Social TV is buzzing in the US, but what is it and what does it mean for the UK?   One of the more social uses of TV in the UK many years ago were basic multiplayer interactive TV games like those offered by PlayJam that allowed a few people to participate at the same time or on different devices like those offered by gameplay.  Sms to the TV screen and formats like Idol which have increased the level of audience participation and influence over the years continues to gain momentum.  News programmes using video captured on mobile phones enabled citizens to participate in journalism and has become an accepted practice.  Overlays of sms interaction like AQA’s Mr. Know it All on MTV became common amongst channels targeting younger audiences.

Current TV and other mainstream channels started to use more semi-professional content within or alongside professionally produced programming.  Social networks like bebo and MySpace began “broadcasting” original online TV formats produced by Indies like Endemol.  Then during the the American election night, twitter got into the TV game.  For the first time, the Twitter stream of public conversations about the election, mostly vocal pro-Obama supporters, were broadcast on TV.  Although there wasn’t anything too new about the format since the UK has been doing it for years – it was momentous in that it was Twitter joining the conversation on TV.  Any of these activities as well as many others could be construed as social TV since they are inherently more social than the previous decades of passive viewing where the only social aspect was discussion at the water cooler the next day at work.  Many of the talented executives we’ve gathered here today are responsible for designing and delivering future TV experiences now.  With them, we will explore how we can offer more ways to communication, share and create more value from TV whichever screen your audience chooses and through inter-device interaction.

Those “water cooler” conversations were a crucial form of viral marketing – word of mouth recommendations from people you know and trust.  The US buzz about social TV largely has to do with the creation of recommendations engines that display suggestions from others based on your viewing habits.  Amazon’s “If you like this you may also like this” or “Others who bought this also bought this” approach to programme discovery is  taking “social media TV” to another stage in it’s evolution.  Sky and Virgin are looking at these applications now.  Is this is the best we can do to catapult TV into a new immersive conversation?  Our panellists are here to share their views and inspire your creative imagination.

The most social activities that occur while people are watching TV are the millions of people texting, instant messaging and interacting on social networks while they watch TV.  TV viewing may be passive, but the viewers are actively socializing on other media.  There are some companies that are looking to tap into this social behaviour by enabling device to device peer to peer communications displayed on the TV screen.  What does this mean?  While most 16-24 year olds spend their TV time texting friends or following friends on facebook they can opt in to display their messages on the TV screen.  One person can text another friend on their mobile phone and both friends can choose to see the message on their mobile and the TV screen.  They can also participate in group chat amongst friends on TV with some people communicating from a PC and some on their mobile with the entire chat displayed on TV.  This private chat replaces public chat with people you don’t know and connects you via your preferred communications device.  You can imagine the banter about the ManU Chelsea match.  You can experience the pub with your mates without having to leave your home.  For younger audiences, conversations are about their lives – the stuff they’re already talking about while the telly is on, but now it’s displayed on TV too.  The power of recommendation in this environment is even more powerful since it adds the key time based element causing a real time recommendation with immediate effect.  Seeing a facebook status update from one of your real friends while watching TV means you can stay connected and socialize with friends who may or may not be watching TV and without having to use a keyboard (which never took off).  This, combined with recommendation applications, could create a more social TV experience at least until the development of screens creates immersive in-home environments that teleport you into the location you’re viewing for a true virtual reality entertainment experience.

Today we will explore these themes in depth, providing you with insights and case studies that you can apply to your businesses now and a view into the the not so distant IP enabled future of TV where engagement takes centre stage.

Angel Gambino, Vice President, Business Development, Sonico