TV is Changing: Evolution or Revolution?

The game is changing in the TV industry, from professionally produced content to consumer-generated media, from linear to online. The way we consume content is evolving, and user experience is not the same as before. Your future TV may know you more than yourself; it will know your viewing behaviors and preferences, and it will be able to recommend things you may like. Several recent changes may revolutionize TV.

Content is King

Whoever is closest to the end consumer will secure a position in the upstream TV chain. Everyone realizes how essential content is.

The most talked about TV series in 2013 was House of Cards, a political drama produced by Netflix. The series re-wrote history by getting nine Emmy Award nominations. Why House of Cards such a success? Netflix knew what their subscribers liked: political dramas, other series directed by David Fincher, and played by Kevin Spacey. Netflix could therefore accurately predict what kind of production would do well. “We have an immense amount of data and can see everything our subscribers are watching,” says Cindy Holland, head of original content at Netflix. “We can identify subscriber populations that gravitate around certain genres, such as horror, thriller and supernatural. That allows us to project a threshold audience size to see if it makes for a viable project for us.” All Netflix decisions are based on a meticulous analysis of the viewing habits of its 44 million subscribers worldwide. With this precious user behavior data, we could make a series according to audience tastes. Netflix was almost sure that House of Cards would be popular.

Netflix is just like HBO twenty years ago. At the beginning, HBO started as a cable television operator. Since the early 1990s, HBO has been showing original programming and has enjoyed increasing success with original series.

Another example is Amazon, which is considered the principal rival of Netflix. Amazon launched Amazon Studio in late 2010 and announced that it would be investing in original programming. Amazon Studio develops comics, movies and television shows from online submissions and crowd-sourced feedback rather than from existing scripts. It goes even further than Netflix in terms of consumer oriented production by enabling greater consumer expression.

We can’t bypass YouTube, the OTT ancestor. YouTube also realized the importance of content and launched several initiatives to attract more eyeballs and ad dollars. They have launched YouTube Original Channels initiative, and provided YouTube Live for concerts, conferences, and other live events.

Those who don’t produce content often choose to form close relationships with content providers. Orange announced that French audiences will be able to enjoy Game of Thrones only 24 hours after its release in the US. The war between Canal+ and BeIn sports to show live football matches reflects the fight for content in France. All these fights are about content.

Social is Queen

The popularity of SNS-based TV is due to proliferation of smart phones, tablets, and laptop. Social TV is not only a concept but a reality. Social TV enables people to have different social experiences through TV. Such TV can be used to facilitate real-time discussions or other interactive activities based on a TV program.

Shazam is a music identification application that has expanded its territory into TV. A TV program can be recognized, and related information such as actor/actress information, celebrity buzz, song lyrics, official program website, and sharing opinions on Facebook and Twitter will be given. The audience doesn’t need to look for information anywhere else; all the information comes automatically from recognition. The advertizing department of French TV station TF1 has identified the potential business opportunity in this and wants to work with Shazam on advertisement recognition. When the advertisement is recognized, the viewer gets a coupon to make a future purchase. This will benefit both buyers and sellers. By offering a coupon, the viewer is encouraged to buy offline.

Interactive TV programs are becoming a new trend. Whether a TV show keeps its audience depends partly on social networks. People listen to what their friends say about the last episode, and discussion always increases the size of the audience. Producers have quickly realized the value of integrating social media into their communication strategies and have engaged audiences by connecting TV to the Web and social media. Twitter has become a new place to discuss TV programs. There are many arguments about whether Twitter saves TV or TV saves Twitter; in fact, the situation is win-win.

Evolution to Television 3.0

The broadcast-only era can be dubbed “television 1.0.” Even if there is diversity in content and distribution channels, if there is only one means of diffusion, then it’s always TV 1.0.

The arrival of connect TV and smart TV (or set-top box) ushers in “television 2.0.” The focus has moved from producer to consumer. Nowadays, the television consumer has instant access to hundreds of television channels as well as a large selection of both live and on-demand (i.e. replay, time-shift, personally recorded) content via the internet and mobile devices. Consumers have complete freedom to choose when, where and what to watch.

What will next-generation TV look like? The balance continues to tilt towards the consumer. TV 3.0 will reshape the way we consume TV. People will not only be consumers; they will also be producers. The concept is similar to YouTube, which changed the game several years ago. Professional-quality original programming has made its way onto the internet, and the same thing will happen with television. After production, the consumer composes the recipe. Content is programmed intelligently according to consumer behavior analysis. Different timeslots are planned for different programs (live, VOD, replay, latest video in YouTube). There is also a recommendation engine to propose programs, shows, or series that may interest the viewer. Of course, consumers can alter the composition of this content. TV is an aggregation point that gathers all the information, not only from TV channels and internet but also from peripheral devices. With social media overlays on TV programs, the TV screen is not an entire block any more: it is divided into several parts and becomes an information and entertainment hub in the living room. Consumers are always at the center.

The marriage between new technologies makes things even easier. A TV show may be showing in the center of the TV screen while on the right side, there is a Twitter or Facebook feed. The left side of the screen may have related video in YouTube, bottom side is a bar with rolling news. One can buy a movie with his mobile phone and offer the movie to his friends via a simple QR code; one can recommend a TV show to his friends and then watch it together by using Skype with a camera so that they can see each other and share their comments in real time.

All these evolutions can make a TV more participatory, more intelligent and more contextual comprehensive.