TV ‘cord cutters’ and ‘cord nevers’ increase, finds Nielsen study

A new report by Nielsen reveals a rise in homes with over-the-air TV and a broadband connection, but no cable, satellite or IPTV service. It’s still a small segment of the overall U.S. population (5% of households), it’s grown 22.8% over the last year. While this group still watches much more traditional TV than broadband-delivered video, it watches half as much TV and streams twice as much video as the general population.

How should TV newsrooms break stories on Twitter?

Sky News and BBC are both in industry headlines this week for changes to their social media policies that ensure reporters and editors alert the newsroom before breaking news on Twitter. The BBC explains: “When they have some breaking news, an exclusive or any kind of urgent update on a story, they must get written copy into our newsroom system as quickly as possible…”

WSB-TV showcases anchor retirement on social media

When WSB-TV’s Monica Pearson announced her retirement on Monday after 37 years on the air, it was big news for Atlanta. After all, she worked through seven presidencies and six Georgia governors, and the state’s population doubled during her tenure. WSB not only splashed the news on air, but on social media — “Monica” even became the #2 trending topic on Twitter nationwide.

Connected TV company says second-screen apps are distracting

For the Super Bowl, the connected TV marketing company CTV Advertising conducted a survey. It worked with ten heavy-consuming TV viewers (“couch consultants”) around the country, and asked them to fill out questionnaires before and after the game about “companion applications,” with an emphasis on synchronized advertising. And the results are in:

Biggest, record-setting social media moments of the Super Bowl

Updated: The Giant’s fourth-quarter victory help the Super Bowl become the biggest social TV event in history so far. Bluefin Labs says it counted 9.3 million social media comments, surpassing the previous all-time record high of 3 million held by the MTV VMAs. Trendrr said this year’s Super Bowl had approximately 5X the social activity over last year. The data is still coming in, and here’s our early crack at the biggest social media moments of the Super Bowl…

Super Bowl will be a big second screen moment

Note: Make sure you’re following @lostremote for our live-tweets during the Super Bowl for the best social media moments during the game.

Nearly 60 percent of mobile phone users will be checking their devices during the Super Bowl, according to a new survey by Velti and Harris Interactive. And about half (47%) of all viewers say they expect to check up to 10 times during the game. “There’s no going back now from the fact that the Super Bowl is truly a two-screen experience,” said Krishna Subramanian, Chief Marketing Officer of Velti.

Local stations jump into social TV with ConnecTV

Last November, ten broadcast groups partnered with social TV startup ConnecTV in a major bet on the second screen. Later today, the ConnecTV experience is launching online and for the iPad (now available), and we were given a sneak peek to see how the product works. As a quick recap, the partners make up a who’s-who list of broadcasters….

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.

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.

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….

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.”

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.

Former ‘Idol’ exec invests millions in new social TV app Viggle

The man who launched American Idol is getting into the social TV business. Robert Sillerman announced today that his new company, Function(x) will soon debut a TV loyalty app called Viggle. By checking into various TV shows — the app will come with audio recognition software — viewers can earn points that can redeemed for rewards from companies such as Burger King, Sephora, Fandango and the Hulu Plus service. The company says the app (which is launching soon) will highlight shows with “check-in bonuses.”

USA debuts ‘White Collar’ on Miso SideShow

Last month Miso debuted a new feature that allows TV brands to create their own synchronized second-screen experiences, a sort of “Wordpress” for social TV. The SideShows, as they’re called, appear inside the Miso app itself: a collection of companion content all tied to a timeline, appearing at precise moments in a live or recorded TV show. Using a publishing tool, brands can easily create their own SideShow.

TV brands beginning to appear on Pinterest

If you work in social media in the TV industry, these are exciting, stressful times. And now there’s yet another social network where TV brands are beginning to appear. It’s called Pinterest, which describes itself as an “online pinboard” of things you love, and it’s beginning to draw a larger audience beyond your standard early-adopters (an estimated 40 million uniques) — especially women.

CES 2012: Xbox wins top TV innovation award

With 66 million consoles sold and 40 million Live subscribers, Xbox rarely gets credit for being a force in television. But at CES, Xbox won the overall “TV Innovator of the Year” award, beating out category winners like Samsung 3DTV, MobiTV and thePlatform. Organizers noted Microsoft’s aggressive strides into TV over the last year, from Bing search and Kinect navigation to new partnerships with 40 new TV and entertainment providers.

How Google+ Hangouts will transform traditional TV broadcasting

Sarah Hill is the interactive anchor at KOMU-TV 8, the broadcast lab for the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She also has over 350,000 followers on Google+, where she’s been blazing a trail with Google Hangouts with the help of interactive director Jen Reeves.

KOMU is the first broadcaster to integrate the live video chats on-air. Since then, other TV shops have been experimenting with Hangouts. Yesterday, PBS held one. And today, msnbc will be holding a Hangout from 4-5 pm. ET, simultaneously streaming it on NBCPolitics.com.