Social TV - Thoughts

sami@sofanatics.com

Social TV

• Online discussions about TV programs

• Television programs as a natural starting point for interaction

• At the moment programs on TV, social actions on other devices

• TV devices are becoming social too when connected to Internet

“It seems we are becoming a nation of armchair pundits, sitting watching TV with laptops at the ready” David McKeown, Intel

Photo: Arria Belli@flickr

Activated viewers

• Viewers have become users

• Comments and reactions during the programs

• Discussions, recommendations, check-in's and other fan behavior between the programs

• Supporting the viewer interaction has become essential when creating TV concepts

Photo: insidefacebook.com

CNN Facebook Live Stream-applicationMillion users updated their FB profile on CNN.com during Obama inauguration on Jan 20th 2009

Why now?

• Social media has become mainstream

• TV companies activated in Social media

• Device manufacturers adding Internet connections and Twitter, Facebook etc. apps to their devices

• More and more Social TV services launched

LG's view on TV connected to Internet

Photo: LG

2010-2011

• Redshift Research 10/2010: 45 % of all British use Social media while watching TV

• Nielsen 3/2010: 59 % of Americans surf the Internet and watch TV at the same time

• Wired: Six tech trends to expect in 2011: one of the trends Social TV

• MIT Tech Review 5/2010: 10 emerging technologies 2010: Social TV included

Twitter and the FIFA World CupRecord 3283 tweets per second (Denmark-Japan Jun 24th)

Photo: Twitter

Sports and social TV

• Sports is the most natural subject for a social TV service because:

‣ Sports event raise strong primitive emotions and a need to share those feelings with like-minded

‣ Events have a viewer friendly duration and exciting dramaturgical structure

‣ Sports broadcasts are followed simultaneously all around the world

“There can be no doubt about the religious significance of soccer event”Desmond Morris / the Soccer Tribe (1981)

Photo: Rodrigo Vieira - www.guideinrio.com

Football (Soccer) and Social TV

• Team sports – especially football – works best on Social TV because:

‣ Football is the most popular sport in the world

‣ Biggest football teams have fans all around the globe

‣ Long traditions: Clubs are strong brands that arouse strong emotions

‣ Extremely developed fan culture: Clothes, mantras, songs and other social actions strengthen the tribal identity of supporters. Fans are ready to make sacrifices for their team

Sofanatics.comManchester United - Liverpool, 9.1.2011

Sami Kuusela+358 44 3234 323

sami@sofanatics.com

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