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.

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Since the launch of BBC iPlayer in 2007 online catch-up services from UK broadcasters have attracted much attention. This segment is growing rapidly – in the UK online TV (including TV shows, sport, news and niche) generated £48.2m in 2008 according to Screen Digest, projected to grow to £92.4m in 2009. The broadcasters’ own websites accounted for 53% of UK free-to-view online TV consumption in 2008.

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New for 2010, we have introduced a Bloggers Pass for the event.   Bloggers Passes are available for New Media/Social Media bloggers looking to cover the show and become a Blogger Supporter for the event. (more…)

If you look around the desks at Sky News, and for that matter many other newsrooms, you’re likely to find some people browsing Tweetdeck, Qik, Flickr, YouTube & Facebook.  And no they’re not skiving, they’re in fact doing a great job.  We’re not going soft in our 21^st year at Sky News, this is the world of breaking hard news in the 21^st century.

When I started at Sky as a TV output producer in 2000, our sources were 4 news wire services, 2 TV agencies and our correspondents around the UK and the world.  Now there are millions of lenses recording images of our world, millions of bloggers publishing to the web, millions of potential sources. (more…)

Could 2010 be the year that Social Media and Television finally get it together?

Fans of specific TV shows from different timezones around the world are saving the latest episodes of their favourite shows on their personal video recorders (PVRs) and then arranging common viewing times with their friends to watch the shows whilst discussing the action together on Skype, reports the New York Times.

To read the full article visit: The Next web

I’ve just found a very interesting whitepaper outlining  the transformation of TV as a passive lonesome consumption into a compelling social experience.  For the full article visit the link below.

http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~jmasthof/EuroITV04/S04.pdf

To be in for a chance to attend the “Must attend” Social TV & Mobile Social Media event of the year FREE, simply take part in our Re-Tweet competition!

It’s Really Easy to Enter

All you need to do is put your social media skills to the test and re-tweet our competition tweet on your twitter. Just make sure your tweet contains our Twitter name (@Social_T_V so we can track you as a contestant) and link to this blog post (more…)

Social TV: Watch Hulu with Your Facebook and MySpace Friends.  This is the new reality of the TV experience.  Social TV will come to define our viewing over the next year.  Most social networks are already partnered with multiple broadcasters offering viewers the ability to socialise with friend through networks while watching TV through either their PC’s or television.  This latest advancement in technology is taking us back to the social aspect of huddling round a TV with friends, the only difference being that your friends can be on the other side of the planet.  To learn more about how this revolution is happening read Ben Parr’s piece.

We are very excited to have Mark Watts-Jones, Head of Development and Innovation at Orange UK confirmed to speak at the Social TV Forum 2010.

Orange recently announced that Twitter users in Europe will soon be able to tweet to each other via their TV sets while watching entertainment and sports shows, following a     deal between Orange and the micro-blogging service. Under the deal, Orange is aiming to integrate Twitter into football coverage, news, entertainment shows and films. (more…)

The topic of Social TV has recently hit the headlines in an article published in the Guardian on the 15th December.

With the latest X Factor Craze taking over our TV screens, Gary Hayes looks at the buzz created on Social Media tools such as Twitter and the effect they have on the hype generated around the top shows on our box. (more…)