Service Providers Bringing “Social” Back

Historically, the living room has been the gathering place for TV watching, especially in a group.  However, the prominence of social networks and companion devices have redefined the media landscape, extending viewers’ engagement beyond the traditional TV experience setting to remote users everywhere.  It’s all about bringing the “social” to back TV with new ways to merge social networks and TV watching for enhanced interaction.  Our Social TV Companion Service leverages existing relationships found through social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, to restore the fragmented TV audience.

The interactive experience of Social TV appeals to the consumer’s desire to be socially tuned-in and coincides with the migration of audiences coming back to cable TV.  Research shows that more viewers are using social media via smartphones, tablets and laptops while watching TV to connect with other entertainment options, communicate with each other and participate in social commerce. Consumers are trusting each other more and more as a reliable source when making purchase decisions.  These trends are growing and Social TV is creating new business opportunities for both content creators and service providers.

Social TV serves as a facilitator for service providers by helping them develop a more intimate relationship with customers, helping to better identify TV viewing patterns and provide a more accurate idea of the shows on which people are most likely to comment.  The social voice of viewers is playing a major role in what shows rise to the top.  This helps service providers and TV content developers identify consumer interests on a more individualized level and improve the overall viewing experience, while helping lead to relevant on-screen advertisement and show-related product merchandising.

With the incorporation of services like Social TV, service providers can develop a more intimate understanding of who their customer are, their TV viewing patterns, interests and dislikes.  And consumers enjoy real-time interactive experiences that include social loyalty reward programs for check-in, redemption coupons, mood-o-meters that let viewers share how they feel about a show, and custom built quizzes and games that engage viewers even more with their favorite TV shows.  

Are you the ultimate fan of a certain show?  How would you like to interact with it?  How do you think it would rank among other viewers if tested?  On what show would you mostly likely want to go behind the scenes and engage with socially?  Tell us what you think.