The Future of Interactive TV

From The Globe and Mail

By Scott Valentine
While NanoGaming may conjure images of microscopic robots battling it out on a m
iniature playing field, what it really means for some advertisers and broadcaste
rs is much bigger.
According to consumer research firm Park Associates, 70 per cent of people under
the age of 34 surf the Internet while watching TV. And when there's a game on,
as many as 50 per cent of sports viewers also use an Internet-connected computer
. Called 'two-screeners,' this young, Web-enabled demographic is just the type o
f consumer that advertisers lust after.
Introduce something like NanoGaming, which allows viewers to interact with what
they're watching and compete against other viewers for prizes, and you have what
is potentially the killer marketing app for reaching this tech-savvy segment, e
xperts say.
"Everybody wants to be part of that experience," says Dave Bullock, president an
d co-founder of LiveHive Systems Inc., the Waterloo-based company behind NanoGam
ing, which has inked deals with NASCAR, the NFL, and Global TV. "How you deliver
it and where it's commercialized is the question."
NanoGaming blends bar-style trivia games with social networking and challenges p
articipants to use their knowledge of what they're watching be it a sports gam
e or a reality TV show to anticipate what might happen next. Fans are presente
d with possible scenarios, such as, "Will Tom Brady score on this drive," or "Wh
o'll get kicked off Big Brother this episode?" Answer them correctly and players
earn points that can be redeemed for a variety of rewards such as big-screen TV
s or trips to sunny locations.
Meanwhile, players interact with company brands like Coca-Cola and Lexus on the
NanoGaming website in what amounts to a synchronized sporting event/game show/co
mmercial.
In a similar venture, Santa Monica-based Jacked Inc. signed a deal in December w
ith NBCSports.com to provide news and information such as statistics, player pro
files and a chat service during Sunday Night Football broadcasts.
Advertisers and broadcasters are warming to the nascent genre of interactive ent
ertainment, believing they're reaching a captive audience. Because the viewer is
so absorbed in the interactive experience, they are more engaged and have a hig
her level of recall, marketing experts say.
"In NanoGaming, if you get the psychological elements right and you let the cons
umer know the moment is being brought to them by Coke or whoever, they'll probab
ly be happy to buy something," says technology analyst Bill Harvey, founder of N
ew Century Media. "If instead of interrupting consumers with advertising that th
ey don't want, you bring them programming as a gift you get seven times the av
erage effectiveness of a TV commercial."
Plus and this is something advertisers and broadcasters love this type of in
teractive entertainment only works if the two-screener is tuning into a live bro
adcast. With the growing popularity of digital video recorders (DVRs) and their
ability to pause live TV and fast-forward through commercials, advertisers are c
onstantly on the lookout for live programming, which they consider the best venu
e in which to expose their brands.
"We help eliminate that situation where the user is disengaging or choosing a DV
R," says LiveHives' Robert Riopelle, vice-president of business development. "It
becomes a situation where the interactive option is only available live, the fi
rst time something airs."
Another attractive aspect of interactive entertainment is that it straddles tele
vision genres and works effectively with sports, reality TV and other forms of l
ive programming. It also attracts a diverse audience male and female that's
attuned to the nuances and communal aspects of social networks, Mr. Harvey says.
And there's lots of room to grow.
"Online role playing worlds, video games, fantasy sports all these opportuniti
es are immersive and are youth oriented," Mr. Harvey says. "As a cluster, that's
certainly worth billions of dollars."
Global TV, which tested LiveHive's NanoGaming platform during the most recent ai
ring of the popular reality show, Big Brother 8, In the House, found the interac
tive element kept viewers tuned in to the show long after the credits rolled.
"Big Brother was on the radar because it has that kind of cult following [where
NanoGaming works well]," says Neil Sweeney, director of business development and
strategy for Global TV. "We were getting people logged in and interacting as tw
o-screeners for up to 40 minutes, two or three times per week. People were in ch
at rooms long after the show ended, and picked up conversations over days and we
eks."
While advertising and viewer retention are interactive entertainment's one-two p
unch, the hidden gem in something like NanoGaming is the customer data the inter
active entertainment generates. Part of LiveHive's mandate, Mr. Bullock says, is
to evaluate how people are exposed to brands and measure how they interact with
them. All that interaction creates a wealth of consumer data that holds tremend
ous value.
"It's as useful to us as it is to an advertiser," Global's Mr. Sweeney says. "We
treat it like it's our brand, it's our audience."
But while interactive entertainment such as NanoGaming is a novel idea, it's sti
ll relatively new and faces considerable challenges. Adoption by broadcasters an
d content publishers has been stymied by complex intellectual property and digit
al content ownership rights. And, the two-screener experience still relies on la
rge devices like a computer or television to be compelling. Without a viable mob
ile plan, the genre may get stuck in a rut.
Still, some experts already think interactive entertainment has a solid future.
"I explain NanoGaming to people at a cocktail party and they get it right away,"
Mr. Harvey says.
Special to The Globe and Mail
BY THE NUMBERS
* 100 Million Number of U.S. TV viewers who surf the Net at the same time
* 70 The percentage of people under 34 who watch TV and are online at the
same time
* 39.5 The percentage of adults who regularly watch TV while online
* 13 The percentage of people under 34 who are looking up information onli
ne related to what they are currently watching on TV