PROTECH
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Selling the second screen
As consumers’ viewing habits continue to change with second screens becoming more prevalent, broadcasters need to adopt smart strategies to monetise content that’s available to them, says Johann Schreurs
As smart devices, such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and so on become ubiquitous, content consumption via the small screen is becoming more common. Watching content on TV while engaging in related social media activity or viewing at the same time is becoming a norm sooner than you would think. This is particularly the case among younger viewer demographics. eMarketer (a market research company covering digital media) forecasts that in 2013 the number of internet-connected devices shipped will cross 1.5 billion, while analysts at Deloitte have predicted that around 10% of households in developing markets will dual screen their TV consumption each month during the course of this year. The mushrooming of over-the-top (OTT) services (such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer), the provision of PVRs by pay-TV providers which enable time-shifted viewing, and the availability of content via sites such as YouTube as well as via a plethora of apps, have all combined to reshape consumers’ viewing habits. Audiences are no longer confined by linear viewing dictated by a broadcaster’s schedule; consumers are now the ‘remote controllers’, creating individual viewing patterns that fit in with their lifestyle. With so many avenues for content access now available to them, viewers are also much more proactive about discovering and watching media via a variety of devices, at a time and location that suits them. With so much competition for viewership, broadcasters are increasingly concerned about how to keep viewers ‘on platform’ or ‘on brand’ as opposed to looking to third party content via their various companion devices. In the last two years we’ve increasingly seen broadcasters begin to curate and deliver additional content – including news, live streams, aggregated twitter feeds, etc. via their own online portals and apps. This is especially the case with sports and live event broadcasting, where second screen viewing is particularly relevant. The London 2012 Olympic Games were a
35 | www.broadcastprome.com | January 2013
August 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |
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