Trendspotting: Second Sight

By Angie Argabrite, Monday, July 2, 2012, at 9:01 am.

Television is a medium in transformation: Some 56 percent of us now regularly surf the Internet while watching. One screen just doesn’t cut it anymore, nor is TV the solitary pastime it once was. “Britain’s Got Talent”—you know, the program that gave us Susan Boyle—is now partially conducting voting through an iOS app that’s been downloaded a half-million times; i.e., viewers are paying to vote and to chat about the show online. And there’s a new (unofficial) “American Idol” app that lets you “boo” or “cheer” in real time. Even “Antiques Roadshow” is crashing into the 21st century, with the planned launch of a “guess the value” feature that lets viewers of the BBC version play along. And there’s social TV startup Miso, which lets you “check in” to the TV shows you’re watching while also getting more information about them—say, what brand of cardigan a favorite “Gossip Girl” character is sporting, along with a link to buy one. Tablet owners are now spending an average of 2.4 hours of attention daily on their tablets, so there will no doubt be more startups vying to merge our love for the big, stationary screen with our love for the small, portable one. Though experts once predicted that the computer signaled the demise of the TV, consumers have instead proven that they want their TV, and they want to talk about it, too. Smart marketers will be figuring out ways to get their brands inserted into those conversations.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2012 at 9:01 am. It is filed under Brainsnacks, Brands, Marketing, Media, Social Media, Technology, Trends and tagged with "Antiques Roadshow", "Britain’s Got Talent", "Gossip Girl", American Idol, Internet, iPad, Miso, reality television, second screen, social TV, tablets, technology trends, television trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.