Tag Archives: connected tv

#GEN2012 – Dos and don’ts of connected TV strategy for publishers

Image by por brylle on Arte & Fotografia. Some rights reserved.

The connected TV audience “wants to be multitasked”, editors were told at the News World Summit in Paris today, as part of a session looking at four screen (and more) strategy.

Users do “not want to wait 12 hours” to discuss programming “at the water cooler”, head of digital strategy at France Televisions Bruno Patino said. Instead they want to do it “live on social networks”.

Patino called it “the social couch”, a “very rich and augmented TV experience.” which enables users to share their experience and not be “limited by same place or same time”.

So what should broadcasters be offering these audiences? Patino shared a list of dos and don’ts with delegates:

Don’t:

  • Don’t try to maintain the system closed – you won’t be master of the TV set anymore
  • Don’t try to limit the user experience
  • Don’t believe your content will rule the users’ experience

Do:

  • Always distribute – wherever you can. A new path is a new chance for your programme to be seen, don’t think exclusivity, think ubiquity
  • Engage the audience at every level including creation
  • Be xenophilic
  • Be pragmatic
  • Try, experiment
  • Talk about the whole universe
  • Try gamification
  • Promote connections
  • Test technologies
  • Put the user at the centre

Also speaking on the topic of four screen strategy, the BBC’s general manager of news and knowledge Phil Fearnley shared his own recommendations:

  • Work on standard and scalable solutions
  • Consider apps and browsers, not apps v browser
  • Simple design – quality content
  • The importance of live

At the BBC, he added, the importance of live is the “absolute focus”, as opposed to “trying to deliver all functionality” possible. That is “not going to work”, he said.

Media release: BBC announces launch of web-connected TV product

Today the BBC announced the launch of a new product for connected TVs which, according to a release will see BBC News video news clips brought to television via the internet.

The BBC News product for connected TV combines existing video and text content from BBC News Online and will initially be made available on Samsung’s range of Smart TVs. It will subsequently be made available on a range of connected devices over time.

This is part of a “value for money” strategy to re-purpose BBC Online products for a wide range of devices. Editorial teams in the BBC’s newsrooms will work to curate clips to complement the 24 news channel and to run alongside text-based news from BBC News Online. And the control of what content the user views will be in their hands, with navigation via the remote.

BBC Worldwide is also said to be launching an international version which will be supported by advertising. In a blog post BBC Online editor Steve Herrmann said in time the product will also be rolled out to other devices in the UK.

Times Online: BBC to integrate iPlayer with Facebook and Twitter

The BBC is planning to link its catch-up TV service with Twitter and Facebook. The new version of the iPlayer will allow viewers to comment and chat about what they are watching without leaving the service. Similar services have been tested for one-off events by other broadcasters using the Facebook Connect tool and by sites such as Livestream, but this is a notable step by the BBC towards internet-connected television.

Full story at this link…

Online video: FT’s Stephen Pinches on opportunities for publishers with connected TV

Speaking at a discussion on the future of online video this morning, the Financial Times’ lead product manager Stephen Pinches coined a new concept for me: that of the “publisher-broadcaster”. Connected TV – the idea of internet-connected television sets or set-top boxes – will take publishers further into the broadcast realm, beyond video produced for websites and hopefully to create a more engaging experience for users by providing text, video and opportunities for interaction tailored to fit a front room setting.

Some broadcasters and digital media companies have already made the leap (Sky News in partnership with Yahoo has launched TV widgets to deliver breaking news by text and images to users’ TV sets) and some traditionally print players are also getting in on the act.

(On wobblecam) Journalism.co.uk asked Pinches where how he thought print publishers could get involved with connected TV: