Myspace's one-million growth in users this past month has not only brought attention to the site but also to one of its forthcoming initiatives — Myspace TV. Announced last month, it will let artists and fans share and discover content.
Initial channels on Myspace TV will be music-focused, using Myspace’s music rights and leading library of 100,000 music videos and 42 million songs. Eventually, though, it will encompass movies, news, sports and reality channels.
Audiences will not only be able to view their favorite television programs, but also chat about what they’re viewing. When it is introduced, Myspace TV will follow similar initiatives offered by such providers as Hulu.
Last year the company rolled out a new feature to let viewers comment on a specific moment in time while watching any video on Hulu.
A Natural Progression
Television is morphing into a social activity even without the support of special platforms. According to December data from SocialGuide, network stations have become virtual water coolers for viewers.
Fox led all broadcast networks in buzz last year, earning 27.4 million social comments, ahead of ABC (17.8 million), CBS (16.8 million), and NBC (16.1 million). MTV (8.8 million) led all cable networks, beating out ESPN (7.9 million) for the top spot.
“Jersey Shore” was the most social TV series, with 3.9 million comments, ahead of “SpongeBob SquarePants” (3.2 million) and “The X Factor” (2.2 million).
Also, game 6 of the NBA Finals was the most social sports event, generating 1.1 million comments. The survey also noted that social TV comments grew 86% between May and November 2011, from 16.5 million to 36.7 million.
Many Areas of Confluence
The confluence between digital ads and social TV is growing in other ways as well. Spending on digital ads will grow 20% this year to reach nearly $40 billion, according to eMarketer. By 2014, it expects online ad spending to reach $52.8 billion and by 2016–$62 billion. But while print ad spending will take a hit as a result, spending on TV advertising will not be negatively affected and may well benefit from the growth in online ad spend.
eMarketer estimates TV will grab $72 billion in US ad dollars in 2016, $10 billion more than will go online.
Adding Interactive TV to Online Marketing Strategies
At the same time, more firms are trying out interactive TV ad campaigns. Just before the start of the holidays a handful of companies announced plans to add interactive TV to their online marketing strategies. InterContinental Hotels Group said it would expand its booking solution across the Android platform for the Kindle Fire and other Android tablets–as well as Google TV.
BT, Red Bull TV, Honda, and Ladbrokes announced they would develop interactive campaigns to run on the Rovi Advertising Network as part of the Rovi Smart TV Advertising program.
Campaigns Tie TV to Mobile CTA
A similar synergy is also playing out in mobile. Pillsbury recently ran a television campaign for its crescent rolls on television that included a mobile call to action. In Kong Kong Coca Cola, and its so-called Chok campaign, combined a television commercial with a mobile app and instant win promotion. The app was downloaded 390,000 times in large part because of the novel way the app worked–similar to a Wii, it turned the mobile phone into a remote controller.
