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Social TV and the Emergence of Interactive TV

Multimedia Research Group, Inc.
November 1, 2010
90 Pages - SKU: BFAQ6066280

Abstract Table of Contents Related Reports

In May 2010, Social TV was named one of the 10 most important emerging technologies by the MIT Technology Review, because it builds on relationships already established in Social Media Websites like Facebook and Twitter to rebuild fragmented TV audiences.

With Facebook now having over 500 million active users, and Twitter over 100 million, Facebook revenue is approaching US$1.1 billion in 2010, about double its 2009 revenue.1 Many consumers are using Social Media to connect with entertainment, like movies and TV, thereby creating the new product category called “Social TV.” Social TV is the extension of Social Media through the simultaneous use of a tablet or smartphone while watching TV.

Already, Nielsen has reported that 59% of U.S. Internet users browse the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. And this number is sure to grow, especially among younger consumers who have grown up with smartphones and prefer watching TV on laptops.

For now, Social TV is best with a second screen device—like a PC, iPad or smartphone-— because it allows for greater personalization and interactivity. Portable devices, like smartphones or iPads are popular among Social TV users because they already use Facebook or Twitter for communicating with others, and because users can message to many different devices. “Social TV is about bringing social back into TV,” said Jose Alvear, MRG IPTV Senior Analyst. “TV has always been a social medium, but personal video devices and multiple TVs in the home have made it less social. Today, social networking sites are making it easy for consumers to get social with TV again.”

Social TV’s benefits for Content Owners, Consumers, Service Providers and Advertisers come in a variety of ways, including helping drive up TV ratings, rewarding consumers for watching TV, increasing brand engagement and even allowing for new rich media advertising opportunities. The report also highlights the leading Social TV Vendors and Platforms, looking at possible business models, and showing how Social TV works with actual case studies from major entertainment brands and TV shows around the world. The report also includes detailed opportunities, risks and recommendations for Service Providers, advertisers and content owners.

Social TV Vendors include: Clicker, ClipSync, GetGlue, Hot Potato, KickFour, MediaFriends, Miso, Orca Interactive, Philo, Starling, Tank Top TV, Tunerfish, tvChatter and Vloop. Service Providers using Social TV include AT&T, BT, Comcast, France Telecom, Google TV, Microsoft (Xbox 360), Verizon and Virgin Media. Analytics involving “tweets,” “comments,” “trends,” and “likes” are also discussed.

Additional Information

Press Release

San Jose, CA: November 22, 2010— In May 2010, Social TV was named one of the 10 most important emerging technologies by the MIT Technology Review, because it builds on relationships already established in Social Media Websites like Facebook and Twitter to rebuild fragmented TV audiences.

With Facebook now having over 500 million active users, and Twitter over 100 million, Facebook revenue is approaching US$1.1 billion in 2010, about double its 2009 revenue. [1] Many consumers are using Social Media to connect with entertainment, like movies and TV, thereby creating the new product category called “Social TV.” Social TV is the extension of Social Media through the simultaneous use of a tablet or smartphone while watching TV.

Already, Nielsen has reported that 59% of U.S. Internet users browse the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. And this number is sure to grow, especially among younger consumers who have grown up with smartphones and prefer watching TV on laptops.

For now, Social TV is best with a second screen device—like a PC, iPad or smartphone—because it allows for greater personalization and interactivity. Portable devices, like smartphones or iPads are popular among Social TV users because they already use Facebook or Twitter for communicating with others, and because users can message to many different devices.

“Social TV is about bringing social back into TV,” said Jose Alvear, MRG IPTV Senior Analyst. “TV has always been a social medium, but personal video devices and multiple TVs in the home have made it less social. Today, social networking sites are making it easy for consumers to get social with TV again.”

Social TV’s benefits for Content Owners, Consumers, Service Providers and Advertisers come in a variety of ways, including helping drive up TV ratings, rewarding consumers for watching TV, increasing brand engagement and even allowing for new rich media advertising opportunities.

The report also highlights the leading Social TV Vendors and Platforms, looking at possible business models, and showing how Social TV works with actual case studies from major entertainment brands and TV shows around the world. The report also includes detailed opportunities, risks and recommendations for Service Providers, advertisers and content owners. Social TV Vendors include: Clicker, ClipSync, GetGlue, Hot Potato, KickFour, MediaFriends, Miso, Orca Interactive, Philo, Starling, Tank Top TV, Tunerfish, tvChatter and Vloop. Service Providers using Social TV include AT&T, BT, Comcast, France Telecom, Google TV, Microsoft (Xbox 360), Verizon and Virgin Media. Analytics involving “tweets,” “comments,” “trends,” and “likes” are also discussed.

Index of Companies Referenced

ABC KickFour
AdaptiveBlue Logitech
Amazon.com, Inc. MediaFriends (Integra5)
Apple Computer, Inc. (iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Mac)
Microsoft Corp.(Phone 7, Windows, Xbox 360)
AT&T Miso
Bazaar Labs Monterosa
BBC (iPlayer) MTV
Blockbuster Inc. NBC Universal
Bravo TV Netflix, Inc.
Cablevision Systems Corp. North Bridge Venture Partners
CBS Ons Telecom
Cisco Systems, Inc.(WebEx) Optimus
Clicker Media Inc. (Clicker) Orca Interactive
ClipSync Oxygen Network (Oxygen)
CNN Parks Associates
Comcast Corp. (Plaxo) PBS
Compete.com People.com
CrunchBase PepsiCo, Inc. (Pepsi)
Deloitte Philo
DFJ Gotham Ventures Reddit
Digg Research In Motion Ltd. (BlackBerry)
DIRECTV, Inc. Revision3
DISH Network L.L.C. ruwido austria gmbh
E! Showtime
ENIAC Ventures Starbucks Corp.
EPIX Starling
Facebook, Inc. Starz
FastCompany Tank Top TV
Foursquare TechCrunch
Fox Broadcasting Company The New York Times
France Telecom The Nielsen Company
FremantleMedia Time Warner Cable Inc.
Frog Design, Inc. TiVo Inc.
GetGlue Trendrr
GoldPocket Interactive, Inc. Tunerfish
Google Inc. (AdWords, Android) tvChatter
Google Ventures Twitaholic.com
Gowalla Inc. Twitter, Inc.
HBO Veo7
Hewlett-Packard Company (Palm, Palm OS) Verizon
Home Shopping Club
Vestitel
Hot Potato VH1
Hulu Vloop, LLC
IFC Wikipedia
IMDb WPP Group
IneoQuest Technologies, Inc.
Yelp
Internet Advertising Bureau
YouGov
JWT Zagat

1 Executive Summary: 1.1 Benefits of Social TV; 1.2 Features of Social TV Services; 1.3 The Future of Social TV
2 Introduction to Social Media: 2.1 Types of Social Media Platforms; 2.2 Levels of Social Media Interactivity; 2.3 The Power of Trending Topics and Real-time Social Media; 2.4 Popularity of Social Media; 2.5 Location-based Social Media
3 Introduction to Social TV: 3.1 The Living Room of Yesteryear; 3.2 Types of Social TV; 3.3 Benefits of Social TV for Service Providers; 3.4 Benefits of Social TV for Consumers; 3.5 Benefits of Social TV for Content Owners; 3.6 Social TV Drives Personalization; 3.7 The Emergence of the iPad as a Social TV Device; 3.8 Signs of Success for a Social TV Company
4 Social TV Business Models: Advertising, Promotions/Sponsorships and Analytics
5 Social TV Vendors and Platforms: 5.1 Clicker; 5.2 ClipSync; 5.3 GetGlue; 5.4 Hot Potato; 5.5 KickFour; 5.6 MediaFriends; 5.7 Miso; 5.8 Orca Interactive; 5.9 Philo; 5.10 Starling; 5.11 Tank Top TV; 5.12 Tunerfish; 5.13 tvChatter; 5.14 Vloop
6 Opportunities, Recommendations and Risks: 6.1 Recommendations for IPTV Service Providers; 6.2 Opportunities; 6.3 Risks
7 Case Studies: 7.1 Social TV in the U.S.; 7.2 Social TV in Europe
8 Index of Companies
Table of Figures: Figure 1-1: Benefits of Social TV; Figure 1-2: Features of Social TV; Figure 2-1: Four Types of Social Media Platforms; Figure 2-2: Social Media Depends on Interactivity Level; Figure 2-3: Social Media: Before, During and After (Post) Events; Figure 2-4: Regional Options for Twitter's Trending Topics List; Figure 2-5: The Top 10 Trending Topics on Twitter in the U.S. (August 16, 2010); Figure 2-6: Promoted Topic on Twitter; Figure 2-7: Number of Facebook Users (July 2010); Figure 2-8: Number of Tweets Per Day on Twitter (September 2010); Figure 2-9: Unique Web Visitors — Google, Facebook and Twitter (Sept. 2009 to Sept. 2010); Figure 2-10: Sample Foursquare Badges; Figure 3-1: Evolution of TV Viewing Habits; Figure 3-2: Example of "Fringe" with Twitter Feed Overlay; Figure 5-1: Examples of Clicker Awards and Badges; Figure 5-2: GetGlue's iPhone Screen Shot; Figure 5-3: Hot Potato's Website (No Longer Active); Figure 5-4: MediaFriends Chat; Figure 5-5: Badges From Miso; Figure 5-6: Screen Shots of Orca's "COMPASS"; Figure 5-7: Philo's iPhone App Screen Shot; Figure 5-8: Starling's iPhone App; Figure 5-9: The Tank Top TV Website; Figure 5-10: Tunerfish Website and iPhone App; Figure 5-11: Custom Badges From Tunerfish; Figure 6-1: Report on "Jersey Shore" Tweets From Trendrr; Figure 6-2: Interest in Social Media Feature on a TV; Figure 7-1: Viewership Change for Bad Girls Club; Figure 7-2: Oxygen's Viewing Party Website; Figure 7-3: Foursquare's Moonman Badge for the 2010 VMAs; Figure 7-4: ABC's My Generation iPad App; Figure 7-5: Top 10 Miso Check-Ins During 2010 FIFA World Cup; Figure 7-6: Badges Earned By Miso Users Watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup; Figure 7-7: Sponsored "Dexter" Badges From GetGlue; Figure 7-8: GetGlue Reaches 10 Million Check-In and Ratings; Figure 7-9: Twitter Integration with FiOS TV; Figure 7-10: Monterosa's "The Million Pound Drop" Online Game; Figure 7-11: Twision TV Show in Spain
Table of Tables: Table 1-1: Social TV Vendors Profiled; Table 2-1: Top 10 Twitter Users Based on Followers (October 2010); Table 2-2: Location-based Social Media Platforms; Table 3-1: U.S. Pay-TV Operators with iPad Apps; Table 5-1: Social TV Vendors; Table 5-2: Clicker; Table 5-3: ClipSync; Table 5-4: GetGlue; Table 5-5: Hot Potato; Table 5-6: KickFour; Table 5-7: MediaFriends; Table 5-8: Miso; Table 5-9: Orca Interactive; Table 5-10: Philo; Table 5-11: Starling; Table 5-12: Tank Top TV; Table 5-13: Tunerfish; Table 5-14: tvChatter; Table 5-15: Vloop; Table 7-1: Examples of Case Studies

Social TV and the Emergence of Interactive TV

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