We have reported over the last few weeks the use of social media by TV networks in order to engage viewers further in programs and deliver further opportunities to sponsors. This has included Seven’s new MKR app and the use of social networking apps by Nine and Seven in their respective broadcasts of cricket and tennis this summer.
Yahoo!7, the 50-50 partnership between the Seven West Media Group (ASX: SWM) and Yahoo! Inc, yesterday released statistics on the use of social media by television viewers. Some of the results from Yahoo!7’s social media research (7,741 people participated in the survey across Australia) include:
- 41% of people reported posting on Facebook while watching TV;
- 36% of respondents are using a mobile phone to text or call friends and family while watching TV;
- People are more likely to use social media during or after a show;
- Nearly 72% of people watch TV shows live on TV as they are airing; and
- 90% of people prefer to watch TV on a traditional TV set.
We reported that during the Test cricket this summer Vodafone’s Cricket Live app had been downloaded some 700,000 times and nearly 10 million votes received for the Vodafone Viewers’ Verdict (a feature in the app), after questions were asked during Nine’s broadcasts. It has now been confirmed by Yahoo!7 that FANGO has secured over 200,000 downloads since launch, averaging over 10,000 downloads each day.
In fact during the Australian Open around 100,000 fans checked in at the tournament’s program page on the FANGO app, with the Hewitt vs. Djokovic match clocking up the highest number of check-ins.
Tim Worner, CEO of Seven Network Television, commenting on the results, said:
“Viewers are changing the way they watch TV and we’ve changed the way we produce shows to cater for this. Social and interactive elements aren’t an afterthought anymore, we are integrating them into the making of our shows.
Viewers may have already noticed that this year’s My Kitchen Rules features questions throughout the program next to the Seven watermark asking viewers to comment on Twitter using ’#MKR‘. Channel Nine is also continuing to integrate Twitter into its cricket broadcasts by answering viewer questions posted on Twitter using ‘#Cricket9‘.
The use of social networking by TV networks is a continuing trend and no doubt more integration into broadcasts will happen throughout the year. It will be interesting to see if and how Nine integrates social media into its London Olympics coverage.
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