CBS.com has just launched CBS Connect, “a new social hub connecting fans with each other and CBS stars.”
The site will be a single destination where they will aggregate content from Twitter and Facebook across all of CBS’ programming. The new platform is aimed to allow fans of CBS shows to connect even further with the stars of the shows. It’s no surprise that CBS is taking their social TV offerings to the next level.
The Oprah Winfrey Network is perhaps one of the most advanced shows in the social space right now, as she connects with her home and live audience in almost unprecedented ways. Mashable reports.
Oprah is incorporating social media and interactivity into every episode of Oprah’s Lifeclass across various platforms, from Facebook and Twitter to Skype and Instagram. For example, Oprah encourages viewers at home and in the audience to live tweet responses to the topics mentioned on the show and then discusses them in real-time with her guests.
We have a team backstage that monitors the tweets that come in, and we push out some for Oprah to see and discuss live on the show,” a spokesperson for the OWN Network told Mashable backstage at a live taping. “We tell the audience and everyone at home to use their phones and interact with the show as it airs, and people couldn’t be more excited to do so.”
During most episodes, Oprah is positioned in front of several TV screens that display the tweets. Backstage is a room dedicated to what the show calls “Skypeville,” where fans can be Skyped in to the live show and interact with Oprah.
Oprah’s Lifeclass also incorporates Facebook polls into the show and offers real-time results. Those viewers tuning in online are awarded with a behind-the-scenes look at what happens during commercial breaks. In essence, the camera never stops rolling, and only those watching online are privy to that footage. Fans can also post comments on the site and interact with others watching the show.
To make the experience even more personal, Oprah snail-mailed journals to her fans so that they could take notes during episodes.
80% of under-25s are using a second screen to communicate with friends while watching TV, while 72% of them are using Twitter, Facebook and other mobile apps to comment on the shows they watch.
A recent survey by TV Guide Digital found an unexpected impact of social TV. Live television viewing has increased because of the potential for real-time spoilers to appear on social media sites. [via bizreport]
The findings of TV Guide Digital's February 2012 survey reveal that less people are watching television content on time-delay or streaming to avoid spoilers they might encounter when using their social networks. Just over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they're watching more live television for that reason, up from 20% in 2010.
Although the 84th Annual Academy Awards came across decidedly old school in its television broadcast, the event delivered high marks in new media. The LA Times reports.
Sunday's Oscar ceremony generated 3.8 million comments on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, according to data generated by Cambridge, Mass.-based Bluefin Labs. That made this year's awards show the second most talked-about entertainment event on TV since the company began measuring and analyzing social media traffic several years ago.
CBS' telecast of the Grammy Awards this month was the undisputed champ with 13 million social media comments. The third most popular awards event was last year's MTV Video Music Awards with 3.1 million comments, according to Bluefin Labs.
Comments on social media sites surrounding Sunday's ceremony and red carpet arrivals surged nearly 300% over last year's gala. In 2011, there were fewer than 1 million comments. The trend suggests that more people are turning to social media outlets while watching TV by using a "second screen" -- a tablet, smartphone or laptop computer -- to stay connected to their friends and followers who are also watching TV.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Facebook and Twitter will soon be a prominent part of television viewing as well thanks to new technology capable of integrating social media sites with any show on any channel.
The technology, developed by the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation, displays tweets about a show overlaid on top of the television image along with recommending shows based on the viewers behaviour and what their Facebook friends are watching.
Government researchers have formed a partnership with the ABC to introduce trials in June.
AMC's apocalyptic zombie drama "The Walking Dead" and Bravo's "Real Housewives" reality franchise have something in common: Their fans love post-episode analysis.
Both shows have spawned "after shows," a growing television phenomenon dedicated to deconstructing that night's program, with tweets, Facebook posts and old-fashioned call-in questions from the audience. The Wall Street Journal reports.
After shows are an old-media solution to a new-media problem: they keep audiences and sponsors engaged with a network by joining in the online conversation, rather than competing with it for viewers' attention. The fact that the after shows are live adds another element of unscripted excitement.
... After shows are cheap to make and capitalize on the fact that more and more television watchers are what Nielsen calls "simultaneous users," 44% of whom look up information on the show they're watching. During the Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 5, there were more than 12.2 million comments on the game posted to social-networking sites, a 578% increase over last year, according to Bluefin Labs, a research firm. Mobile apps like GetGlue, which now has two million users, allow people to "check in" to a television show, interact with other people who are watching, and accrue rewards from advertisers.
Super Bowl ad campaigns are going beyond the field- tapping into social media to leverage the millions of dollars spent on the 30-second or 60-second ads aired during the big game. Bobbi Rebell reports for Reuters video (2:17).
Launching this Spring, MySpace TV plans to stream television content to web-enabled devices (the “coming soon” site mentions “watching on a TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone”), accompanied by a number of interactive features to tie the content into the site’s social aspect.
Why just ‘watch’ TV when you can experience TV?” the site explains, “MySpace TV gives you more information about your favorite shows, videos and artists, and provides you real-time engagement with your friends to get you closer to the shows you love.
If you've ever wondered about plot twists and casting decisions, some movie makers are giving viewers a chance to ask in live, online screenings, according to the WSJ.
Independent film "Archie's Final Project" star Gabriel Sunday and co-writer/director David Lee Miller recently screened the movie live on Facebook. They took turns answering questions from logged-in viewers. They explained which scene was a spoof of crime drama "Goodfellas" and how they declined the producers' request to tweak some potentially offensive language.
The online screenings are the latest effort by the movie industry to try to follow viewers online as the traditional movie business struggles. DVD and Blu-ray disk sales are expected to drop 8% this year from 2010, continuing years of decline, according to Nielsen VideoScan data analyzed by research firm IHS Screen Digest.
To promote his upcoming movie, "Damsels in Distress," director Whit Stillman will host a screening of his 1990 film "Metropolitan" next month on website Constellation.tv, which bills itself as an online movie theater. He expects to answer questions from fans who log in and to tease clips from Constellation.tv.
"Not many people live in places where they can participate in real Q&A screenings," Mr. Stillman says.
At this very moment, there’s massive change happening in the way movies and TV are consumed. Videos are becoming an entirely social experience. The future of television is one where viewers watch, share and discuss videos with friends simultaneously. TheNextWeb reports.
A ton of startups competing for you and your friends’ attention. Everyone’s gunning for the same thing, and honestly there isn’t room for all of these services to co-exist.
According to TNW’s Editor Paul Sawers: Social video is “a bringing together of content and conversation. It’s an evolution of ‘viral’ and it has grown up a lot now; it’s content that sparks conversation, it’s content that people want to be associated with through their social media profiles. It’s something that draws the viewer towards it, rather than being pushed in front of people.”
According to The New York Times, if Netflix has its way, Facebook members in the United States may soon be able to see which of their friends and family members have just video-streamed “Paranormal Activity” or “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Netflix is backing a bill in Congress that would amend the Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law that requires a video services company to get a customer’s written consent when it seeks to disclose that client’s personal information, such as rental history. The new bill, passed by the House last Tuesday, would allow consumers to give one-time blanket consent online for a company to share their viewing habits continuously.
The list of "trending topics" on the right side of Twitter's home page is a coveted spot because millions of people see it. It often reflects what's hot in the news, from the death of Steve Jobs to Kim Kardashian's latest exploits. npr reports.
Sometimes a topic that seems hot, like Occupy Wall Street, doesn't trend, leading some activists to charge Twitter with censorship. But the complex algorithms that determine trending topics are intended to find what's trending in the moment, and not what's been around for a long time.
Getting a spot on the trending list has become so important that television programs hire consultants to help them get there.
According to The Telegraph, Twitter executives are increasingly working with TV editors during live shows to help them know what’s trending on the site and how to change footage accordingly.
For instance, during the recent MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga became a trending topic on Twitter, after her dress made of meat caused a storm. Consequently, the camera crews at the MTV event duly focused more of their coverage on the US star, instead of other celebrities at the event.
Simon Cowell has also been using audience feedback from Twitter to influence how he puts out The X Factor in the US. Having reviewed tweets about one of the shows, he then tweaked the format and content during the following week.
Mashable looks at the ways the film and television industries are using Twitter.
1. Premiering Content - One of the more interesting uses of Twitter in recent months has been as a platform to distribute content. Paramount kicked things off back in March when it released the first trailer for Super 8 on Twitter.
2. Second Screen Apps - Companies like yap.TV, which powers USA Networks’s new USA Anywhere app are building applications that are designed to help users take part in the social conversation while watching a show.
3. Connecting With Fans - During November Sweeps, CBS ran a “Social Sweep Week” campaign that let CBS stars take over the social media accounts of their respective shows. That means the stars themselves were tweeting from official Twitter accounts and communicating with fans.
4. Being Part of the Show - Live competition shows like The Voice and The X Factor use Twitter during the show itself and allow fans to vote.
5. Spreading the Word - The film and television industries have fully embraced Twitter as a promotional platform. It’s almost impossible to find a TV show or movie without an official Twitter handle or hashtag.
Next week, for the first time, as an alternative to calling or texting in a vote for a singer on “The X Factor,” Twitter will make it possible to vote with a message to the show’s account. The New York Times reports.
The voting option is the result of a new technological investment by Twitter and is a reflection of the company’s symbiotic relationship with the television industry.
TV producers like Mr. Cowell, who crave the immediate feedback they can get from Twitter, have given the Web site free promotion, helping it to gain more users who will give even more feedback. Over time, the theory goes, having more users will help the five-year-old Twitter turn a steady profit.
Unlike standard social networking, where you interact with your friends and followers, Youtoo TV puts you in front of a national audience of 15 million through major cable providers including Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, and Brighthouse.
Youtoo will start by putting 500 people on TV each day - providing more Americans than ever before with a real shot at their "15 minutes of fame." The videos, aptly called "Fame Spots,"™ can be recorded easily from an Apple or Android smart phone, tablet, or computer. In just a few clicks, anyone can upload their "Fame Spot" and be on TV for free.
According to FierceCable, Time Warner Cable may be developing a way for subscribers to access Facebook, Twitter and other social networks through the TV, based on a trademark it obtained for the brand "Social One."
The nation's second largest cable MSO wants to be able to use the brand to offer subscribers a "single interface" for accessing social media accounts through the TV and the Web, according an application Time Warner Cable filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The Fall TV season officially kicks off this week — and CBS.com is celebrating with two weeks of social media events for fans.
Starting Monday night, CBS.com will be running an online introduction to CBS’s fall schedule, called the Fall Premiere Show.
After watching a set of 15-minute online previews, fans of CBS series — such as Hawaii Five-0, NCIS and CSI — can join live online chats with the shows producers. Each night this week, fans can login using Facebook or Twitter, ask the producers questions and discuss the show in real-time.
The chats, with the exception of CSI, are scheduled to coincide with the East Coast re-runs of each show’s season finale from last spring.
Miramax Films is making 20 of its movies available to rent on Facebook, even as new research shows the social network has yet to become a formidable competitor in the digital movie market. [via The Los Angeles Times]
The independent studio that spun out of Walt Disney Co. last year is offering films, including "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill," "Clerks" and "Swingers," on a new Facebook page called Miramax eXperience. Each movie costs $3 to rent for 48 hours.
Universal Pictures has announced that The Big Lebowski is available for rent on the social network. USA Today reports.
Viewers can purchase a 48-hour rental window to the 1998 Coen brothers comedy for 30 Facebook credits or $3.
The digital release launches Universal's Social Theater application, which combines streaming movies with social media interaction.
In recent months, studios have increasingly offered movies for rent on Facebook, eager to capitalize on its large network of users. Warner Bros. has offered The Dark Knight, and Paramount has released the "Jackass" films.
Variety on how networks are synching up their social TV strategies.
A growing number of channels are fielding apps on smartphones and tablets to supplement TV shows with extra content synchronized to be relevant to what's occurring on the television screen.
These so-called companion apps pump out everything from insta-polls to exclusive photos and videos intended to appeal to viewers already using second screens during broadcasts to engage in social media.
Chill is a new service that lets you share and watch videos with others and have conversations in real-time. Currently, you need to have a Facebook friend already using the site to join up, then once you’re in you can choose to create your own ‘Lounge’ or join an existing one. PSFK reports.
Inside you can add videos to the queue by searching YouTube and Vimeo or typing in a direct URL link. The screen in the Lounge then plays the videos in order and you can thumb up or thumb down them and chat with the other people in the Lounge.
Kickstarter project The Wired City is an Internet television network that enables the audience to watch and interact with each other (chat-video, text and audio).
Out of 10 companies that pitched the crowd at the Social TV Summit — with just two-minute demos — SnappyTV won the award for the best social TV idea. Lost Remote explains why.
While people love to share their reactions while watching live TV, “what’s missing from that conversation is the video,” explains CEO Mike Folgner.
Typically, video clips show up on the web well after the broadcast, which offers “very little benefit for the content ecosystem,” he says. So SnappyTV allows viewers to “snap” and share short video highlights from TV nearly instantaneously, capitalizing on the immediate social conversation. On Twitter, you share a link. On Facebook, you’ll share an embedded video player of the clip.
George Schweitzer, president of the network's CBS Marketing Group, in an interview with eMarketer utlines several ways the network is working to build that two-way conversation.
Television networks and shows are using social media to enhance the viewing experience, encourage tune-in and foster conversation among viewers. With the rise of internet-connected TVs, growth in consumers’ use of smartphones and tablets while watching television, and new social media applications designed around television, the TV industry is at a turning point.
NewTeeVee reports on Matcha.tv which means tobring users the best movie and TV recommendations across a number of online video services.
Matcha.tv has attempted to build up an “uber social discovery platform” that taps into all of your favorite online subscription services, like Netflix and Hulu Plus. It then matches your interests up against your social graph, ranking recommendations based on interests of your friends and friends of friends.
By doing so, Matcha.tv tries to have it both ways: On the one hand it automates recommendations, but on the other hand it leverages the trust from matching tastes of your friends.
As the iPad rapidly becomes the second screen of choice for television, Nintendo has unveiled its own second screen for gaming (and potentially TV viewing) called the Wii U.
The controller features a 6.2 inch touchscreen, an accelerometer, a microphone and two built-in cameras, and it’s designed to extend games beyond the TV set. “It’s like having two different windows in the game world around you,” explains Nintendo’s JC Rodrigo.
For producers, posts on Facebook and Twitter are seen as indicators of success – but do they influence ratings? The Guardian reports.
While Twitter and Facebook are having an impact among those who make and commission programmes, social media is not thought to be changing the way that TV schedules are put together, at least not yet. But it is certainly true that within the world of entertainment programming tweeters and Facebook fans have found a new way to enrich their TV viewing.
SocialGuide, which aims to provide a real-time view into which shows are stirring up the most conversation. GigaOM reports.
Like other social TV startups, SocialGuide enables users to set up individual accounts, look for their friends and share what they’re watching on Twitter and Facebook.
... Even if viewers don’t log in to the service or explicitly “check in” to any TV shows, SocialGuide can still provide valuable data to both TV viewers and the content owners themselves. The site works by scouring Twitter in real time for conversations about shows as they are airing, creating a listing of the most social shows on TV. It then aggregates all of those social conversations into one spot. The result is a real-time social channel listing.
The most social shows on TV aren’t necessarily those with the highest Nielsen ratings. That’s the big takeaway from a new research study from TVGuide.com, which ranks the most social TV shows from the 2010-2011 television season. Mashable reports.
The rankings, which are based on TVGuide.com episode checkins, Facebook Likes and site comments, offer an interesting look at not only what shows are most social, but also how viewers really use social media to interact and engage with their favorite shows.
1. NCIS
2. American Idol
3. Criminal Minds
4. Glee
5. House
6. Fringe
7. Bones
8. Castle
9. Smallville
10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Although some of these shows, like NCIS and American Idol, are also extremely popular in the Nielsen ratings, that isn’t the overall rule. Programs like Glee, which have huge social media followings and a great web presence, barely rank in Nielsen’s Top 40.
Smallville, a program that is wrapping up its tenth and final season, has a tremendously strong social fanbase, despite being one of Nielsen’s lowest rated programs.
A new report in the US by Nielsen says that almost half of all U.S. citizens - 143.9 million - viewed some video online in January this year. Newsline reports.
Overall, online video viewing came to an average of four hours and 39 minutes for the month; and mobile video viewing is now 41% higher than it was a year ago.
Nielsen also says that in January 2011, 49% of all social networking and blog site visitors also visited TV network and broadcast media sites. Twitter had the biggest overlap with broadcast media sites at 76%, while Facebook was at 50%.
As television continues to adapt to the Web, expect to see new forms of content emerge that are a hybrid of traditional TV and the latest Web technologies. Last week, television news network Al Jazeera launched a new TV show and website. Called The Stream, it's an indication of where mainstream TV news is heading. ReadWriteWeb reports.
The show uses social media curation service Storify - which opened up to the public yesterday - to gather content and interact with the community. The Stream is unique in its use of tools like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to both source the news and interact with its audience. Let's look at today's episode, along with related content on The Stream website, to see how this new form of social media based television is shaping up.
The show will debut on television on May 2, but it's already up and running on the Web using UStream. It currently live-streams every Monday-Thursday at 1930 GMT (3:30 PM EST).
Although the TV screen is already crowded — with network logos, news crawls and promo messages routinely popping up throughout a program — broadcast and cable networks are now starting to add Twitter hashtags to the bottom of their shows. TV Guide reports.
We've noticed shows like Glee and Idol trend while the show is on, but fans often use different hashtags," says Fox marketing president Joe Earley. It's true: While some fans might have been using "#Glee" in their Twitter posts, others might have been using "#Gleeks" or "#WhiteRappers." Says Earley: "We thought if we provided the official hashtags, then more posts would aggregate."
FilmOn, one of a few over-the-top video providers seeking to rebroadcast content on the Web, said Tuesday that users can stream live TV via Facebook to their friends. PC Mag reports.
FilmOn said that it has published an API by which users can view content on the company's site, then share it with their friends via Facebook. The users will then have access to several minutes of live video rebroadcast from TV stations that FilmOn has partnership agreements with.
Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), a vendor which makes mobile apps that support engagement with TV shows, has enabled Facebook Credits in its technology platform. MocoNews.net reports.
That means shows like Sky1’s Got To Dance, a MIG customer, could start taking paid votes via Facebook soon.
Right now, users of Got To Dance‘s iPhone app can buy bundles of 12 votes in £0.59, ($0.95) in-app iTunes Store payments. But Facebook is huge with the core audience of such talent shows.
“We expect to make some significant announcements for prime time shows in the coming months,” said MIG’s commercial director Rob Weisz in the announcement.
Warner Bros. is broadening its experiment with digital movie distribution by releasing five more marquee movies for rent on Facebook.VentureBeat reports.
Entertainment checkin and recommendation service GetGlue has signed a new broadcast partnership with NBC Universal cable networks USA Network, Syfy and MSNBC. The partnership will reward users who let their friends know when they are watching TV shows on Facebook or Twitter.
A new generation of viewers is watching what has been dubbed social TV - a synthesis between TV and social networking. The BBC reports.
A recent study from marketing agency Digital Clarity found that 80% of under-25s used a second screen to communicate with friends while watching TV and 72% used Twitter, Facebook or a mobile app to comment on shows.
... Last month the US channel HBO ran the Howard Stern movie Private Parts with Stern himself commenting live on Twitter throughout the broadcast.
Twitter bosses are excited about the possibilities of deeper integration with TV, although they are still in the process of figuring out how they will make money from it.
Speaking at Mobile World Congress, Twitter co-founder Dick Costolo claimed that the search for the TV industry's holy grail - a second screen - was over.
Justin.tv, one of the best-known startups offering live-streaming video services, launched a mobile video application called Socialcam two weeks ago that moved the company in a new direction. The app available for iPhone and Android seems to be attracting users — it has been downloaded more than 150,000 times.
With a few clicks, you’re able to record, tag, and share videos as well as browse, like, and comment on your friends' videos.
Warner Brothers became the first major media company to offer a movie for rent on Facebook, a move that could position the social network to become a force in the digital distribution of movies, rivaling services like Netflix and iTunes. The New York Times reports.
Warner said on Tuesday that it would allow Facebook users in the United States to rent the film “The Dark Knight” directly on the social networking site, and pay for it using Credits, Facebook’s virtual currency. If other studios make similar moves, Facebook could tap a significant revenue stream, bolstering its Credits currency as it seeks to create a rival to PayPal and other payment systems.
Justin.tv, the live video service, today launched an application called Socialcam to help users share video taken on their iPhone and Android devices. Liz Gannes reports for D | All Things Digial.
The service uses Justin.tv?s mobile live-streaming infrastructure, so videos are uploaded as much as possible while users are still taking them. If users don?t have Internet access, the video will upload when it can and then send a push notification. But there?s nothing live about Socialcam.
The intent, instead, is to encourage mobile video-sharing the way apps like Instagram encourage photo-sharing.
According to Entertainment Weekly, “American Idol,” will make allow fans to vote via Facebook for the best performers starting March 1.
Users will be able to use their Facebook accounts to reach a dedicated Idol voting page that will include all the current contestants. Each fan will be able to vote 50 times during a telecast’s voting period. Viewers will still be able to vote via text messaging and toll-free phone calls as well.
A growing trend among TV watchers are plugged in to the Web at the same time. USA Today reports.
A Nielsen and Yahoo! joint study found that 86% of mobile Internet users use a mobile device while watching TV — social-networking, texting, browsing for related or unrelated content.
"The most accessible device while you watch TV is actually not the remote. It's probably your iPhone," said Somrat Niyogi, the chief executive of Miso, one app for TV watchers.
By the time the first ballot is opened at the Academy Awards next Sunday, millions of people will be chatting about the awards show on the Internet. And ABC will be ready, writes The New York Times.
Trying to exploit viewers’ two-screen behavior, the television network has built a companion Web site with behind-the-scenes video streams, so Oscar winners will be seen accepting an award on the TV set, then seen celebrating backstage on the stream.
Experiments like this one are a sudden priority in television land. As more and more people chat in real time about their favorite shows — on Facebook, Twitter and a phalanx of smaller sites — television networks are trying to figure out how to capitalize.
The site will be a single destination where they will aggregate content from Twitter and Facebook across all of CBS’ programming. The new platform is aimed to allow fans of CBS shows to connect even further with the stars of the shows. It’s no surprise that CBS is taking their social TV offerings to the next level.
The Oprah Winfrey Network is perhaps one of the most advanced shows in the social space right now, as she connects with her home and live audience in almost unprecedented ways. 
Although the 84th Annual Academy Awards came across decidedly old school in its television broadcast, the event delivered high marks in new media. The 
AMC's apocalyptic zombie drama "The Walking Dead" and Bravo's "Real Housewives" reality franchise have something in common: Their fans love post-episode analysis.
At this very moment, there’s massive change happening in the way movies and TV are consumed. Videos are becoming an entirely social experience. The future of television is one where viewers watch, share and discuss videos with friends simultaneously. 
Next week, for the first time, as an alternative to calling or texting in a vote for a singer on “
The Fall TV season officially kicks off this week — and 
Universal Pictures has announced that 
Out of 10 companies that pitched the crowd at the Social TV Summit — with just two-minute demos — 
For producers, posts on Facebook and Twitter are seen as indicators of success – but do they influence ratings? 
The most social shows on TV aren’t necessarily those with the highest 
As television continues to adapt to the Web, expect to see new forms of content emerge that are a hybrid of traditional TV and the latest Web technologies. Last week, television news network 
Although the TV screen is already crowded — with network logos, news crawls and promo messages routinely popping up throughout a program — broadcast and cable networks are now starting to add Twitter hashtags to the bottom of their shows. 
According to 
By the time the first ballot is opened at the 
