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Are Interactive Apps the Future of TV?

By | September 29, 2010 | 1 comment
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This year, TV networks, content providers and developers in general seem to have embraced the social network approach more than ever. Hard to blame them for that. With the iPad’s acceptance as a major video viewing device, the announcement of more tablets, and after seeing how Facebook has grown, many have taken note of that.

The number of TV and video apps for the iPad and other devices keeps growing everyday with new apps like BuddyTV, yap.TV, Comcast’s TunerFish and more. A new trend of social apps has emerged providing ways for you to interact with others while watching TV shows. (video after the break)

The upshot by these companies is not only that people like you will watch more television by using these apps, but also that as your viewing habits shift online, they want to own part of that conversation. These apps are becoming big companions to the consumer TV watching experience. They are simply providing ways to connect TV fans, help you track information about your favorite TV shows, allow you to share your thoughts and interact with many existing social services like Twitter and Facebook.

One example is an app that I stumbled upon last week, called ABC’s My Generation Sync. The reason I downloaded this app onto my iPad is because my wife follows ABC’s show My Generation, and she had mention about an app that would allow her to follow everything about this show.

After I downloaded the app, I was pleasantly surprised by the way it syncs with the show to provide real-time information such as quizzes, polls, and behind the scenes information. Unlike other apps, where you tune into a show and then get online via your iOS device to follow discussion boards, the My Generation Sync app uses “audio watermarks” to sync up the app with the exact scene or place the show is at. This app is using Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform, which allows mobile apps to automatically detect and synchronize with TV programming using audio watermarks.

Is this the future of TV? Who knows, but as more and more services shift online we will all have to adapt to a new kind of TV experience that is becoming an option to almost everyone. Apps like My Generation Sync will keep popping up, and consumers will have access to new ways of unlocking synchronized content and features, as well as interact via TV social networks.

I can only imagine about all the apps that can be created by leveraging something like Nielsen’s media-sync platform. I can imagine watching the baseball playoffs, or a football game, or the World Cup and syncing my app with those events to get access to players information, stats, polls, contests, and video replays comfortably from my iPad. What do you think?

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About Roberto: A blogger with a passion for applications, gadgets, new technologies, and everything new in this ever-changing technological world. Contact me via Twitter: @PG_Roberto

  • http://www.phasecreative.co.uk daloriana

    A good article, but there a a raft of issues ‘social TV’ has to navigate.

    The main one, for me, is the difference in viewing experience between a portable device, and the ‘family screen’ at home.

    A portable device has an individual viewer, who can choose ‘social’ content applicable to (a) their demographic, and (b) their environment. So If I’m watching a world cup match, the live twitter feed, or content specific forum, of playful banter between supporters would be a great add-on.

    However, if the viewer is at home, with say a family group watching, the above scenario is not suitable. This fundamental difference between the current online media UX, and that of TV is an area that I’ve not seen any in-depth analysis on

    Whilst I appreciate, this is probably off-topic to your article, as you’re primarily discussing the shift of viewing habits away from a shared experience, I think its a piece of the puzzle that’s yet to be explored properly.