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Social media changing the TV landscape

While more viewers are being influenced by social media, networks are changing the way they produce shows.

The Seven Network is stepping up its utilisation of social media for television programmes, following research that indicates its influence on viewing habits.

Yahoo!7, polled 7,741 people from around Australia on their viewing habits and activities undertaken while watching TV.

Key findings indicated:

  • 41 percent of people reported posting on Facebook while watching TV.
  • 6 percent 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 percent of people watch TV shows live on TV as they are airing.
  • 90 percent of people prefer to watch TV on a traditional TV set.

The results also showed 26% of respondents said that they had been made aware of a TV show because of something they saw on a social networking site. 27% said that they have watched a show based on a recommendation from a friend via a social networking site.

Seven launched its FANGO application in November last year, to enable viewers to interact while watching live TV. Seven is also adding tweet hashtags to popular shows during the Production stage.

Tim Worner, CEO of Seven Network Television: “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.

“The initial numbers for FANGO during the tennis were very strong, and this enthusiasm has carried right on into My Kitchen Rules. At Seven, we’ve made it a priority to keep innovation at the very heart of our business and FANGO is yet another example of this.”

During the Australian Open, FANGO reached 100,000 fan check-ins, with the Hewitt vs. Djokovic match clocking up the highest number. The  ‘Open Mic’ function also enabled users to send questions to Jim Courier for post match interviews.

7 Responses

  1. We hear you! We actually have an Android version of Fango launching shortly and users can already check-in via the official websites – for example Home and Away is here au.tv.yahoo.com/home-and-away/fango/

  2. SkyNews and its current affairs live programs have been using it for years an it works well.

    The Channel 9 usage during the cricket has been boring. Poor engagement questions.

  3. There’s no doubt that the landscape is changing but polling people via Yahoo7 is a bit like surveying the drinking habits of the patrons of a wine bar. The sampling is horribly skewed with respect to the rest of the population.

    Still, it’s good to see that the Seven network is looking at this now rather than waiting to react after the tech tsunami has hit.

  4. “90 percent of people prefer to watch TV on a traditional TV set.”

    I’m one of these people. I could never understand the appeal of watching anything on a screen that was 6 inches.

  5. It is good, yes – but they’ve fallen into the trap of only using apps developed for iOS exclusively.

    Especially considering Android has a greater market share and reach… it would make sense that it was duel-platform compatible. 🙂

    Instead of preventing a great majority from participating because they went with the better OS… ;p

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