Social TV – making the TV experience more social.

A version of this article written by Richard Kastelein (Founder, Appmarket.tv) & Dick Rempt (CEO, Talents Media) was originally published in the “The Channel” magazine forthe Association of International Broadcasters. ThePDF is located here.

Whatis Social TV, and where are we now in the development curve? What does it mean for the business models of the current industry and what challenges lie ahead? In a series of articles, Appmarket.tv will offer you some support to navigate this emerging landscape.

This article focuses the Social TV phenomenon – a general introduction to the concepts and technologies out there… the forces driving further development, and the challenges ahead to make Social TV happen. Following articles will analyze the impact on the broadcasting ecosystem – what’ll happen to existing advertising and business models? And finally… some guidance to the broadcast industry – how to survive or even thrive in the Social TV landscape.

For starters, Marie-Jose Montpetit, Invited Scientist at MIT for Social TV, puts it like this:

“Social TV is not just about people being Social; it’s also about devicesand even networks being social.¹

The impact of Social Media on TV

Social media is here to stay. Media consumption of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube can be measured in hours rather than minutes a day. People under 30 are spending more time sharing content using social media² and 59 percent of Americans³ surf the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. Brands follow the buzz and have started to flock to emerging convergent formats such as Social TV.

UK’s total 2010 online media budgets are already bigger than those for TV⁴. So it’s perfectly understandable broadcasters and production companies are looking for ways to combine social media and TV to win back the budgets they are losing.In other words, Social media has become:

Continues @http://www.appmarket.tv