Tag Archives: socialtv
KIT digital’s Social Program Guide Shortlisted for the CSI Awards
We are proud to announce that KIT digital’s Social Program Guide (SPG) has been shortlisted for the CSI Awards in the Best Social TV technology, service or application category. The SPG is a white label, second screen solution for network operators that is essentially a mash-up of the remote control and the electronic program guide, with an overlay of social functionality to aid in the discovery process. This allows viewers to enjoy a full range of social TV functions, as well as change the channel, all through a single intuitive interface. Served through KIT digital’s Cosmos Video Platform, the SPG also boasts support for cloud-based DVR functionality, seamless VOD store integration, and multiple e-commerce models and ad serving for advanced content monetization. The SPG was introduced to critical acclaim at this year’s National Association of Broadcasters show. We are especially pleased to be shortlisted this year as it marks the 10th anniversary of the CSI awards which were first launched … Continue reading
Beet.tv Interview with COO Alex Blum
Global COO Alex Blum was interviewed by Beet TV’s Andy Plesser about our new Social Program Guide and other initiatives during this year’s NAB. It’s a great overview of everything we’ve been up to in the drive towards productization
Was the 2012 Super Bowl a Social TV Success?
As we predicted, the 2012 Super Bowl proved to be one of the biggest social TV events of the year. However, it could have been far more impressive if brands had done a better job connecting their commercials with their social media campaigns. Research group Altimeter was disappointed by the fact that 32% of advertisements didn’t include references to brand websites or social media sites. There were also some campaigns that required viewers to spend too much time thinking about how to navigate through processes to activate perks. According to ReadWriteWeb, “…only six ads used hashtags in lieu of a Website or social media site, but those ads were notable because they did not ask viewers to like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. Instead, they asked for viewer interaction.” The entertainment check-in service GetGlue claims there were over 160K Super Bowl check-ins on their service alone, which went up 700% compared to the 2011 Super Bowl. Lora … Continue reading
The Social EPG Is The Social TV Of Tomorrow
While social TV apps continue to crop up like proverbial weeds, the future of the social TV app will likely be a proprietary social EPG (electronic program guide) provided by the same company that supplies your pay TV service. It will likely come with a companion tablet device too, one your pay TV provider gives you for a low monthly fee, much in the same way they now provide set top boxes. Multiple tablets will mean multiple fees, but most households will want at least one for every adult or teenage member. This model is the obvious next step for an industry that’s waiting and watching as the current wave of app developers figure out the rules of the game. They’re helping to figure out the ideal user experience and which behaviors (e.g. check-in, chat, recommendations) viewers are most interested in. And they’re doing it all on their VC’s dime as the big industry players just sit back and take … Continue reading
An Apple TV Will Be Just Like An iPhone Because…
It will be sold to you at a heavily subsidized price from a service provider looking to lock you in to a multi-year contract. Because Apple can’t build their own pay TV service. Nor can they launch an internet only service. Just like the iPhone, someone else owns the pipes: in this case it is likely to be the same company that provides pay TV service. And if you own the pipes, you can make using lots of bandwidth to watch someone else’s pay TV service really expensive and inconvenient. If you are Apple, going through a specific pay TV provider allows you to have all the control you had over the iPhone. You can design the interface and do all the branding you want. Because if anything goes wrong, consumers will blame the pay TV provider. Not Apple. It’s a business model that will turn the TV industry on it head. And likely be very good for consumers. Televisions … Continue reading
The Three Stages of Social TV
This is the first of a three-part series by Alan Wolk, our Managing Director of Social Strategy, on emerging consumer behaviors around multiscreen television. It originally appeared in DigiDay Daily. Social media might just be the best thing that’s happened to TV. While you probably think all that tweeting and Facebooking is tearing us away from the flat screen, it’s actually making TV programming even more powerful. Social TV is a hot trend nowadays. Everyone has an opinion; only there’s a tendency to lump any and every TV-related interaction under the banner of “social television.” There are, however, actually three distinct stages of the TV-watching experience: deciding, watching and reviewing, all of which feed off each other in a circular rather than linear pattern. In this article, I’ll concentrate on deciding. In subsequent articles, I’ll address what it means for watching and reviewing. The first part of any TV-viewing experience is always going to be “what should we watch?” And much … Continue reading
Is FIOS Making A Netflix Play?
More than a year after announcing that an iOS app was “coming soon,” Verizon FIOS finally rolled one out last week. Four things about the product immediately struck me as rather curious: There was no PR around the launch. Or else I’m using Google incorrectly. But the sort of sites that are normally all over stories like this (Engadget, Fierce IPTV) only picked up the story yesterday or today, about a week after iTunes indicates the app was first available. And they seem to have figured it out via someone accidentally stumbling on it at the iTunes store – there are no references to any sort of press release or official statement. The app is incomplete: while there are two tabs, one for Movies and one for TV Shows, the TV part is not live yet: all you get is a pop-up message stating that “TV Episodes are coming soon for iPad.” It’s unclear whether this is a rights … Continue reading