How the Super Bowl became the year’s biggest social TV event
Updated: It’s official: every single major Super Bowl media investment has a social TV component. Brands with hopes at leveraging the big game to reach consumers have recognized that investing in buzz during the event isn’t enough. To truly capitalize on those millions that they’re about to spend on a commercial spot, they must hype the social web like never before. Shazam has a big announcement coming up, and it has already said it will power up to a third of the ads during the game. Brands are buying promoted tweets linking to articles about their upcoming ads and are leaking teaser clips across YouTube. The NFL has launched a Social Media Command Center. Social TV apps are gearing up for the big night and journalists can’t stop chatting about all aspects of the big night. Here’s how:
Obama shines in Google Plus Hangout, and that’s the point
President Obama has been popping up in live events and town halls on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and now in a Google Plus hangout, chatting with 5 lucky (and pre-selected) Americans in a live video stream. Over 130,000 total questions were submitted, and we’re waiting for the final audience numbers from Google+. Just as FDR triumphed on radio and JFK on TV, Barack Obama shines in social media circles with an upbeat, easy-going style.
Skipping TV for YouNow, the future of reality programming
If you don’t watch reality television, you’re probably lying. From Survivor to Big Brother, to the Kardashians and Jersey Shore, reality TV has changed the way television is produced forever. There are books written on the subject, classes taught at universities and there’s even a school dedicated to the profession. The NY Reality TV School is “pioneering the development of reality TV training.” The founder of the school is Robert Galinsky who even created a “Reality School Game Show.” Galinsky recently decided to terminate a deal with Dick Clark Productions in favor for producing the show on YouNow, “a social video platform that allows users to broadcast live video & interact with their audience in real time.”
Shazam to power up to third of Super Bowl ads
Anyone who’s unsure that brands are interested in spending on social TV should take a hard look at the work Shazam has executed since launching “Shazam for TV” last year. Next week, as many as one-third of the Super Bowl ads will have some Shazamable component, the company says.
Comcast reveals social TV plans in patent application
A patent application obtained by the site FierceCable reveals that Comcast is planning to add a number of social TV features in its program guides that are staples of many second-screen apps. For example, viewers could receive notifications when their friends are watching a particular show, see trending shows in their city, as well as win rewards (like badges, coupons or a discount on their cable bill) for recommending shows to their friends or watching a particular show a certain number of times.
The Oscars go social with Shira Lazar’s ‘What’s Trending’
The Oscars producers are finally figuring out that you don’t necessarily need young hosts to be hip on the social web. The team behind the Oscars seems to be developing simple and effective ways to partner with already existing influential communities. First a video in partnership with Funny or Die and now a 5-part web series with Shira Lazar’s What’s Trending show. Called Oscar Dailies, they’ll feature an all-star lineup of film experts…
How CBC’s ‘Cover Me Canada’ leveraged social voting [Interview]
I recently wrote that a television property has yet to exist where the voting was solely on social. I was delighted when Tessa Sproule, CBC’s Director of Interactive Content tweeted at me to tell us about the social voting “Cover Me Canada, a reality elimination music show,” that aired on CBC from September to November.
Social TV app Viggle launches with real-life rewards
Earlier this month, we previewed Viggle, a new social TV app that’s the brainchild of former American Idol exec Robert Sillerman. Today, Viggle hit the iTunes Appstore (iPhone right now), and we gave it a spin. Viggle is based on rewards — not badges or stickers — but gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Burger King, iTunes and freebies like an iPod Shuffle and one month of Hulu Plus. To earn these rewards, TV viewers accrue points by checking into broadcasts, setting reminders for upcoming shows, watching videos, playing games and taking quizzes….
Networked Insights analysis of the State of the Union
Twitter and Mass Relevance put out some very interesting data the State of the Union, and now social TV data company Networked Insights has provided us with a deeper analysis of what social comments can tell us about the president’s TV broadcast to the nation. Social TV data continues to be fascinating. From the top level analysis on the biggest moments to infographics that paint a picture of the ongoing conversation, boring traditional TV ratings better watch out for companies that have technology and know how to listen in the right places at the right time.
Making movie trailers on TV more social, meet MoviePal
Social-savvy TV junkies usually scoff at the idea of watching commercials. DVRs, Netflix, iTunes and the on-demand culture have made TV commercials for much scripted content, irrelevant. There is an exception though when it comes to movie trailers. Trailer and film junkies get hooked up Apple’s trailer site but those who fall into the genre of of, I watch insane amounts of TV but rarely see movies (like myself), coming across a trailer that entices me on TV can get me to get off the couch. The obvious thing to do after seeing a trailer is to google it for more information but often it takes way too many clicks to get to the showtimes you want, the list of characters you want to see or the music that was in the background of the trailer. Now there’s an app that makes this whole process easier. Meet a Shazam/IntoNow for trailers, meet YouWeb’s MoviePal.
Top five reasons to attend #TVnext 2012
While I’ve yet to hear an agency present itself solely as a social TV shop, Hill Holliday has definitely built itself an impressive backbone of thought leadership in the space through the work of Mike Proulx and Stacey Shepatin who authored a brand new Social TV Book, that’s coming out soon. Proulx led a case study panel at the Social TV Summit and is now gearing up to produce his company’s second annual social TV event, #TVnext 2012.
Most-tweeted moments of the State of the Union (infographic)
Twitter has put together an infographic analyzing the tweets from last night’s State of the Union debate. It counted 766,681 tweets that referenced the State of the Union or one of its hashtags, as well as 548 tweets from members of Congress. The top moment was President Obama’s joke, “I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk,” which generated 14,131 tweets-per-minute.
Bluefin Labs lands $12 million round, ‘huge’ year ahead
Another investment in the social TV space: the social TV data company Bluefin Labs just closed a $12 million series B round led by Time Warner Investments. Bluefin measures conversations around TV shows and commercials, and then sells that data to programmers, distributors, agencies and advertisers. “2012 will be a year of huge growth at Bluefin Labs,” explains Deb Roy, co-founder and CEO. “With this funding we will continue to invest in R&D and build out our sales and client service offerings.”
Social TV startup ‘TV Dinner’ launches with funding
Another social TV company has entered the space aiming to create a, “refreshingly unique real-time experience,” according to their release. New York-based “TV Dinner” (for iPad) is focusing on a big gaming element for the second screen. They’re launching with a strong opposition to the idea of the TV check-in, a concept that GetGlue seems to be banking off of but that others are skeptical of in regards to long-term sustainability as a platform.
10 most retweeted comments of the South Carolina debate
Brooklyn-based SocialGuide published their findings on the ten most retweeted comments from last Thursday’s Republican debate. For the debate, they tracked close to 400,000 comments from over 100,000 unique users, making it the second most social program according to their charts. Another interesting piece of data they pulled was the influence of those participating. “The average of 929 followers per unique commenter, the highest of any program that day, and more than 2x the average across from December,” according to SocialGuide. They even calculated that each commenter had an average of 4 comments, “making it the most socially engaged program on Thursday.”
Starz Spartacus launches social game for season two
We recently wrote about Starz growth and their use of social TV. Now, the premium cable channel and their digital media arm has launched a new social game for the premier of their hit show Spartacus, a gladiator drama. The game will launch on January 27th on Facebook when the season premiers. Social TV games are great. Creating a game, on the largest social platform for passionate fans, is the perfect way to keep fans addicted while the show isn’t on the air.
Fox’s ‘Touch’ to launch globally to capitalize on social media
On the eve of NATPE, the programming conference where top TV execs come to buy and sell content, FOX and Uniliver have announced a global deal to launch Kiefer Sutherland’s new show “Touch” simultaneously around the world. The reason, according to Marion Edwards, president of international television for Twentieth Century Fox Film Distribution? “They can access episodes immediately after they air here. They can follow on Twitter. It’s all part of this huge informational universe where everyone feels very up to the moment.”
Volkswagen aims to repeat Super Bowl ad success
Last year VW released its Super Bowl ads several days before the big game, and “The Force” (the adorable commercial with the kid dressed as Darth Vader) became a viral hit on YouTube. By the time the Super Bowl rolled around, everyone was talking about it. As I wrote last year, the preemptive strike was a stroke of viral genius, one-upping all the other advertisers battling to become the most-buzzed commercial of TV’s biggest annual event. Today, that clip on YouTube has 48 million (free) views.
Oscars.com gears up social efforts for 84th Annual Ceremony
Ever since the whole Eddie Murphy debacle that ended in Billy Crystal trending into a role as host, we’ve been unsure what to exactly expect from the 84-year-old awards. While the Oscars and their Academy will never lose importance, there’s definitely a sense of excitement around wanting things to change. After two young hosts didn’t turn out so well (Franco even quit Twitter after the Oscars) Billy Crystal is tweet-announcing and getting involved in some cool antics early on.
SnappyTV launches ‘Pro Editor’ in time for State of the Union
SnappyTV is one of the social TV startups that make you excited about the evolution of social TV. The startup that won “Best Idea” at the first Social TV Summit just announced that they are launching a new “Pro Editor” for bloggers to debut during the State of the Union Address this Tuesday at 9pm ET. The San Francisco-based startup is out to conquer an important issue that faces everyone sharing content around social TV. “Do you ever notice that when you see something great on TV everyone talks about it on Twitter, but it takes hours or longer for that clip to show up online?” Ever since Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift and YouTube lawyers raced to take down the clips, social TV lovers have been waiting for a solution.
