Weekly digest 11th May

The future of TV is multi-screen

I’ve been working recently on pulling together some top lines around the future of TV. The real buzz term at the moment is Social TV and there’s general acceptance that this will be the next stage in the ever-accelerating changing face of television.

However, while people seem to accept that Social TV will be the content proposition of the future, nobody really seems to understand what it means. Simply throwing Twitter hashtags on screen or incorporating a throw to Facebook won’t cut the mustard for much longer.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed a massive convergence of screens – think how different your television, personal computer and mobile phone used to look just a few years ago. Now you can watch videos, listen to the radio, email, Skype, browse the internet and most importantly communicate with others on any of those devices.

And it’s the proliferation of communication technologies across all these screens, being driven by the explosion of social media, that’s changing the way audiences consume television programming. More than ever, we need to think of a television programme as an event. It is this event that will drive conversation, engagement and ultimately create meaningful entertainment, and it is therefore this event that we need to ensure is alluring, remarkable (in the true sense of the word) and ultimately shareable.

Here’s a great quote from Twitter’s director of media partnerships: “Twitter lets people feel plugged in to a real-time conversation. In the future, I can’t imagine a major event where the audience doesn’t become part of the story itself.”

That’s probably the most important thing to recognise. We no longer tell the whole story through our programming. We now start the conversation through the “event” we broadcast in our schedule. That’s just the start of the storytelling. Our audience then brings its own values to shape, contextualise, socialise and customise the story in their own unique way. They now are a crucial part of the story, whether we like it or not.

So viewers now have a different relationship with the programme they’re watching. We need to think about what this relationship with the storylines, characters and elements looks like. Equally, we should be thinking about the relationships being forged between viewers themselves. And finally we need to think about what those relationships specifically look like on each screen.

How does the show develop a relationship with its audience on mobile, tablets, online and on-air? Only by cracking all of these screens will we be able to innovate in an ever changing landscape.

As Brian Solis says: “It takes vision. It takes creativity and imagination. It takes innovation. Most importantly, it takes the architecture of experiences to engage, enchant and activate viewers across multiple screens.”

Although… not everyone agrees

While the two-screen experience (TV and handheld or laptop) is the predominant platform for social TV interaction now, Jordan Bitterman (the head of social marketing practice at the global digital media shop Digitas) thinks that viewing and social interaction in the future will be integrated into one screen.

This is an interestingly contrasting opinion considering the swathe of consensus for a multi-screen future. It will be fascinating to see how producers utilise the dynamic potential of internet enabled television though. There is no reason why interactive engagement mechanisms can’t be integrated into a single screen experience. I just wonder whether broadcasters and content producers will be able to persuade digital natives to aim their full attention at just one screen. Without incorporating all screens, there’s the risk of a broadcaster losing their audiences to competing content/communication across other devices.

The BBC launches a second screen strategy

The BBC is going to use companion screen apps to enhance the enjoyment of programmes but also introduce audiences to what can often be a wealth of programme related information and interactivity online. The broadcaster will launch its first companion screen app this September in the form of a play-along game for Antiques Roadshow, a gentle Sunday night affair where the public bring family treasures for experts to analyse and value. The BBC is harnessing the fact that most viewers already try to second-guess the experts with their own valuations. You will be able to play the game whether you are watching live or on-demand.

It’s interesting that the BBC have chosen a programme aimed at an older demo to with which to launch this functionality. Traditionally we think of second screen engagement as being the preserve of Generation Y or C, but it’s clear that the Beeb don’t buy that. Time will tell whether they’re right or not and I’ll keep you updated in September.

The BBC clearly believe that show-related companion activities on smartphones, tablets and even the PC are a way to explore new creative opportunities. Ownership of the applications themselves will lie with the production teams - this is crucial. The production department will drive the format, while the technology development team will help them realise their vision.

The future of television will not be dictated by a social media strategy. It will be shaped by programme producers with a genuine desire to create meaningful experiences for their audiences.

Interesting picture of the week