For the past several years, it’s been hard to think of any television program that airs on broadcast or cable be referred to as “appointment television” in the traditional sense…like when people cleared their calendar every Thursday for The Cosby Show. Since the advent of the DVR, the rise and popularity of Hulu, iTunes episodes and networks airing their programs on their own websites, television viewing has become t.v. on demand. Some argue that t.v. watching is dead.
The fact of the matter is, TV has benefited from internet use by television viewers…particularly around social media. “TV has become an inflection point for social media and that promotes appointment viewing. The interest to participate in the conversation on Facebook or Twitter drives you to want to watch live TV.” This is according to PriceWaterhouse Coopers executive, Russell Sapienza (www.adweek.com, June, 2012). It is estimated that broadcast and cable network television will collectively claim $56 billion in advertising revenue by 2016(www.adweek.com, June, 2012). While many viewers find that their favorite shows like Mad Men are on cable, still, broadcast is the medium to reach a large audience quickly, for many large national advertisers. Taking a look at recent viewership of Mad Men vs NCIS, the AMC favorite attracted 2.7 million viewers, while 8.67 million tuned in to NCIS (www.adweek.com, June, 2012).
TV advertising has come a long way since Lucy shamelessly promoted “Vitameatavegamin
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How exactly has the internet resuscitated television viewing, especially among teens… “Social TV.” USA Network is, in fact, planning to launch six “social TV” tie-ins, targeted to superfans (www.adweek, May, 2012). As part of their digital integration program, the network’s show, Covert Affairs will include a video-based, role-playing game generated in partnership with Capital One. The secondary character, Augie, will get a richer backstory as a result and because this is being shot in Spain, the sponsor gets an exotic location in which to tout its services. In Suits, Lexus will sponsor that show’s integration. In this show, there is a game component that will allow viewers to join the show’s law firm in one of two capacities and Twitter/Facebook style social feed will be established enabling fans to talk to each other about the progress of the story(www.adweek, May, 2012).
Fans get proprietary info and in order to reach the end of the story, each user has to find a different character class to share their info. Integrations of this type are much more complex than Lucy trying to convince viewers that Vitameatavegamin was “tasty too.”
- Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham of USA’s “Covert Affairs” | Photo: Christos Kalohoridis/USA Network
TVs Second Screen has networks scrambling
Like the t.v. signals of just a few years gone by that were scrambled and needed the proper cable box code and connection to be viewed, network execs are scrambling to develop “the next best thing” to entice viewers. The internet and social media have irrevocably, changed the viewing experience of traditional TV (www.adweek, May, 2012). NBC Universal recognize that the “rules of engagement” have changed and is planning now for its second symposium on social TV slated for five months from now. Their goal: to specifically identify how brands can benefit from and be integrated into social TV. Networks are beginning to realize that it is about engagement and devoted fans are their most important marketing assets.
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References
AdWeek. (2012). ”USA to Launch 6 “Social TV’ Tie-ins Aimed at Superfans”. Retrieved June 22, 2012 from: http://www.adweek.com/news/television/usa-launch-6-social-tv-tie-ins-aimed-superfans-140592
AdWeek. (2012). ”PwC Outlook: TV’s Growth Prospects Look Strong.” Retrieved June 22, 2012 from: http://www.adweek.com/news/television/pwc-outlook-tv-s-growth-prospects-look-strong-141074
AdWeek. (2012). ”NBCU Gathers Who’s Who in Social TV.” Retrieved June 22, 2012 from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/nbcu-gathers-whos-who-social-tv-139314
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5 Responses to Advertisers: Join The “Happy, Peppy People” in Social TV