The Walt Disney Company's (DIS 1.01%) ESPN, Bravo, HBO, and CBS Corporation's (CBS +0.00%) Showtime are among the networks trying out new ways to engage viewers on the "second screen." This can involve everything from live commentary based on Twitter (TWTR +0.00%) activity, to apps that bring the second screen right into the first one -- a Showtime/Samsung innovation.
Jesse Redniss, Chief Strategy Officer for Mass Relevance, co-hosted the "How to Monetize the 2nd Screen Evolution" panel at South by Southwest Interactive. The session explored how TV networks, brands, and third party apps profit from this evolving consumer experience. In this video he joins the Fool's Rex Moore to share some specific examples of networks that are doing second screen right.
A full transcript follows the video.
Jesse Redniss: With Mass Relevance, we work across all the major broadcast nets, as well as a lot of the cable properties, including ESPN. They're doing a really fantastic job of activating people on the second screen in the social TV space, integrating in social conversation, and content into many screen experiences.
They did an awesome experience during the BCS championship game, in which they brought in live tweets onto a second screen. Jesse Palmer and another commentator were looking at tweets from pro football players and NCAA football players, and then doing a live commentary show based on that social activation that was happening, like from Deion Sanders. It was a really cool, fun experience. They're pushing the boundaries on activating their fan base that way.
Viacom has always been out there and innovating in this space. What they did with the Instagram voting around the VMAs was really foundational to setting the tone of innovation across other social platforms outside of just Twitter and Facebook (FB +2.48%). They're doing an amazing job of tapping into those millennials; the early adopters that are on SnapChat, that are on WhatsApp, and experimenting to be where the fan is.
Fox is doing some amazing things too -- Lisa Shaw at Bravo, Sabrina Caluori at HBO -- it's really exciting to see so many networks now experimenting, doing great content experiences across mobile, tablet, integrated into the first screen experience. Showtime has an amazing app that you can launch from your Samsung TV and actually see a synchronized second screen experience with content actually integrated into the first screen, so it's all on one screen.
Those are just some quick examples of some great things that I'm seeing in the space.
