Westminster Media Forum: TV bites back and dual-screen viewing

On 31st Jan I attended the Westminster Media Forum event: TV Bites Back – dual-screen, viewing, social media and the power of the schedule.

A collection of top industry speakers from the TV and digital TV industries presented their view of the future of TV, in which interconnected digital and social media services are nurturing new audiences for on-demand content, communities of TV fans and sharing TV content.  This in turn has created ambitious TV programming linking the ‘first’ screen (TV) with immersive and engaging experiences online (dual-screen).

Linear viewing is dead, long live linear viewing

It would appear that the digital future of viewers watching TV media on mobile device, tablets and laptops is finally here.  But along with flying cars and space-suits, current TV watching trends are still rooted in the broadcast.  Indeed, the big Saturday night TV spectacle (X-Factor, Strictly et al) has seen a resurgence in popularity, where ‘dual-screen’ viewing has created more demand for immediacy and real-time engagement between fans.  Heaven forbid I miss another final of The Apprentice.  Social media fear of spoilers is forcing TV fans to organise their life around the broadcast schedule, as it did before the internet came along.

Simon Terrington (Terrington & Company) believes TV 2012 is much the same as TV 1997: the same players and the same types of shows.  Past predictions were wrong – Saturday night TV is still fully linear.   Research shows that dual-screeners are actually usually doing other unrelated things (digital distractions).  Researching the show you’re watching and voting only occupy a small amount of time, for a small amount of the overall audience.   75% are not dual-screening, of which 75% are not engaging with the show (although I would argue that a 6% digital engagement is very high) .  Phil Redmond, legendary soap svengali and creator of Hollyoaks and Brookside, believes that 50 percent of a good soap happens off the screen, like over the garden fence or in the papers.  The 2012 equivalent of this is GetGlue, Facebook, or Twitter.

Sir Peter Bazalgette (MirriAd, Nutopia) believes that in today’s diffused one-eyed media landscape, mass media is king.  The first Big Brother saw bookies taking more bets on first eviction night than the races.  Rapel’s Law believes that innovations in media add to its landscape, not detract.

I’ve seen this reflected in my work with other creative forms like music: as genres become more dispersed, audiences rely more on gatekeepers and taste-makers to inform their consumption choices.   For TV, this means BBC, Channel4 and SkyOne continue to be serious influencers.

This theme was echoed by John Tate, Director of Policy & Strategy, BBC, who talked about research which showed the serendipity of video reduced with on-demand (dilemma of the celestial jukebox – what do you play next?). Developing better recommendation tools is the next phase for services like iPlayer.  I wondered if a Last.fm style video scrobbling service will emerge.

Tom McDonnell from Monterosa (who develop cloud systems for interactive TV projects like The Million Pound Drop) believes two-screeners are more attentive, engaged, share and buy more.  Wireless broadband has shifted the landscape.  Portable devices like the iPad mean TV can be consumed in any room, space or place.   The radio phone-in was an accident created by a US radio DJ who talked to his friends between records, then switched on the mic.  Dual-screening can create new models of interaction to re-invent TV content.

If you’re still miffed as to what the big deal is about dual-screening, Monterosa have a very cute and engaging animated video which explains all.

Steve Bignell from MediaCom believes the dual-screening world is nascent.  The deal between Zeebox and Sky, a hot topic at this event, impacts on product placement and panning out how this will work for non-Sky content (although Zeebox’s Anthony Rose was keen to point out Sky only own a 10% share in the company).  Longer form shows (serials and longer duration) with peaks/troughs work better for engagement than special interest programmes.  Lean back, entertainment TV is still vital for the TV economy.

Ilse Howling from Freeview believes the water-cooler moment is right here, right now, but there is a generational split: younger audiences discuss Masterchef recipes on Facebook and analyse together the final death scene in Sherlock.  ITV2’s ‘Take Me Out: The Gossip’ was the most tweeted show last week: humans are naturally curious and gossip loving.

Tony Broderick from FremantleMedia (creator of the X-Factor ‘clapometer’ iPhone app, taking the traditional voting idea to a new platform) believes to succeed in the connected social TV viewing landscape, producers need to bring character and narrative to social media experiences, along with editorial voice and TV talent.

Tess Alps from Thinkbox believes programme-makers and broadcasters need to get perspective: put more effort into making first screen great and engagement will follow.  We are seeing the emergence of ’T-Commerce‘ – TV becoming a direct sales medium through AR apps, QR codes and retailer apps.  She offered some useful research data:

- 27%  of people have found out online about a brand/ad seen on TV whilst watching TV
- 40% of evening UK tweets are about TV (depressing!)
- 300,000 Tweets were sent before, during, after Sherlock, representing 2% of viewers

If content is king, the consumer in King Kong

…or so Steve Plunkett from Red Bee Media believes. (Well, it just isn’t a media conference without an obligatory ‘content is king’ reference, even 10 years on!). TV technology innovation has accelerated since 2000 – not from TV devices/manufacture but web (YouTube, iPlayer).  We have yet to fully exploited the intelligence of the internet for TV.  Connected TV content enables more choice, more interactivity, and making TV more than just video.

Anthony Rose from Zeebox (ex BBC iPlayer boss) still believes the media’s role is as trusted authority: BBC news don’t just report but create the news. TV manufacturer is now about device maker – like Apple and Google – who want to become the new taste-makers.  What Zeebox audiences want is more traditional than cutting-edge  - help me find things (content, like adverts or other TV shows) rather than do things (technical features).

Panel discussion topics included:

- Engagement – those who do dual-screen, rather than being distracted are actually more engaged
- Why do we have collective viewing only for cinema or sport, why not watch Sherlock in pub (I’m game for that!)
- We are developing a new type of 30 second spot, with the principles of fun and interactivity
- In the in-flight entertainment industry, how do airlines make their screen the ‘first’ screen – add social element and people will want to join the mile-high club (the KLM ‘meet and seat’ app is kicking this off)!
- Word Clouds were used as a meaningfully way of analysing sentiment around TV discussions in social media
- Do we sound like the music industry in 2002? (I’d say yes)
- The second-screen is more likely to have fragmentation of devices, apps, spaces – this presents challenges of developing standards, development costs and getting a critical mass of audience for services

As TV advertising is at its highest level ever for sales, clearly the UK TV industry is doing something right.  Making great TV, and investing in innovative, interactive and engaging mechanisms for interacting with that great TV, is ensuring that the UK is at the forefront of the international industry.

This was an inspiring day and showed the TV industry is in a period of growth and innovation rather than stagnation.  I did however think the tone of some talks was a little bit too self-congratulatory:  yes, people of many different ages are engaging with TV content on different platforms, but be wary that there is a whole new generation of viewers who aren’t acquiring the habit or love of TV viewing at all, and prefer to become active producers rather than consumer, choosing more interactive forms of media to fuel their creativity like computer games.  Ignore them, programme makers, at your peril.

See more Digital Consultant articles on cross-platform (TV to digital) innovation

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February 8th, 2012 | | No Comments »

What’s the story? Exploring narrative journeys in film, sales and storytelling

This week I have been immersed in a world of stories, or rather contemplating the methods of creating and telling a story and defining what are my own ‘catalogues of narrative’ for my latest online storytelling project which I’m currently developing.

Telling stories on the big screen

It started last Saturday with a screen writing workshop at The Art Organisation (a wonderfully informal community venue, perfect for this fun and interactive workshop) in Nottingham, organised by local screen writer Adrian Reynolds.  Adrian got us thinking about both the mechanics of writing for the visual medium of film, asking us to come up with concepts for films without words which differentiate film as a visual storytelling medium rather than the ‘talking heads’ of television drama.  We looked at narrative structures for film schematics like the hero’s journey.  The mechanics of this are nothing new: these story structures can be applied to everything from Greek legends to The Godfather.  I’m convinced my online story needs to consider these structures – even short form  fragmented content online has to consider the overall journey of the viewer. It would be interesting to see how I can overlay the format of a classic story onto something that plays out through a series of intertextual multimedia elements.

Storytelling for the web

On Wednesday I attended a workshop organised by Media Sauce on making money from multiplatform content.  There’s a good write-up by the aforementioned Adrian Reynolds on what we discussed around IP, content formats and the evolution of TV commerce.

I was pleased to be offered a multiplatform training grant from media skills training body Skillset, which has afforded me the time and expertise to deepen my knowledge of online content  – flexing both my business and creative muscles.  A workshop earlier this month with major interative drama producer Sean Coleman focused on interactive storytelling: I stumbled my way through a description of my drama which has a genre (comic mystery) and a technical platform (Facebook) but scant details yet on the narrative.

My approach is unusual: unlike most film-makers-turned-interactive producer, I come from a technical background as a web producer, en route years as a web writer and editor, via a degree in music and drama.  But ‘doing’ rather than ‘telling’ a story places me at a different part of the creative process at conception which is for me a wide unknown space.  At both workshops, my fellow television and film trainees told me: it’s all about the story. Have the story and you have something you can create from and sell. For interactive storytelling this still poses a challenge: but it’s about using the mechanics to play through compelling characters and story.

Telling winning stories for sales

Thursday was the end of a the Exponential training programme, a course I participated on last year, with gruelling business simulations, skills accrediting and epic report writing eventually qualifying me as the first person in the UK with a Diploma in Strategy Business Coaching.  

John Leach from Winning Pitch was an inspirational speaker: his plain-speaking and driven ‘get off your arse’ approach to business placed the ‘win’ as all about YOU: research shows that 70% of a relationship the client chooses with their consultant is down to your personal relationship: do they like you?  Can you get on?  That’s why personal branding is becoming so critically important across all businesses. John’s message a wake-up call for me, as I’ve focused so much energy in recent years on improving my technical skills and sector knowledge – which comes way down the list of why people buy from each other.

Passion is critical in telling your story: business is about fun, fame, fortune and the future.  Strategy is about your personal intention, and success is ascribed to 20% thinking (or strategy) and 80% doing.   John like to have a ‘rant’ about the big issues in his field: have a point of view, get your voice heard – I can’t think of any better way a business can do this than by starting a blog.

Pitching is another form of storytelling for the purpose of selling – what’s the message?  Why me?  Why now? What’s the relevance of what I do to the bigger picture?  Telling a new story is a critical factor for success: there is no traffic on the extra mile. Disney have a ‘cash extraction strategy’ but you part with your pictures-of-the-president with a smile, buying into their world.  Lucosade turned a drink for sickly children into a success product for aspiring sports stars – with a little celebrity storytelling via advertising.

John emphasised that despite being in the service business, as coaches we too can say ‘no’ to clients if the relationship doesn’t fit – selling isn’t just a one way process, and only good relationshipsyield good work. As a business, you need to build long-term gains, not just short-term wins.  I’m going to put John’s advice to the test with some ‘pitch training’ I’m doing on my new digital strategy next week.

Today’s marked the end of a small journey in my own career – in a transition to a novice to a newly qualified business coach.  I’m so proud my team from back in Oct 2008 won Exponential’s winning team award – plus I was shortlisted for most improved coach and outstanding achievement – something I’d never thought, as someone far less experienced, than my peers, I could achieve.  I’m grateful to John, Anne-Marie and the team at Exponential – not to mentioned the other coaches on the programme who’ve been a wealth of support with their experience, wisdom and generosity – for helping me through this mini ‘hero’s journey’ in my own journey.

Are we sitting comfortably?  The Story event, Conway Hall

I  rounded off this epic week with The Story, an event at Conway Hall organised by Matt Locke (who’s ‘day job’ is head of education commissioning at Channel 4, thus the wonderfully diverse and high level speaker list) all about the art of relaxing and enjoying a good story.  The diversity of stories told today was immense: from “Harrison Fraud”, the tale of a tested business relationship told out by forged faxes and letters from Harrison Ford by Tim Wright, considerations of graphic novel telling by Sydney Padua and Livity’s  inspiring tale of Jody McIntyre, a wheelchair using MC, blogger and political activist whose only story includes a journey up Mountt Picchu and student union lock-ins, with his tag line ‘that’s just how I roll’. Neither patronising of what a ‘brave hero’ Jody was, his story was inspiring  as a great person achieving great things against the odds – classic stuff of legends.

Intriguingly, these mix of stories – superb, average and surreal– in many genres and tastes, gained such differing responses from the audience – we all had our best and worst, and these radically differed.  I personally loved Aleks Krotoski’s  slide show of the ‘hidden story’ of the making of her current BBC2 documentary The Virtual Revolution, showing the exciting journey, and frustration of ‘making telly’ when you’re passionate about the subject – others I spoke to thought this was ego-centric self-promotion.  The highlight for some was experimental theatre storyteller Tim Etchells of Forced Entertainment telling monologues of expletive ridden visions of celebrity hell where leading Hollywood ladies thrust Oscar’s up their arse.  I found it an indulgent, misogynistic mix of Naked Lunch cliches and uncomfortably awful stand-up comedy.

The story was starting to unfold: many voices, many styles, many messages make a good story.  But as I learned in a storytelling course at university, the story comes alive through the art of telling – it’s all about communicating the meaning and passion to others in a very personal one to many conversation.  Which comes back to my ‘day job’ of digital strategy and particularly social media marketing, enabling a big action through interlinking many stories and conversations.

Today the story continues, I’m indulging in one of my (many) unconventional interests – telling stories through games.  I’ll be participating in a futuristic group story for 40 people set in a dystopian future, creating our own social stories within the bigger picture – again, not unlike the message vs medium forms of social marketing.  Some would call this a cutting edge form of interactive drama.  We know it’s a great way to have fun.

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February 20th, 2010 | | Tags: , , | 3 Comments »

Digital Consultant links for February 9th through February 11th

These are my links for February 9th through February 11th:

  • New BBC Director Mandates Journalists Use Social Media – Look like BBC, along with other news rooms, are insisting that journalists 'get with da programme' and get connected with Twitter, RSS etc as a news gathering and feedback reponse. Hoorah.
  • Cross platform storytelling links – Some links I will soon be checking out to interactive storytelling projects from an Indie Training Fund event I recently attended.
  • Big brands see mixed results on Twitter – US stats showing many big brands are achieving more success on Facebook than Twitter, where even Apple don't have a presence (is this REALLY true?). Article suggests Twitter is waning in popularity, but actually for me it's maybe taking up on more specific niches which attract special interest group and a more connected community (and big brands, that probably doesn't include you).
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February 11th, 2010 | | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Digital Consultant links for January 10th through January 11th

These are my links for January 10th through January 11th:

  • Twitter Argument Leads to Alleged Murder – The medium is the message? Yet another story where technology is wrongly blamed for more fundamental problems in society. It's not the technology that's wrong: you can use anything from a letter, telephone to a telegram for anything good or bad!
  • HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs – A US-centric but useful list of online resources in Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with other like-minded and inspirational business entrepreneurs.
  • Vanish – Finding Evan Ratliff | Wired.com – How long does it take to find someone on the run? Just 27 days, apparently, if you're being trawled by tech geek readers of The Wired. Vanish was like a real life ARG game where clues were seeded online to locate a real life man on the run for a $5,000 prize. A project that could be used to take forward a product or celebrity.
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January 11th, 2010 | | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

Today’s Digital Consultant Links for October 29th

These are my links for October 29th from 12:20 to 12:52:

  • Story – the conference – Mat Locke, the commissioner at Channel 4 education, is organising an 'unconference' on storytelling in spring 2010 (just for fun not as a C4 thing) to join together people from a range of disciplines to look at new ways of storytelling. All those in say 'aye'…
  • Finding Funding for your Creative Project – The founder of Gigbeth music festival and all round music education guru Clare Edwards gives her top tips on seeking funding – it's actually not that different to working with clients: getting to know funders and understanding their needs, raise awareness before you ask for cash, but overall to have a kick-ass project you believe in. Although Clare's advice is geared towards the arts and cultural sector, there's quite a few lessons here that are applicable to those seeking public funding in the business and digital sector.
  • 10 ways to measure social media success – As social media increasingly acts as a hybrid between marketing, PR and customer service, this intelligent piece by Econsultancy looks at ways of measuring success and return on investment – with some useful advice on matching the 'hard' numbers (e.g. page views) with metrics around retention and engagement.
  • Social media: the best and worst of 2009 – Tech Crunch's round up of the good (Obama, Zappos, Skittles) and bad (Habitat, Ryanair and – strangely again – Skittles) uses of social media in 2009. Sadly only big brands are making headlines here, which furthers my research into music showing that its mainly 'old' and 'big' media that get rich and noticed online.
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October 30th, 2009 | | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »
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