The Mobile World Congress was recently held in the city of Barcelona and social TV was one of the digital trends in vogue. The concept has matured and become a service or gadget to directly compete for the pay per content consumer niche. The Telephone field is one of the largest players in the telecommunications area to take the first step, announcing, in the context of this congress, that the company will offer social TV to its customers.
When analyzing the statement issued by such corporation regarding its incursion into this market, the conclusion is that from the very first moment it aims to directly compete against social media by leveraging on the social TV concept, stating that “the customer may comment, discuss and talk with friends and other contacts over any live show, using a multi-conference and simultaneous chat system”.
The challenge involving entering this unexplored digitalization field means overcoming the immediacy, openness and scope created by hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms. The challenge to overcome through this new technology is the predecessor and classic practice of the “second screen”, where millions of people around the globe give their opinion in real time as the watch a show on TV.
It will not be easy for telecommunication companies, since the social TV concept has evolved differently, with the increased use by viewers of coviewing apps, such as Telfie, Philo, Touchvie or Tviso. These are intended to share criticism, information or services related to series or films provided by streaming platforms. The noteworthy good experiences of such practice are the Vive Poniente app, developed by Canal +, the Spanish network, for Game of Thrones, and the app created by AXN for Hannibal.
The giant Netflix is also there to enter the social television field by introducing Netflix Party. Its innovation is a designed extension to watch the digital platform with friends and acquaintances by synchronizing the streaming among users and adding the chat for interaction.
After briefly analyzing the social television context, in short, the competition in this new tech field is now the norm; the quality of shared contents with viewers will define their preference for one or another platform; and actively listening to viewers will be crucial to quickly implement changes into the storytelling nucleus to generate greater identification for viewers.