This week I spoke on a panel at the LodgeNet Customer Technology Symposium exploring the use of TV-based apps in the hospitality industry. While the discussion was lively, sometimes humorous, it became apparent that the challenges and confusion faced by hoteliers is a trickle-down effect of the evolution in the digital home market.
Apps themselves are nothing new - fundamentally they are simply add on functions going by a slew of names such as widgets or, extending the analogy to pre-date the Internet, game cartridges. As Boxee's Andrew Kippen pointed out in the session, apps are simply "customized web pages" delivering "bits of function."
Matt Yurdana of Intel explained that while there are more than 500,000 apps for mobile phones, there are only about 500 net-enabled TV apps. This disparity is driven in large part by the personal nature of the phone experience versus the more public experience of TV viewing. As well, the apps you want in the palm of your hand are very different from those you may want on a TV. Making matters more problematic is the fact that app developers have yet to identify a "killer app" for the connected TV world.
TV apps typically come in three flavors: content delivery for viewing (think Netflix, Hulu, etc.), data services for quick updates (news, weather, sports), and ancillary information (imdb, guides, etc.). In our latest TV browsing report, we found that connected TV web browsers report checking weather as their top activity (used by almost half of net-TV browsers).
Over the past five years, TDG has been researching interactive apps across several media forms and we have identified a few noteworthy truths. First and foremost, the TV experience is about - wait for it - watching video programming, meaning the apps of greatest value to connected TV users aid in discovery and viewing of video content. Data-specific apps rank second, as quick information updates like news and weather are always of great value to consumers, regardless of the platform. Contrary to many opinions, of least interest to net-connected TV users are apps involving social media: only 25% of users express interest in TV-based social networking apps.
That said, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets is helping to bridge the gap between personal and public experiences. For example, the use of social media as an enhancement to the video viewing experience (versus simply reading Facebook or Twitter updates on the screen) can create truly original interactions. Content discovery, audio watermarking for interactivity, and deeper levels of metadata are going to spark entirely new experiences (I've long joked that my Apple tablet is really my imdbPad). Discussions involving OTT are now squarely focused on ushering in the age of "active content."
As Matt hinted in his remarks, "Apps for TV aren't on the TV." It is likely the second screen will be the best app interface.
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