twitter for tv

as i'm known to do (not widely albeit, mostly by myself) on a monday night, i watched 24 with a laptop, following along to the #24 hashtag on twitter search. it occurred to me just what twitter could mean to the broadcast world. what a boon for the industry twitter possesses.

tv programs have always been a point of socialization. it's just been the days following the airing at the water cooler and limited to your social network. twitter holds a future of mass socialization in real time around tv programs. an enhanced experience that truly elevates the overall product. something everyone can participate in together, at once.

the opportunity for networks is in making appointment viewing again. to make an event that brings the audience and consequently the advertising dollars. to make the tv broadcast more meaningful again. to embrace a richer experience that can't be had on-demand, neither online nor through pvr. and to prove to advertisers a deeply engaged audience.

networks take notice; there is a place for you on twitter beyond just touting your programming. granted there's no socializing around bad content (at least in a positive way), so make it talk worthy and share worthy. stop cutting back.

so what can the broadcasters do?

• inject the stream with more content elements that build a better and more detailed story arc
• involve the actors/stars/hosts/contestants past and present
• provide a director's commentary type context to the program
• behind the scenes content
• answer questions
• build more suspense, intrigue, interest or anticipation in current and future episodes
• fill in story gaps
• incorporate real time tweets or tweet polls (hastagged yes or no) into live programs

i'm sure there's many more options, but that's a fairly robust menu of options to make for a greater experience. there's countless ways to facilitate this too from network specific twitter clients filtering the stream and adding other audio/video content beside to incorporating it into the broadcast itself. all i'm saying is there is vast opportunity to be capitalized on.

24 / 7 - coming soon

fox just released the trailer for season 7 of 24:




yes, there have been a couple sub-standard seasons, but this looks not to be one of them. they've broken the molds that have kept the format a little static for a few seasons now. for starters, they've ditched CTU and have gotten the hell out of los angeles. bringing back tony almeida looks a little sketchy, but we'll have to see how it pans out.

i think that they could have gone a step or two further and shed all characters except for jack bauer. to be completely honest, they should have gotten rid of jack bauer a couple seasons ago. why? to keep it fresh, original, and semi-realistic. i mean, c'mon, how many 24 hour days of that intensity can one person have. granted the success of the series is largely due to the character, but the format might flourish without jack. it just opens up so many new avenues to explore. it's not like there's a lot of time for character development and characterization. we've only grown attached to jack because it's been so many seasons.

despite all that, 24 remains one of the select few absolute must-see programs out there today. it's riveting, action packed, high production values, anticipation and constantly moving story means you can't miss an episode or you have to wait until the dvd comes out.