors that have a wide range of features. Some just offer content recommendations, while others have a more integrated platform that works with the backend systems of Service Providers. Most Vendors have a separate app, usually an iPhone or Android app, to offer their functions, but others also have Websites, and even native iPad apps. In fact, the iPad has emerged as a second screen device for Social TV, where consumers can go and interact with others while simultaneously watching TV. Most Vendors believe that smartphones and tablet computers are the best platforms (compared with PCs[1] and laptops) because they are portable and allow users to log in, so they can rate movies and comment on shows.
[1] In this report, PC means all personal computers using online, which can be used for many platforms such as Mac, Windows and Linux.
Key Topics Covered:
- 1 Executive Summary
- 2 Introduction to Social Media
- 3 Introduction to Social TV
- 4 Social TV Business Models: Advertising, Promotions/Sponsorships and Analytics
- 5 Social TV Vendors and Platforms
- 6 Opportunities, Recommendations and Risks
- 7 Case Studies
- 8 Index of Companies
- Table of Figures
- Table of Tables
Some of the Companies Mentioned include:
- ABC
- Amazon.com, Inc.
- Apple Computer, Inc. (iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Mac)
- AT&T
- BBC (iPlayer)
- CBS
- Cisco Systems, Inc. (WebEx)
- CNN
- Deloitte
- DISH Network L.L.C.
- ENIAC Ventures
- EPIX
- Facebook, Inc.
- Fox Broadcasting Company
- FremantleMedia
- Frog Design, Inc.
- Google Inc. (AdWords, Android)
- HBO
- Hewlett-Packard Company (Palm, Palm OS)
- IneoQuest Technologies, Inc.
- JWT
- Logitech
- MediaFriends (Integra5)
- Oxygen Network (Oxygen)
- PepsiCo, Inc. (Pepsi)
- Research In Motion Ltd. (BlackBerry)
- Verizon
- WPP Group
- Yelp
- Zagat
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/866112/social_tv_and_the
Source: Multimedia Research Group