TV is finally socialising!

WARC recently reported about brands such as Levi & Monster testing out social tv apps to help them connect with consumers in an environment of blurred and integrated media

The app they have chosen to use is Showyou, which recently became open to advertisers. Showyou is an app that gathers all your videos shared from friends through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc and houses them in one personalised viewing platform. The other key feature for Showyou is that you can now easily comment, thank or share any of your videos though Facebook, twitter etc. It’s ideal for people who are overwhelmed by the amount of video content on the net and what to find the most relevant and recommended video for them. It’s also great for the social aspect. People can now easily let others know what videos they are watching.

Showyou

When I first thought about the brands running video commercials on the site I thought it sounded like another example of boring & unoriginal advertisers placing the same old content in a new popular media space. However, Levi is planning on running 30sec commercials, which they claim will be engaging, and original content. They want to use the site to find out what stories and their viewers find more interesting and news worthy. This is what changed my mind. I realize the content served really does have to be interesting and original otherwise Showyou viewers simply wont click on it and the advertisers will be wasting time and effort. In a sense viewers really will have the power to influence what type of content is show supporting the content that provides them with value and ignoring the content that doesn’t.

There is a different kind of social tv app that I stumbled across which I really like. The app is called PEEL and it collects tv shows and movies from multiple sources such as Live TV, your DVR & Netflix and houses it in the app. Once Peel knows what you like it will recommend other shows for you. You can also share what you are watching and find out what friends are watching. You can add comments and ratings too.

PEEL

Peel taps into the trend of media multi tasking in a brilliant way. Using the latest season of American Idol, Peel integrated a feature that allowed users to tap the screen in order to cheer or boo contestants continuously through each performance. Each contestant and Judge is then given a rating based on your input of cheering and booing. After the voting is done all the users results are tallied in a leaderboard.

 Techcrunch.com

You can also immediately download the song through iTunes. The app is not officially linked to American idol. However, if Peel gets the formula right, you can imagine the TV networks would seriously consider the opportunity to partner up. This could significantly increase the potential of the app and engagement with audiences at home. I can envisage a show that ingrates home audience ratings into the result of the real show. Perhaps studio audience vs. home audience? The potential is huge and it is a brilliant way to change the dynamic of tv as simply a broadcast medium.

What do you think of the concepts of Showyou & Peel? Can you think of other applications for this type of customization or interactivity?