• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 5, 2013

Entertainment consumers must be getting headaches from all  the real-time and time-shifted TV content.

There is real-time TV viewing -- and all the associated real-time social media components -- and unreal, time-shifted TV viewing for on-demand services like Netflix's "House of Cards"  and for past-seasons’ viewing of, say, PBS' "Downton Abbey" or even Fox's "24" on other platforms.

Should I go fast -- or should I take my time? Of course, the answer is that it’s your choice. But does that go for all media platforms, new and old?

We are told that social media continues to grow -- but what real effect does it have on TV viewing in real-time or future time? The Super Bowl didn't get its traditional record results this year, and while the Oscars and Grammys did well, they didn't get to all-time highs either. Still, social media use during these events was at an all-time high -- and maybe adding to what would have been poorer viewing results

Media marketers continue to want quicker -- thus real-time – everything, in order to change media plans in an instant to meet real-time return-on-investment goals. Digital media platforms continue to tout these real-time possibilities for marketers. Traditional TV platforms are a bit behind.

TV producers continue to want to create real-time "water cooler" interaction. But how do you do this in a growing whenever, whereever-I-want-it TV media world? There is  a downside for those viewers watching time-shifted shows when those social media blurbs scroll across the screen.

Is there any value in TV consumers watching time-shifted TV-related messaging? Real-time would seem to be more valuable. But, according to TV network executives. all time-shifted content is also important.

With "House of Cards," we can now watch a complete season of a TV show in a week -- or, perhaps for the vigorous, in a day. Reading a complete season of a TV show's socialmediacontent may be a different story.