Social TV has become the new trend for 2012 and businesses will have to adapt to this new mode of integrating audiences to gain appeal and possible profit

1. Social TV Integration
Jennifer Sadler
April 10, 2012

2. Introduction.
Television has evolved over generations and as such the conversation
surrounding broadcasts have evolved as well. Typically, ratings and conversation habits
have been tracked by the Nielson Company, who pioneered television measurement and
analytics as early at 1936 (Nielson.com). Today, the company measures more than 40%
of the viewing behavior of society across the world. Social networks have since changed
the way the world watches and interacts with television and the viewing audience. Social
TV Integration is a new trend marketers should be looking towards for diverse methods
of tracking conversations, discovering buying habits of consumers, and making their
products more visual during a passive and leisurely activity.
Social TV is the molding of digital technology and television programming, thus
making the experience one where individual audience members are able to interact with
each other. There are a myriad of ways that television has adapted to become a social
atmosphere. This can include live streaming of programs over the Internet, hashtags that
direct audience members to join the conversation via Twitter, or live broadcasts that
answer audience questions or interact with fans during the show.
Insights can be taken by the types of viewers that watch certain shows and their
habits during and after the show airs. For instance, according to Networked Insights, fans
of the popular talent show “The Voice” shared wedding registries and plans with each
other (Networked Insights, 2012). This can indicate to producers of the show that their
audience is interested in things that have to do with weddings, and thus to gain fan appeal
they could have contestants sing popular wedding songs or influence bridal advertisers to
market during the show. In addition, viewers of the show “Community” often discuss
places that they are able to purchase DVD copies of the episode. The producers could use
this information to join in on the conversation and direct viewers to the website where
they can purchase or download complete episodes.
These driving forces are what shape the business scope of social television
integration. The ability to join in the commentary made by viewers can be the directive
needed to either change something about the show or add new business opportunities.
Outside of the business realm, social television gives individuals a new mode of
interacting with entertainment. With the recent addition of DVRs, DirecTV and
streaming movies and TV shows, regular broadcasting and the need for multiple
television sets may not be as much of a necessity to some families. However, by
integrating social networking into their static television series, they have the ability to
make entertainment more interactive.
This paper will assess this new evolving trend and its reach in the social and
business arenas. Special attention will focus on direct applications of Social TV
Integration already in use and the potential for possible future applications. In additional,
a professional interview will be used to gain further insight into how this technology is
being adapted by television networks to gain audience appeal.

3. Direct Applications.
There are many potential applications to Social TV Integration that have not yet
been explored from a business landscape. One company has gone a step further in
making TV social by developing an app designed to follow your involvement through
programming and link to your friends so that they can share and comment, creating a
digital couch while watching your favorite shows. Zeebox is based in London England,
and after a viewer downloads their app on a phone or tablet, it will sync with their
television to show details of the show they are currently watching as well as what shows
are popular based on Internet activity for the current time (Zeebox: Youtube).
You have the ability to chat with friends via a Facebook login while the show is
airing and choose Zeetags, or keywords, that link to topics currently being discussed in
the social atmosphere. Links also appear for the most popular keywords and direct users
to find out more information or purchase items that appear on the show. This means that
consumers can watch a commercial and if they find something interesting then they can
use Zeebox link directly to the product and possibly make a purchase. This gives
businesses the ability to see real data on how their products are being delivered through
television and if it is making an impact on purchasing.
Zeebox’s application of this trend has the ability to take social TV integration to a
different level for marketing and social behavior. Watching television at home alone is
one of the solitary activities that society will do, but making it social gives people a new
way to interact in a static environment. The only downside of Zeebox is that it is
currently not offered in the United States and it is only available for programmed shows.
However, the potential of this app has caused BSkyB, which is owned by NewsCorp and
based in Europe, to buy a ten percent share of the company early in 2012 (Sweney,
2012). Another similar application of this trend is GetGlue, which also allows users to
interact with each other while watching shows (GetGlue.com). GetGlue, however, also
allows individuals to check in to watch movies at the theatre and read books as well; you
can like or dislike and comment on these activities through a Facebook login.
Television networks are also integrating social as a part of their core
programming. Sean Combs, owner of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group and
long-time hip hop artist, recently announced plans to launch REVOLT TV, which shows
music videos, liver performances and music news that is driven directly by social media
(Pan, 2012). He has had high profile friends aid him in his social advertising by Tweeting
about his new show, and Combs himself decided to announce the launch via Youtube.
Conversations and interaction through social media will decide what videos and
performances will be played on the network. Additional benefits this could produce
outside of the business realm is that new artists who are receiving social media attention
could have the ability to be featured on air if their presence grows enough to drive the
network to feature them.
Inside the business landscape, this new network can spur revenue from promoted
tweets and social advertising. The concept will be able to set it apart from other music

4. networks such as BET and MTV, but a pitfall of the show will center on its creator, Sean
Combs, who has a reputation of demanding control and doesn’t have many musical acts
that he has fostered which have gained popularity beyond the first few albums. These two
factors may lead Combs to control a portion of which acts that are driven socially will be
able to be shown on the network.
Another network that is taking advantage of social TV integration is Oprah
Winfrey's OWN (Murphy, 2012). Her Lifeclass show encourages viewers to ask
questions and join the conversation when speakers come to the show. Digital feeds are
streamed behind Winfrey during the program and it gives audiences a real-time social
television experience. The network also takes advantage of Facebook polls during
commercial breaks to gain real-time results. Oprah Winfrey herself tweets from her own
Twitter account, which the marketing team is not allowed to use.
In one week of the show using social efforts to boost appeal, the Oprah team
noted, “There were 414,780 mentions on Facebook and 3,026 answers posted to the
Lifeclass wall on Oprah.com, along with over 29,000 views to the wall. Meanwhile, the
web cast brought in nearly 2.6 million viewer minutes from 149 countries.” Winfrey and
Combs have been able to take advantage of the social television landscape to make their
shows more interactive for viewers, which also increases the ability for more businesses
opportunities. Another example of Social TV Integration is the Oscar’s recent use of the
Backstage App which allowed users to go behind the scenes before, during and after the
broadcast and view highlights from past Oscar shows (Warren, 2011).
Joanna Shields of Facebook noted that,
“Facebook represents the biggest opportunity the television
industry has ever faced - the potential to tap into a global audience
that is waiting to discover, share and amplify your stories. For
media companies and marketers, it's the power of social discovery
and the authentic conversations it enables that's the key to
unlocking a whole new way to produce, promote and advertise on
television (Graham, 2011).”
One company that is leveraging the analytical abilities of social media is BlueFin
Labs (BlueFin.com). By monitoring TV and the relationship is has with social media
conversations, they developed an analysis that covers 115 networks, and thousands of
shows and telecasts. One of their videos is a data visualization and analysis of the Iowa
GOP Debate in December of 2011 (BlueFin: YouTube). The video shows that viewers
made over 236,000 comments relating to the debate in real time as it was occurring. It
differentiates the split between male and female audiences, and shows the points during
the debate that sparked conversation among viewers. Most intriguing was that the
visualization notes which candidate had the most buzz during the debate, a factor that
keeps politicians relevant for voters. While analytics are an important piece of many
business decisions, the company will need to present ways to counteract negative
comments and direct conversations to increase sales using their data. These direct

5. applications that are already in use for Social TV Integration are the beginning of
marketers taking hold of this new trend and using it to boost profit and conversations.
Future Predictions.
Alorien Sadler is the lead graphics designer for WMCTV-5 in Memphis, TN
(Sadler, 2012). She has been with the station for 5 consecutive years, starting off as a
production assistant. As technology has developed, so have the efforts of the news station
to adapt to a new form of presenting current events. "News is new open source and
anyone can become aware of what is happening at any time. The leverage that we have is
that we are a visual business. This means that beyond our social media presence we are
able to direct our audience to Channel 5 for the latest updates and video from the scene."
WMCTV5 has a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, with reporters
and production crews helping to send out current information. The employees are
encouraged to promote the site as much as possible and stay up-to-date on news. During
the broadcast, the show will give away prizes through Facebook and regularly remind
viewers to follow them on their social profiles. In addition, they have also launched their
own app that gives updated reports on the weather and StormTracker radar. According to
Sadler, the company will launch a new app soon that allows users to live stream the show
on their tablets and iPhones. This will increase their ability for engagement through
Social TV by making their broadcasts more interactive. In addition, advertisers will have
the opportunity to increase their sales capabilities by being presented on mobile devices
as well as television.
When asked about the importance of Social TV Integration in today's landscape,
Sadler noted that, "Social TV is advancing. Technology is allowing us to interact with
people more frequently and in different ways on varying platforms. Staying ahead of this
trend is necessary for us to remain a top news station in the Mid-South."
Some future applications of Social TV Integration would be major international
events and interactive learning. The FIFA World Cup and the Olympics are opportunities
for advertisers to make their presence known through commercials and sponsorships.
However, with the new trend of Social TV, they have the ability of truly gaining audience
participation by leveraging the real-time event as a means to gain real-time conversation
about the brand. For instance, during the next Olympics, one brand could create it's own
social app that allows users to comment across 2-3 different social platforms (i.e.
Facebook and Twitter) at once and see real-time coverage of that specific event. In
addition, they could add the ability to integrate their own "Pins" for Pinterest that come
during commercial breaks where viewers who are using their apps could link items
directly associated with the Olympics to their Pinterest board. The items they showcase
could link back to the brand's website where they offer specials on that item you have
pinned.

6. Interactive learning is also another opportunity for brands to market using Social
TV Integration. Children have the ability to use the Internet for active learning, and some
parents will allow their children to use their iPads to watch TV shows, play games, and
learn. Many children’s' shows are geared to make children interact with the characters,
and that same interaction can be set online as well. Using a tablet, a child could
digitally answer the characters and receive feedback that makes them more likely to be
consumers of the character's products. During commercial breaks, the show could offer
ways for children to use their tablets to unlock special messages from the characters using
codes as well. For parents, this can supplement their home teaching so that they know
their child is receiving an interactive experience rather than time with a television.
There are many possibilities for businesses and individuals to take advantage of
social television other than those listed above. Social television is not just hashtags and
tablet integration, but it is also live-streaming, live-tweeting, and push for conversations
that occur before and after the show. Knowing that this is a new trend to watch for in
2012, brands can leverage their social platforms to hit the market and advance beyond
their competitors before they are following rather than leading the trend.

7. References.
Bluefin.com. Accessed April 9, 2012. http://bluefinlabs.com/solutions/
BlueFin Video. Accessed April 9, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zompMISDiTY
GetGlue.com. Accessed April 9, 2012. http://getglue.com/
Graham, Fiona. “Beyond the Couch: TV goes Social, goes Everywhere”. September 16,
2011. Accessed April 7, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14921491
Murphy, Samantha. “How Oprah is Revolutionizing Social TV in Real Time”. April 6,
2012. Accessed April 7, 2012. http://mashable.com/2012/04/06/oprah-lifeclass/
Networked Insights. “Maximize Advertising Campaigns with Social TV Audience
Insights”. Accessed April 10, 2012.
http://www.networkedinsights.com/downloads/socialTV-insights-eBook-networked-
insights-2012.pdf
Pan, Joann. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Announces Social Media Driven Music TV Channel”.
February 22, 2012. Accessed April 11, 2012. http://mashable.com/2012/02/22/diddys-
social-media-tv-channel/
Sadler, Alorien. Interview. April 10, 2012.
Sweney, Mark. “BSkyB Buys Stake in App Firm Zeebox”. January 9, 2012. Accessed
April 12, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/09/bskyb-buys-stake-zeebox-
app
Television Measurement. Accessed April 5, 2012. www.Nielson.com
Warren, Christina. “Go Backstage at the Oscars with Your iPad”. February 18, 2011.
Accessed April 10, 2012. http://mashable.com/2011/02/18/oscars-backstage-ipad/
Zeebox. Youtube video. Accessed April 9, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zompMISDiTY