Category: Social Check in

Jul 4 2011

Social Media + Broadcast TV = Killer App

by Beyond-TV • Social Check in, Social Media, Social TV 0

A TVGuide.com study found that more viewers chatted and tweeted while watching live TV during the past season and the top 10 most popular “social shows” are all aired on broadcast networks. Such social viewing is giving rise to a new metric, social impressions, that bolsters the gross ratings points. Stations are also discovering the value of tying local programming in with the Facebook and Twitter.

Have you heard about social media’s latest killer app? It’s called television.

According to a TVGuide.com study, social media discussions about television shows drove more live viewing and second-screen engagement during the 2010-11 television season and, interestingly, the top 10 “social shows” all aired on broadcast networks.

They are:

NCIS
American Idol
Criminal Minds
Glee
House
Fringe
Bones
Castle
Smallville
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

What’s interesting is that Idol is the only non-scripted program to appear on the list. The rest are broadcast network dramas, ranging from the general appeal (Criminal Minds) to the niche audience (Fringe).

These programs all share a similar trait: they all represent “appointment viewing” for their fans. And more and more, those fans prefer to watch their favorite shows live rather than time-shifted. That way, they are able to participate in the social world of the program instantly — where they can go online and passionately discuss the program they’ve just watched without fear of “spoilers.”

Not only do these highly-rated shows deliver committed audiences, but overwhelmingly, these viewers go online and act as social ambassadors for a program. Seventy-seven percent report that they use social media to share their love of a show; 65% use it as a platform to help save their favorite shows; and 35% use it to try to introduce new shows to their friends.

But don’t look for them to be Tweeting or chatting on Facebook during a program. Only 24% of the respondents who use Facebook to talk about these shows do so during a broadcast — while 68% of them go to Facebook to discuss it afterwards. (Twitter has a slightly more active in-program commentary, with 47% tweeting during a broadcast.)

The phenomenon of social media/television interaction has not gone unnoticed by advertisers. Along with the usual statistics, a new metric — social impression — is beginning to play a role in deciding where ad dollars go.

Social impressions are more than just the number of posts on Facebook and Twitter, according to Networked Insights. The company has developed a formula that includes conversation volume, page views, frequent visitors and the traits of the posters and forums where the discussions are happening. Media buyers can use such formulas to expand schedules by purchasing multiple shows with lower gross ratings points (GRPs), but with higher social impressions.

The more dedicated the fans of a show are, the more impact their social media presence has. Maureen Bosetti, EVP of broadcast and buying for Optimedia US, recently told Media Daily News that social media considerations allow “us to tap into sponsorship opportunities across multiple platforms and amplify our client’s message where consumers are most engaged.”

The social media effect is also showing up in the strategies of television stations. Gannett Broadcasting has done a number of marketing promotions on its NBC affiliates built around late-season entry, The Voice. The result? Most of those six Gannett stations in the top 25 markets are ranked either first or second in the time period during which the show airs. And latenight local programming, for virtually all of Gannett’s 11 NBC affiliates, has seen noticeable bumps in the ratings.

Can local television broadcasters take advantage of the social media/television interaction to directly benefit one of our greatest assets: local news?

Last year, Hearst Television commissioned a local TV news study from Frank N. Magid Associates. The study revealed that local television ranked highest among all news programming in driving purchases of products and services; furthermore, the study showed that viewers were far more engaged with advertisements on local television news than with ads in newspapers or on radio.

Imagine the possibilities of marrying those already high levels of engagement for local television news with the power of social media tools.

Jen Lee Reeves, new media director, KOMU Columbia-Jefferson, Mo, did just that when the devastating tornado hit nearby Joplin. As she reported on PBS.org’s Mediashift: “When the tornado hit, our Facebook fans knew they could trust us to coordinate and share important information…. Some of the conversations I had with our Facebook audience led to our morning show coverage…. It’s an example of how a commitment to social media can help encourage ongoing conversations between a newsroom and its community.”

Broadcast TV + local news + hyper-local social media — now there’s a killer app.

Source: TV NewsCheck

May 24 2011

Social TV Makes Everyone A Curator

by Beyond-TV • Social Check in, Social Media, Social TV 0

It’s pretty clear: TV is no longer about every family sitting down to watch “Ed Sullivan” at 7pm each night.

The lines between digital media are starting to blur: TV can be accessed anywhere, on any connected TV. Additionally, the amount of available TV content has exploded with the birth of OTT, VoD, catch up, and streaming media. Social TV is the natural child of this revolution: suddenly people are consuming content in new ways.

Social TV essentially makes everyone a curator, and empowers viewers to filter and recommend TV content themselves. By voicing their opinions on Twitter and Facebook, suddenly viewers have a much bigger say in how content is curated, and what shows rise to the top.

Social TV is still a growing and important trend. Key value is created by inviting everyone – not just the experts- to curate content, generating buzz and chatter. And socially curating content is becoming an increasingly popular activity – even if consumers don’t directly know they are doing it. And as a result, people are turning to Twitter and Facebook to find out what’s hot on TV that night.

However while many viewers are actively curating content with their Tweets and status updates, does it have the desired results?

Social TV…with a caveat

However, while social is the buzz word of the moment, there is some evidence that social networks are actually starting to lose some of their holds over the hearts and minds of consumers.

Surprisingly, the typical Facebook user doesn’t even know 20% of their friends, and the authority of peers has notably declined 4% since 2009. Instead, consumers have increasingly placed their trust in the advice of experts.

Social TV also doesn’t always operate the way we expect to it. According to new research presented by Christy Tanner from TVGuide.com, the most social shows on TV aren’t necessarily those with the highest Nielsen ratings:

Top 10 Most Social Shows of the 2010-2011 TV Season

1. NCIS
2. American Idol
3. Criminal Minds
4. Glee
5. House
6. Fringe
7. Bones
8. Castle
9. Smallville
10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Although some of these shows, like NCIS and American Idol, are also extremely popular in the Nielsen ratings, most TV shows in the list buck the trend. Programs like Glee, which have huge social media followings and a great web presence, barely rank in Nielsen’s Top 40.

This means that while social TV may not be driving new viewers to the show, it’s a great measure of audience engagement. In particular, 27-33 year old women on Facebook are the most active sharers, and drive the highest conversion rates.

Unsurprisingly, Twitter beats Facebook when it comes to engagement while a show is airing. 50% of users said they tweet about the show they are watching, compared with only 35% who said they post to Facebook.

Content Curation is King

During Mashable Connect, Steve Rubel, EVP of Global Strategy and Insights for Edelman, took the stage to talk about how consumers are dealing with consumer overload.

According to Rubel, consumers use a variety of sources – not just their social networks- to discover what’s personally relevant.

So in an era of content overload, how can TV operators get attention?

It’s essential to remember that each viewer decides what to watch a little differently; while some viewers know exactly what they want, others are simply browsing for something new to watch. Rubel pointed to Richard Edelman’s “Media Cloverleaf” as a solution. The Media Cloverleaf features four distinct spheres of media which should all be utilized to engage the public on a regular basis.

In other words, multiplatform strategies that include social TV are essential. Viewers are already actively curating TV content whether operators like it or not. It looks like social TV behaviour is only set to grow- how TV operators capitalise and innovate around the trend will determine their success.

Source: World TVPC