M+E Daily

Syncing With TV Is Key to ‘Second Screen’ Growth, Says North Highland

Television marketers are eyeing consumers’ iPads, iPhones, and PCs as the “second screen” of the living room — an opportunity to engage viewers simultaneously on two devices, while strengthening their audience base and reinvigorating advertiser revenue. With the year 2011 having seen a handful of second-screen successes from individual networks, global consulting firm North Highland tells M&E Daily that stakeholders throughout the television industry are looking to establish a broad second-screen market in 2012.

Even as Internet video streaming services are gaining entry into consumers’ living rooms, traditional broadcasting is poised for a “second life through the emergence of the linked second screen,” says Vincent Balembois, vice president of North Highland’s media and entertainment practice. As more viewers interact with second-screen bonuses, television networks and their advertisers gain valuable data on their target markets, at a level of detail that has thus far eluded traditional television.

But how many of these viewers are discussing the program that they’re watching, or engaging with related content? As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, the issue of whether TV viewers “are engaged or merely distracted” by second screens is a critical one for advertisers mulling support of a broadcaster’s apps and websites.

The year ahead could see the next step in the second screen’s evolution, partly in an effort to solve this issue. According to North Highland principal Michael Hollar, the television business ultimately will shift from apps marketed around individual television shows or networks, to standard second-screen platforms that are synced with the electronic programming guides of cable and satellite television operators.

Current Market

Devices such as iPhones and iPads already attract a consistent segment of the overall TV viewership during primetime hours. In a given week, nearly five percent of adults age 18-49 use a mobile app or browse the mobile web while watching television between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., according to new data from the Media Behavior Institute (via Nielsen, free registration required). Even more people use a mobile device to talk or text while watching TV — as high as 20 percent of adults in a given week, Media Behavior Institute reports.

Among Facebook users worldwide who posted updates while watching TV, 19 percent start conversations about the shows they’re watching, according to a January 2011 survey by social media agency Room 214 and research firm Crimson Hexagon (via eMarketer). And among those who say they access the mobile web while watching TV, 24 percent browse content that’s related to the show they’re watching, according to a June 2010 survey by Nielsen and Yahoo (via Engadget).

Syncing for Scale

One key to engaging more TV viewers with second-screen content is ease of use, Balembois says. At present, he notes, second-screen features are “manual” experiences: show viewers must download an app or call up a website to access interactive content. While individual shows, such as MTV’s Video Music Awards or Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City, may benefit from the “manual” approach, the television industry at large will profit from adoption of standard platforms that automatically sync second screen experiences with TV programs, Balembois contends.

A few such technologies are already jockeying for living-room position. Yahoo’s IntoNow app uses audio recognition algorithms to identify what a viewer is watching, enabling the user to quickly share program information with friends on Facebook. Satellite television provider DirecTV, meanwhile, is integrating two other “social TV” apps from GetGlue and Miso into its main-screen interface: the companies’ iPhone apps will be able to automatically detect the shows that DirecTV subscribers are watching (via FierceCable).

North Highland’s Hollar sees second-screen integration as a key differentiator for more television service providers (or TSPs) in 2012. “Once you get the first TSP providing this,” he says, “you’re going to get copycat chasers.”