BLOG/TOM MCDONNELL

Social TV in 2010: Conversation is Currency

31st Jan 2010

This piece is now over a year old, a lot has happened since. It’s still valid and many of the predictions are coming true

From Liz Murdoch to Deloitte, it seems everyone is talking about how social media, the realtime web and TV are colliding. But in the midst of the hype and anticipation there’s very little practical discussion about how to implement useful offerings now and how they can make money. I’ve been involved with many Social TV projects over the last few years, so I’ve written a post/paper which shares some of what we’ve learned. It covers the definition of Social TV, why and how broadcasters should get involved now, ways of activating audiences and a series of recommended steps to take in 2010. If you’ve only got a few minutes, skip to the end for a roundup.

My Social Stuff:

This Post

This post is a combination of commentary, opinion and report, written because I’m inspired by the year ahead and believe that sharing ideas speeds-up progress. I’m inspired partly by the creative possibilities that Social TV presents, but equally by the revenue opportunities it offers an industry in need.

“TV producers will be encouraged to create websites that feed off viewers’ eagerness to react to what they are watching. Advertising will likely benefit from increased simultaneous usage of the web and TV.“

The Deloitte Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions for 2010

This is intended to introduce Social TV to broadcast, production, media and digital people who want to know how it might affect them and what they could be doing. It is designed to be an informal reflection of my opinions along with the collective thoughts of our team, backed up by some tangible experience and a few stats. Most of the examples used are projects I’ve personally been involved with.

About Monterosa

Monterosa works with partners to develop creative ideas then designs, builds and manages the applications and games that make them possible. Participation with broadcast media is our focus and our mission is to creatively inspire producers and broadcasters, helping them innovate quickly to deliver on business objectives.

Back in 2002 our first ever project was creating the web component to the popular BBC event game-show “Test The Nation”. Long before so called “second-screen” behaviour entered our thinking, this show managed to turn millions of viewers into users, going online or hitting the red button to find out their IQ and compare it with others. (second-screening is when people use their computer while watching TV, but much more on that later..)

In 2009 we saw a sharp resurgence of interest in social participation with television, and we’ve been involved in conceiving and building live second-screen projects such as The Apprentice Predictor (BBC), Four Weddings Live Rater (Living TV) and Come Dine With Me Play-Along (Channel 4).

These projects were official, browser-based and broadly synchronised with the TV broadcast.

With the proliferation of internet-connected devices – TVs, Smart Phones, Consoles, the iPad, two-way user involvement with shows, and other people who are watching them, is becoming possible on more platforms than ever. The future looks exciting.

Four Weddings Live Rater and Forum, Living TV

What is Social TV?

If you turn the clock back to late 2004 you might remember hearing about “Web 2.0” and wondering what it meant. Like many, you might also feel that you never really got a straight definition. That’s because it was a term coined to describe an accumulation and an evolution of software and of user behaviour. It was hard to define absolutely at any given point in time.

If you’ve heard the term “Social TV” you may have asked similar questions. In early 2010 Social TV means different things to different people because it’s a tag for a collection of behaviours, technologies and ideas which loosely involve groups of people doing stuff with or around television.

Here’s a selection of things that have been tagged Social TV. You’ll notice how different they all are.

• Viewers (users) tweeting, chatting on IM or discussing  TV shows on Facebook.
• Contributing to a TV-related community such as TV.com
• Playing-along live with any TV broadcast such as The Apprentice
• Installing big-screen video management app Boxee on your computer, plugging it into your TV and using the various social features.
• Social recommendation inside next-generation services such as BBC iPlayer v3
• Talking to other people watching your favourite show on your mobile using tvChatter.
• Running a Skype or iChat video conference with your friend while you’re watching Celebrity Big Brother so you can marvel together.  (see this New York Times article)

The Apprentice Predictor, BBC One

Unfortunately, we won’t arrive at a single accepted definition of Social TV for at least another year, or until a big success associated with Social TV takes the term mainstream. Where “Social Gaming” has Farmville and its many clones, Social TV will have its iconic successes. This might be mass uptake of a specific technology such as Boxee or Project Canvas devices (follow the links to find out more), or it could be a hit TV show that has social participation at its core. We may need to see both happening at the same time.

Boxee

One key difference to Web 2.0 is that Social TV has deeper territorial differences. This is because broadcasters and programme makers still have influence over their audience’s online behaviour. Therefore there could be marked differences in the way this predicted phenomenon catches fire between countries. However, despite broadcaster influence there is a real possibility that the genre-defining big success will come from an unexpected outsider. Everything is still to play for. Here I’m concentrating on the facets of Social TV which are broadly within the control of broadcasters and producers.

Why should broadcasters and programme-makers get involved now?

With one eye on India, mobile network O2 wants to get into mobile financial services. In 2009 they launched a pre-paid credit card with NatWest, which they admit is not designed to make a profit. You don’t need a PhD to work out that they are taking the first steps in aligning their brand with the notion of personal finance – something that requires a great deal of trust. The product is aimed squarely at teenagers, their future mobile-payment customers.

As the music industry found out, ignoring the changes in consumption of your content can put a big dent your bottom line. It will only get more difficult to change perceptions of your channel brand.

“Content isn’t king. If I sent you to a desert island and gave you the choice of taking your friends or your movies, you’d choose your friends — if you chose the movies, we’d call you a sociopath. Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about.”

This apt comment from Cory Doctorow found its way across the web in 2009. In the same year some Brits like me who didn’t watch the Susan Boyle episode of Britain’s Got Talent found out about her from American friends on Facebook, people who didn’t even have access to the show. Of course, people everywhere hit Google or YouTube to find out more. At the moment her story unexpectedly exploded it was Google cashing in, not ITV. This was unfortunate, but a useful reminder that we should be prepared for the unexpected and be able to provide what people might want in realtime.

In a recent New Media Age opinion piece, Forrester analyst Nick Thomas advises “brands should create opportunities here for teen users to interact around TV content in realtime….you need to join that conversation”.

Is he suggesting that a brand which has no commercial affiliation with a TV show could setup a companion experience to it? Absolutely. The Guardian’s Live TV Blogs are a simple but high-quality example.

Taken to its extreme conclusion, the broadcaster becomes an altruistic provider of content while social networks, mobile operators and other media commentators profit from the conversation. Conversation isn’t just king, it’s currency.

Of course, the industry can’t expect to control or monetise the chatter, but it can stimulate it by providing an official voice in the mix alongside special tools and games. This opens up the possibility of directing users to revenue generating activities – merchandise, live events, virtual goods, premium content, whatever is appropriate.

For example, it simply isn’t feasible for producers to extract every moment from every show that might be of particular interest to people online.  That process should be put in the hands of the audience themselves so they can quickly choose and share moments they like. Key moments can be highlighted automatically based on the rate and nature of live commenting during the broadcast.

User-created “Show Moments” as we call them, could be a great way to harness the Super-fans and generate video views, pre-roll ad sales and revenue.

But first we need to attract those fans on a regular basis with engaging and useful secondary experiences.

Opinion: Broadcasters and programme-makers need to align themselves with social chatter and active participation, right now.

Which devices will be part of the Social TV future?

IPTVs, Smart Phones, Laptops, Consoles, iPads, PVRs….anything connected.

Exciting times indeed, but the excitement can allow assumptions to go unchallenged.  For example, Forbes recently published a widely-shared article “What To Watch In 2010: Social TV” in which they predict that 2010 will see the dominance of Social TV on the latest generation of HD, internet-connected TVs; “Social networking and TV will work together, allowing consumers to connect through their big screens.”

The problem is, that big new TV in the living room is the shared screen. Mum does not want to have her X-Factor viewing obscured by Daughter’s Facebook. Nor does Daughter want her mum to see what she’s saying on Facebook!

Turn the clock back, if you thought the 13” Sanyo your parents bought you for Christmas was an act of generosity, you were wrong. They got it so their viewing time wasn’t in constant competition with your Street Fighter addiction (forgive the 30-something male-skewed analogy).

It’s difficult to see the next generation craving after a fancy new internet-enabled TV in their bedrooms when they can get an iPad or laptop instead.

However, the big shared screen will have a place in the mix, but programming and social tools will need to distinguish between viewing behaviour.

Indeed, many of the current Social TV tools such as Verizon’s FiOS or Sky’s X-Box service use a Facebook or Twitter account as the social mechanism.

Verizon FiOS

This works for solitary viewing, but where more than one person is watching the same screen, a group or household account is more appropriate. Facebook Familes?

What’s the best Social TV technology solution?

There isn’t one. Sharing show moments with your friends isn’t something you will do while playing-along with a live gameshow.

Both are considered Social TV but they won’t be necessarily be powered by the same technology or even the same device.  Not all social activities sit next to each other at the same time.

The problem with looking for a universal user-facing solution is that there isn’t a single user problem solve.  This is partially due to differing demographic tendencies and multiple devices but also related to diverse types of programming. Question Time, Coronation St, The FA Cup Final and I’m A Celebrity are completely different beasts. Rating football players works because people do it anyway. Rating Coronation St character performances probably doesn’t. (Ok, maybe it could).  Therefore it’s unlikely that a one-size-fits all approach will cut it.

We can’t build apps for each platform and each show, so where do we start?

It’s likely that each device will play a role in how Social TV develops, but the excitement around convergence should not detract from the immediate opportunity. We should recognise that the most attainable short-term win lies with the “second screen” web audience – a growing and well-recognised tribe who habitually use a wireless laptop on the sofa while watching the TV.

Annie watches Susan Boyle and tells her sister on Facebook to switch it on. Barry sorts out his Fantasy Football team.

According to Forrester Research, 57% of UK teens watch TV while they’re online. The IAB/Thinkbox “TV & Online: Better Together” research from 2008 suggests that almost half of “tech savvy” digital households go online at the same time on a daily basis”. It would be fair to assume therefore that an even bigger percentage have the facility to participate if the experience on offer is compelling.

Participation with second-screen experiences is currently a niche area, and some would argue it may be unsuitable for certain types of programming (more on this later). However, it offers us a stepping-stone to greater things in future. Smart Phones, iPads are not far behind.

Tip: Use the “Second-screen” and take steps to align programming and channels directly with social activity.

What elements go into in a Social TV experience?

Before you work it out, consider before, during and after the first transmission. If it’s not being transmitted at all, consider your user journey before, during and after they engaged with it. It might be that simply putting the show itself on YouTube/VOD is enough.

Although there is no formula, there are some common elements that can be used to piece together a secondary experience.

• Live moderated, maybe hosted conversations. People from the show itself as guest commentators. Pure-text works great, people don’t want another audio or video stream to look at.
• Play-along games, synched to moments in the show.
• Live consoles with interesting information about what you’re watching. “Do you want to know more about how to chop onions? Click here to bookmark the clip for later”. (sponsorable)
• Viewing Groups, friends watching together live or virtually on-demand.
• Virtual Goods / Loyalty Rewards (could be branded)
• Link comments to on-demand video moments and drive realtime SEO.
• Identify special moments in shows by tracking peaks in activity or where certain words or phrases appear most frequently. Drive traffic to lesser-known in-show moments.
• Offer special sponsored activities in ad-breaks, synched to TV Advertising.

The important thing is to experiment early and see what works for your programming and your audience. We’ve made a fair few mistakes, and one thing is clear – keep it simple. That applies to the experience and the messaging.

Speaking of experimentation, working with Living TV showed us how flexible a digital channel can be. Where you can harness the buy-in of everyone from the play-out techies to continuity, great things can happen. During “Four Weddings”, the continuity announcer regularly read-out live audience reactions and quoted realtime audience ratings in the ad break. The effect was to create a collective viewing experience, even for the passive majority. Pre-recorded TV felt more like a live social event for everyone watching. The vast majority of participants found the experience thoroughly enjoyable and 80% of them were more inclined to watch live rather than on-demand as a result. (Living TV Audience Research).

Tip: Don’t demand too much attention during the experience, they’re trying to watch their favourite show!

Activating audiences

This is the most interesting part if you want to see some numbers. The ecology of broadcaster-led second-screen offerings is worthy of a detailed study, but in the meantime we have a variety of examples from which to draw some early theories.

“Appointment to view” exists as a cultural norm. “Appointment to do online” does not. Although large numbers of people will attend a very special online streaming event such as The Queen Mother’s funeral, or the Obama Inauguration, this behaviour is generally associated with online multi-player gaming. Even then, Warcraft, Call of Duty or FIFA players are likely to arrange meeting times that suit everyone, often across timezones. That group is fairly small, so it’s relatively easy to coordinate.

The vast majority of people participating with live TV online are currently prompted by promotion on TV itself, rather than by arrangement.

In our experience between 2008-9, broadcasters were converting between approximately 0.2% and 8% of a show’s BARB-measured audience to instant web-based participation.

The higher number was attributed to CBBC’s Run live gaming tournament.

Although there have not yet been enough “second screen” examples to draw solid conclusions, there does appear to be a correlation between participation numbers and the level of ‘purpose and outcome’ associated with the offering, and whether that outcome was reflected on TV itself.

For example, Run! was a 10-minute live online game at 7pm each night, where the players were competing for themselves, in groups, and for one of two national teams. The purpose was to defeat the baddie Orwell, the outcome was victory or loss for their team. This was announced and discussed the following day by Ed & Oucho the continuity presenters, making the activity feel tangible.

CBBC Run!

The number of unique users during a week was as high as 325,000, a figure that many individual TV shows on digital channels find it hard to beat. What’s more, the on-demand platform-game has remained one of CBBC’s most popular games despite no promotion, racking up millions of plays.

Between 4,000 and 12,000 live game plays on each of 20 nights drove a total of approximately 1m “on-demand” game plays.

CBBC Run! March 2008

The opportunity to use relatively small amounts of airtime to drive large numbers of users to regular online activity is enticing. The Run model could be applied to mainstream commercial entertainment.

In Four Weddings, the live rater was described to the audience in the trailer as a way to compare their ratings with the show’s brides. The outcome was a definitive result which proved that the user either agreed or disagreed with the show, and with the average live audience opinion.

Four Weddings and Run achieved the highest audience conversion figures we’ve seen, and we intend to build on these lessons in future.

Tip: For individual shows, focus on the creative offering and make sure it has purpose and outcome.

How can Social TV grow beyond its niche?

Twittering about TV shows is big news, but compared with the TV audiences and the people reading about it in traditional media the number of Tweets is comparatively small.

For live second-screening the conversion rates are also small when compared with the 50+% of viewers that regularly go online while watching TV.

One reason for this is the lack of a consistent user experience. Promotion has been integral to iPlayer’s success, but if the BBC had to continuously announce every single programme that goes up on iPlayer, it would not achieve growth. Currently, second-screen applications are so sporadic that there can be no habitual usage of them, people will wait to be told.

This presents a conflict – on the one hand we want to experiment with different ideas, but we won’t see solid growth until we settle on a simple branded offering. The solution is to identify the element that is consistent between all experiences and build per-show applications on top.

The consistent element is conversation. If you can amass 100 people you can host an official conversation. The numbers don’t matter, these 100 will be your hardcore fans, your advocates, and you won’t have to work hard to find them. This isn’t ignoring Twitter or other social networks, your apps need to integrate with them and understand their role.

Create a consistent offering, a simple user journey and clear messaging, ideally for every show. Balance the need for a consistent and branded user experience with something that is malleable enough to cater for vastly different audiences and programming. Red Button, iPlayer, 4OD all do this in their own ways, and all of them provide a generic experience around wildly different types of content.

Which genres should we consider?

Not all TV programming seems to lend itself to realtime social participation, but it is dangerous to assume that, for example, drama is unsuitable. The suspension of disbelief can be maintained in a shared viewing experience or a passive secondary content from the story. Producers should be mindful that a Twitter feed can be a turn-off for the majority of viewers who don’t use Twitter but who might be interested in participating in a realtime experience. As The Guardian’s “Twitter & Teens” analysis highlights, the majority of Twitter users are over 35.

A well-established and simple example of live participation is BBC Sport’s Player Rater. This realtime rating tool exists on the BBC Sport site for all Premiership and Championship games, and allows users to rate all players between 0 and 10. It was promoted by the TV pundits during the FA Cup final in 2006 and although popular throughout, the highest peak of activity was unsurprisingly after the game.

This behaviour is supported by Thinkbox and MediaCom’s “TV Response Report” which concludes that “it’s highly likely that initial interactions take place during the midst of a programme, but a viewer will wait until their programme has finished before interacting more fully with a site.”

In other words, harness the initial reaction but have something to do afterwards. The Run! model proved how this can build up your numbers.

There are many opportunities for companion experiences and games such as The Apprentice Predictor, but in order to have a mainstream impact beyond the level we have already seen, the industry needs the equivalent of a “killer app”.

A common gripe of TV producers is that digital people think through the eyes of the interactive minority, forgetting that most people just want to watch the show. They’re right, so whatever the Killer TV show is, it’s got to be fun to play-along with and even better if you’re not. Roll on 2010.

Recommendation Roundup

• Start now and align your channel brand with social participation.
• Treat the term Social TV with caution, don’t put everything under the one heading.
• Start with the “second screen” online audience, but consider how to involve mobile, IPTV, console audiences (iPads soon!).
• For individual shows, focus on the creative offering and make sure it has purpose and outcome.
• Create a consistent offering, a simple user journey and clear messaging. Balance the need for a consistent and branded user experience with something that is malleable enough to cater for vastly different audiences and programming. Red Button, Green Button, iPlayer etc. all do this in their own ways, and all of them provide consistency around wildly different types of content.
• Use your unique qualities – official content, an authoritative voice, the inside line. Involve contestants or other official figures.
• Experiment with user-created Show Moments and measure their impact.
• Consider piloting a new strand of programming that involves live social and competitive participation during broadcast, then ‘on-demand’ activity between shows.

My Social Stuff:

Tag: Social TV

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