Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the discovery of content, according to Philip Bourchier O’Ferrall, senior VP at MTV parent company Viacom International Media Networks.
Speaking during a panel at MIPCOM festival in Cannes, Bourchier O’Ferrall said the majority of its cross-platform viewers, across brands including MTV, had traditionally come via search but now social media accounts for a rising proportion of its viewers.
“Search is still important, but it has played a less central role in content discovery over the past nine months, and the rise in the number of people that discover our content via social networks like Facebook and Twitter is significant,” he said.
Bourchier O’Ferrall was joined on the panel by social TV start-up Zeebox co-founder and chief technology officer Anthony Rose and TV Genius general manager Tom Weiss.
Zeebox is multi-screen social TV app that lets users synchronise their TV viewing with the activity of their friends on social networks, due to launch next month (nma.co.uk 3 August 2011).
The Zeebox proposition, which centres on the use of broadcasters metadata to tell what is on the TV screen, triggered fellow panelist TV Genius’ Weiss to label it, and the propositions of companies like Shazam, also represented on the panel, as “parasites”.
This was echoed by Red Bee Media CEO Bill Patrizio, who said services like that of Zeebox will be “disruptive” in the market.
However, Rose said UK broadcaster reaction to the start-up has been “fantastic”, adding that the proposition should provide mutual synergies for both. He also said that it prevents broadcasters the expense of developing their own equivalent apps and will in turn will limit consumer confusion, because they will only need to deal with one app for all channels.
Bourchier O’Ferrall welcomed third-party technology innovations like Zeebox as “exciting” additions to the market. He said broadcasters shouldn’t feel fazed by the proliferation of propositions like Zeebox because it is the strength of their brands that continue to command loyalty.
“The key thing to remember is the importance of your brand – ultimately audiences resonate around brands, so I’m excited about any technology that can help drive audience to my brands,” he said.
Shazam Entertainment executive VP of advertising Evan Krauss said it positions itself as a partner to content owners, not a parasite.
Shazam has teamed up with brands, broadcasters and networks, including MTV, HBO and Heineken, to provide ways for people to interact with both TV show content and branded content via mobile devices. “We are the fourth largest app in the world, with 150m users and we’re adding around 1.3m new users every week,” said Krauss.
