SXSW: Socialized Entertainment: Best Practices for Two-Screen Success

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As I looked to recap the last few days of SXSW social entertainment panels, the same theme kept popping up: new media has completely changed the way entertainment is consumed and the key to success is getting content on as many of these platforms as possible.

As noted by Jeffrey Cole during the “The Last Broadcast: Entertainment is Social“ session: Innovation used to be driven by pure economic terms. Case in point: RCA began selling radios in the 1920s and created NBC as platform to air content. NBC was then the first network to go all-color because they were owned by a television manufacturer.

However, now the consumer dictates innovation and a new formula for TV show success has taken shape with fans at its center. As previously examined in the ‘MTV Skins Case Study,’ the role of PR has evolved and although still important, traditional media channels have begun to give way for new media platforms where the voice of the fan becomes a show’s best chance for survival, as opposed to a traditional review. As ‘public relations’ professionals our job is to make sure the ‘public’ is engaged and digital media is key. According to Digital VP NBC Universal/USA Network Jesse Redniss, who participated on the TV + New Media = Formula for Success panel, new media extensions of USA Network’s hit show Psych, which keeps fans engaged across multiple screens by pushing exclusive content to mobile phones while episodes air, resulted in higher live ratings in key demos.

Social media doesn’t just help drive ratings either. According to Redniss’ co-panelist, Oxygen’s VP of Digital Media, Jennifer Kavanagh, viewers engaged in two-screen viewing have shown higher brand recall and intent to purchase. By being strategic about brand fit in sponsorships, Oxygen has increased brand metrics for advertisers.

So how do you measure the ROI on social TV? USA Network monitors trendrr data for Psych and Oxygen uses software to monitor engagement/time spent with second screen (viewed more important than page views), but also manually monitors conversations to measure sentiment.

MTV’s Social Media Manager Tom Fishman agrees that what he heard at SXSW is exciting for the future of broadcast. Here’s what he shared with me:

“…Favorite panel was ‘It’s Not TV, It’s Social TV’…we know social media provides an extremely rich content backchannel for TV, but it was eye-opening to see hard data around TV’s ability to close that feedback loop. Chloe Sladden from Twitter showed a chart of mentions vs. time for a hashtag we asked users to get creative with during last year’s VMAs – it was #ifbiebermetgaga – and volume was in the six figures within minutes, causing it to crack the worldwide trending topics list. TV’s capacity to drive social conversation in a way that in turn causes awareness around programming, and potentially drives viewership, is extremely exciting.”

All of the social entertainment sessions at SXSW agreed on one thing: Whether it’s a specially created app or partnership with an existing platform like Shazam, having a social component is critical for the success of any entertainment program. With results like a twice-as-engaged audience, digital cannot be ignored. Take fans of Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club, who are engaged twice as long in the ‘Oxygen live show app’ than on Oxygen’s website.

Check out #SXSocialTV, #FutureCast and #Psych to read up on the entertainment chatter from other SXSW attendees about the panels discussed in this post. Full video recaps of the presentation will be available on the SXSW website shortly – stay tuned.