The convergence of internet and television may have just happened. At the Consumer Electronics Show one of the BIG news items today are the demonstrations by several television manufacturers of their internet-enabled sets.
...in rapid-fire succession,Sony Corp., LG Electronics Inc.,Toshiba Corp., Samsung Group and Vizio Inc. showed off
attention-grabbing new flat-panel television models embedded with Yahoo! "TV
Widget" software offering links to popular Web sites...including YouTube, Twitter, eBay, MySpace, Amazon, CBS, and
The New York Times. Mast expects that number to grow to 50 by June [CNNMoney.com].
From Information Week - Those companies who succeed as leading TV 2.0 portals will be those well positioned to make the connected TV a reality through strong global partnerships, innovative technology and expertise in creating open platforms. Developers will have the tools to bring the best of the Internet to TV, thus increasing the amount of Internet-enabled content and services available and ultimately transforming the TV viewing experience for millions of consumers.
So what will this mean for your audience's media habits? Competing for their attention? Getting your web-based health information on the big(ger) screen? Your social network strategy? I think you better start worrying about them and considering how you will compete on the new television screen, not only the computer and mobile ones. It's in front of the TV screen that most people spend most of their time - the internet for them just became more convenient. There are still those access charges that have to come down though to prevent further widening of communication inequalities.
More about The Widget Channel at cnet and MySpace becoming the first TV social network.
Remember the quote about ubiquity being the new exclusivity as promotion strategy in social marketing programs? You can redundancy to the list as well.
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