2013：社交电视起飞之年

    社交电视领域的其他竞争者还有雅虎公司（Yahoo）的IntoNow以及Miso。IntoNow推出了一项名为“CapIt”的新功能，填补了社交照片分享领域的空白。用户可以利用它将电视节目的截图发送给好友，还可以在图片上进行评论。与此同时，Miso刚刚发布了一款名为Quips的新产品，这款移动应用跟CapIt存在竞争关系，它可以让用户分享电视节目中自己最喜爱的一幕，同时也可以添加文字说明。

    Zeebox是社交电视领域的另一个竞争者，它背后有康卡斯特公司（Comcast）的支持。这款应用诞生自英国，被用户称为“电视助手”。Zeebox已经跟美国广播电视网建立了强大的合作关系，其中包括康卡斯特有线电视（Comcast Cable）、国家广播环球公司（NBC Universal）、HBO以及Cinemax。Zeebox提供了数项可以让第二屏观看体验更加愉快的特殊功能，其中包括实时收看的应用内提醒，丰富全面的节目信息，以及一项名为“Zeetags”的功能——它可以让用户浏览节目内容、相关话题以及人物角色，并将用户的社交谈话扩大到应用之外。该应用提供的信息明确具体，而且是针对用户的兴趣和观赏口味量身定制的。

    这些社交电视领域的活动会给尼尔森带来哪些影响呢？这家公司调查收视率的过时模式仍然依赖于美国的一组家庭，他们最初是使用日记本记录自己所看电视节目的。如今他们大多使用电视节目追踪装置，但仍然只是传统家庭的小样本。在进行收视率“清查”（sweep）时，尼尔森仍在使用纸质记录。我相信很多青少年和大学生都在为尼尔森填写这些纸质日记。好吧，也许并没有。

    虽然目前广告商们会继续使用尼尔森的数据作为公共标准，但他们在2013年会向前推进，使用互补性的渠道来评估广告的互动情况以及自己所赞助媒体活动的效果。尼尔森在2010年时曾在社交媒体领域折戟，此后，该公司仍在极力恢复自己在这方面的信誉。一旦尼尔森跟Twitter的合作于今年秋季生效，它就能给尼尔森帮上忙，但依然落后于市场。

    今年晚些时候，苹果电视（Apple TV）、英特尔电视（Intel TV）和其他综合电视设备的推出，将可能进一步对社交电视领域的活动起到推波助澜的作用。借助综合平台，用户将能在观看节目的同时在电视屏幕上进行社交活动。我对2013年的预测是：我们将看到各大广播电视网更直接地参与社交电视，不管是凭借它们自己的应用，还是投资以及重新塑造目前的竞争者。

    以下是对值得我们关注的应用的盘点：

    Viggle：“看电视，得奖励”。使用这款应用查询电视节目，玩Viggle LIVE——这是其生活模拟游戏——和MyGuy橄榄球及篮球幻想游戏时，它会给你积分。然后，用户可以拿这些积分购买礼品卡，或是在星巴克（Starbucks）、丝芙兰（Sephora）和亚马逊（Amazon）进行消费。另外，用户还可以将这些积分作为慈善捐赠捐给美国红十字会（the American Red Cross）等机构。

    GetGlue HD：用户只要进行签到就可以拿到积分、赢取数字贴纸以及获得折扣券。GetGlue最近跟Viggle达成了合作，我们预测它的积分将被整合进Viggle积分体系，从而在网络商家那里获得优惠。

    Other competitors in the social TV space include Yahoo's (YHOO) IntoNow and Miso. IntoNow has introduced a new feature to compete in the social photo-sharing space, 'CapIt', which allows users to send their friends snapshots from a TV show with their captions superimposed on the photo. Miso meanwhile just launched a new product, Quips, a mobile app that competes with CapIt and allows users to share their favorite individual moments from TV shows with captions as well.

    Zeebox is another social TV player and has backing from Comcast. A UK-born app, known to users as the "TV Sidekick," Zeebox has forged strong network partnerships in the U.S. with Comcast Cable (CMCSA), NBCUniversal, HBO and Cinemax. Zeebox offers several perks that make second-screen viewing more enjoyable such as in-app alerts and reminders for live viewing, a robust offering of program information, 'Zeetags' – which allow you to explore show's content, related topics and characters as well as extend your social conversations outside the app. The information the app provides is specific and tailored to your interests and viewing tastes.

    How will all this social TV activity affect Nielsen? Their outdated mode of tracking viewership continues to rely upon a set of families across the U.S. who initially used logbooks to track what they viewed. Now most use TV tracking devices, but still represent a small sample of traditional households. During sweeps, Nielsen still uses paper diaries. I am sure there are lots of teen and college kids filling out paper diaries for them. Err, maybe not.

    While advertisers will continue to use Nielsen as a common standard for now, they will push forward in 2013 with complementary channels to assess their engagement and the activity of the media they sponsor. Since Nielsen's snafu in 2010 on social media, the company is still recovering its credibility in this area. Nielsen's Twitter partnership will help once it kicks in by the Fall TV season, but it is late to market.

    All this activity could be further amped up by the introduction of an Apple TV, Intel (INTC) TV and other integrated TV devices later this year. With integrated platforms, users will see social activity around a show right on the screen. My prediction for 2013: we will see the major networks get more directly involved in social TV either with their own apps or investing in and rebranding the current players.

    Here's a run down of the apps to watch:

    Viggle: "Watch TV, Get Rewards" This app give you points for checking into TV shows, playing Viggle LIVE -their live trivia game and playing along with their fantasy football/basketball game, MyGuy. You then redeem these points to buy everything from gift cards to Starbucks, Sephora and Amazon or you can turn your Viggle points into charitable donations to the American Red Cross among others.

    GetGlue HD: Once a user has checked-in, they can receive points, earn digital stickers and get discount coupons. With the new partnership with Viggle, we predict integration into Viggle points for discounts at network merchants.