Initially, I mentioned that although traditionally a social experience, many viewers are increasingly on their own when watching TV. Whilst in the past the viewer would have had communication and discussion with other people in the same room, the changes in society means they are now looking for new ways to have that same type of communication. It is therefore not in the least surprising that laptop and tablet usage while watching TV is increasing rapidly. For most social media users, the convenience of a personal device outweigh the benefit of a TV application and the vast majority of the personal communication aspects of social media will take place through other devices than the TV.

However, a Social TV app will enable viewers to go far beyond simple communication between friends. For example an app can determine exactly what the consumer is watching, and the broadcaster will be able to let all consumers that sign in to watch that same program interact with each other or possibly be a part of the program format itself. The first contextual applications will likely be voting and ratings for music shows, talent shows and reality shows, but the innovation possibilities are endless. For example, you can get live twitter feeds from your favourite bloggers and celebrities during the Oscars, or you can share opinions with other sports fans cheering on the same team, whilst watching a live game.

I strongly believe that Social TV will be a runaway success if approached in the right way by developers and broadcasters. It is clear that online connectivity to the TV will be as ubiquitous as connectivity to the mobile phone or PC, and some social media use cases are clearly better on the TV, just as some use cases are better on a PC or a mobile device. In my opinion, the winners of Social TV will be the apps, which consider the features that make the TV the media device consumers love and spend several hours per day with. Constant evaluation and adaptation to the changing consumer demand will be key to delivering the best Social TV experience.

-- Content submitted by Michael Lantz, CEO of the global leader of apps and app store solutions for Connected TV and IPTV, Accedo Broadband