TV in 2012 – Smart, Social, or both?

Digital and advertising industry folks love the word ‘disruption’. A buzz word that is more than a little annoying at times, it is rather apt for the new world of Social TV, and opens this article by Forbes: “BOOM! Traditional TV Advertising is being disrupted right in front of our eyes.” Technology that leverages mobile, cloud and social aspects, it is changing the way that brands and advertisers do business in the TV space. In the not too distant future, broadcast networks may in fact be phased out of relevance as advertisers are going direct to the consumer – and advertising spend in this medium will be far more measurable and effective.

Asia is leading the way for this, with a recent report suggesting that Japan and China were the largest buyers of “Smart TV’s” – those with capabilities to connect to a branded portal or service and not just publicly available platforms like YouTube. In 2012 I have not been able to walk into a mall or electronics store anywhere in Singapore and not see huge advertising for SmartTV products, and this is certainly a market where this is also taking off in a big way.

Connecting your TV to your mobile devices like phones and tablets is one thing, and might appear to just be the “cool” way to use your home entertainment system and show off your gadgets. However, the networks that get this are tapping into a huge demand from consumers to engage more with reality TV and news programming, and discuss and relate to their favourite drama and comedy series’ in real time. Entertainment is about to change enormously as our TV viewing experience becomes ever-social, much like every aspect of our lives today.

For me though, the future with this technology is limitless, and could lead to many major consumer brands creating feature-length content accessed through branded channels, as a supplement to regularly scheduled programming. If Top Gear isn’t on, maybe I could open a channel on my Smart TV and watch a full-length editorial from a top auto maker?

Exciting possibilities indeed, where do you think Social & Smart TV technology is taking us?