NBC Live Helps You Watch TV
I've never understood the appeal of social TV watching -- meaning, logging into a social site to talk about TV while you're watching TV -- but someone out there must, because media companies keep on pushing the idea. The latest to do so is NBC: the network is launching a new online social platform, NBC Live, which will entice users with polls, trivia, insider commentary, photos, and -- most importantly -- a social stream which allows visitors to comment on what's currently playing and interact with other viewers.
This all sounded kind of neat until I learned the underlying rationale: NBC just wants to get people to stop using their DVRs and go back to watching shows live. This makes it seem quite a bit less cool. From one perspective sure, it makes perfect sense: many advertisers and TV execs feel that DVR time-shifting is undermining the value proposition behind TV advertising, mostly by allowing viewers to skip ads, and they'd love to reverse the trend. But from another perspective the whole thing is a quixotic, backward-looking waste of time.
First, while it might be possible to resurrect "appointment" TV viewing for live shows and build a whole social ecosystem around this live viewing, the fact is the TV shows would have to be pretty extraordinary to make this worthwhile for most viewers. The convenience of time-shifted viewing is so great I have to guess it outweighs the incentive of getting to talk to your friends about what's happening on screen. I can only see this really working for major sports events, like the Super Bowl and World Cup, or much-buzzed-about shows like the Sopranos; is anything on network prime time going to be as compelling?
Then there's the irony of designing a whole social media strategy whose ultimate goal is to... get people back in front of broadcast TV ads (which they will probably still ignore, especially if they are talking to each other about the show during the commercial breaks). On that note, I'm curious if NBC Live lets you chat during the ads? I'm sure they would be happy to have people talk about the ads, demonstrating engagement, but how can you make sure they don't stray off-topic?
0 comments on "NBC Live Helps You Watch TV".
Leave a Comment
Recent Social Media & Marketing Daily Articles
-
Young Celebs Knock Social Media May 17, 3:12 p.m.
I don’t normally write about what celebrities are saying or doing, because I frankly don’t care. ...
-
Rise in Plastic Surgery Attributed to Social Media May 16, 12:32 p.m.
Social media seems to be driving an increase in plastic surgery, according to an annual survey ...
-
One in Three Social Marketers Dissatisfied with Results May 15, 11:38 a.m.
One in three marketers who use social media for advertising say they aren’t satisfied with the ...
-
Younger Investment Pros Get Info from Social Media May 14, 4 p.m.
Younger investment professionals are more likely to use social media as a source of information for ...
-
Moms Stressed Out by Pinterest May 13, 4:06 p.m.
While Pinterest might seem like a place for caring and sharing, the female-dominated social network is ...
-
Social Media Makes It Harder to Move On When Relationships End May 10, 12:49 p.m.
Whether you are dumped or the dumper, most people will readily agree that it’s difficult to ...
-
Terrorism Study Examines Self-Radicalization via Social Media May 9, 3:30 p.m.
The Canadian government is funding a study that will examine how individuals embrace radical ideologies leading ...
-
Small Biz Embracing Social Marketing; Location-Based, Not So Much May 8, 2:18 p.m.
Small businesses have embraced social media marketing in a big way, but aren’t nearly as keen ...
-
Woman Facebook Stalks Self to Frame Ex's New Girlfriend May 7, 3:42 p.m.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave in pursuit of love! Or maybe not that tangled; ...
-
Nine Out of Ten Execs Use LinkedIn May 6, 2:43 p.m.
Roughly nine out of ten (88%) business executives use LinkedIn “often” or “very often,” according to ...
Perhaps consumer adoption of the tool will help the networks to refocus on content worth talking about. You're right: there is no incentive to socialize around weak content, and plenty of incentive to chat/view in real time when the content is worth the time and cultural space. The same goes for the ads. Perhaps a Super Bowl mentality toward ad creativity will become more pervasive in this new sphere.