In 1983, Philips released the first consumer TV with built-in picture-in-picture that allowed viewers to watch multiple shows at once. That was the start of second screen viewing but the Phillips engineers couldn’t have imagined we would consume content the way we do today.
As an avid fan of Breaking Bad I was sad to see Walter White die in last night’s last episode but the iPad was a major part of how I watched the last episode in a seven year run. Viewers were encouraged to follow the storyline on BreakingBadStorySync.com for polls, highlights, fan forum chats and advertisements. This rich media content was updated regularly with a countdown clock keeping you aware that the storylines were evolving very quickly. Throughout the episode, I also followed the show socially by following the hashtag #GoodbyeBreakingBad which documented cast members and fellow fans tweeting throughout the episode.
Did you know – Over 1.2 million tweets were generated while the episode was aired setting a new Twitter record
A well thought out strategy around utilizing the second screen is crucial to today’s viewing experience. The need will only continue to become greater as technology improves and consumers become more dependent on surfing the Internet as we watch TV.
