Concurrent media consumption is a growing trend, especially among Millennials. A recent study found that "86% of mobile internet users, and 92% of those aged 13-24, are using their smartphones while they watch TV. And 40% of this time is spent on social networks, which includes Twitter."
Social media conversations around major television events such as The Super Bowl, The Oscars and, most recently, The Royal Wedding have been common for quite some time, but now the behavior is moving towards the mainstream. Popular television shows are finding a home with audiences of digital natives whose normative behavior is shared communal experiences online. Shows like HBO's True Blood and NBC's The Voice are finding ways to aggregate these conversations and use them to extend buzz.
The social network Get Glue, which allows users to check-in to entertainment events, is growing as behavior like watching your favorite television show becomes more of a shared experience thanks to the connectivity afforded us by social media. There's even at least one blog, Lost Remote, which reports exclusively on what they call social TV.
There's no denying that captive audiences are now an endangered species. As concurrent media consumption proliferates, entertainment properties will need to find ways to extend their experiences and galvanize the community of viewers/attendees that surround them.
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