ACR, DAI and EBIF, oh my! Those aren’t just acronyms; they’re the technologies that are driving the future of interactive television and were the focus of Interactive TV Today’s (itvt) recent TV of Tomorrow (TVOT) NYC Intensive. Aptly named, the conference was an “intense” version of the annual three-day TVOT show that’s held in San Francisco.
The one-day New York conference was jam-packed. In addition to multiple panels and workshops featuring spirited discussions between industry thought-leaders and audience members, there were also major announcements from companies such as Shazam, National CineMedia and ZeeBox.
As the official media relations partner of the show, Breakaway Communications ensured that the conference received the coverage it deserved. Major media, trade press and analyst organizations attended, including the Wall Street Journal, CableFax and Forrester Research. Additionally, two prominent TV industry editors, Todd Spangler and Leslie Ellis of Multichannel News, hosted panels while Simon Applebaum of “Tomorrow Will Be Televised” hosted his radio show live from the venue.
Social media was a critical component of the communications strategy prior to and during the conference. I worked closely with the itvt staff to increase the already-sizable TVOT following by tweeting about the conference and highlighting industry news that dovetailed with the show’s main themes. Additionally, I had the chance to interact with the show’s speakers on topics ranging from their upcoming panels to the rebirth of Arrested Development. On the day of the conference, there was a deluge of tweets, retweets, @ replies and #tvotnyc11 hashtags – a welcome sign of excitement and interest in the event.
When I wasn’t staffing the Breakaway exhibit, I sat in on some of the many interesting panels and learned about the business and technology of a medium that is easy to take for granted as a consumer. A major theme was Automatic Content Recognition (ACR…remember the acronyms from above?) – a technology that allows viewers to interact with the TV show they’re viewing by recognizing the content’s unique audio signal or other outputs instead of requiring the viewer to manually enter the show and episode title. Dedicated apps like IntoNow by Yahoo leverage companion devices such as tablets and smartphones to perform ACR. Shazam, traditionally known for its music recognition, is one of the many companies getting in on the act by integrating ACR technology into its existing products to make any TV moment “shazamable.” Another topic of discussion was Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), which allows ads to be chosen and presented on-the-fly based on context and viewer demographics. If you’ve ever watched a show on Hulu that asked you to choose your “ad experience,” you were experiencing DAI. From a consumer perspective, the ads are more relevant to you and your interests instead of being one-size-fits-all.
There were many other topics of discussion about technologies and approaches that have worked thus far as well as those we’ll be seeing in the not-too-distant future. An overarching theme that’s also been in the general technology zeitgeist this year was “Big Data.” All of these new technologies enable more data to be captured and stored, which presents both an opportunity and a challenge – how do companies make use of the overwhelming amount of information to make a better product for consumers?
The TVOT NYC Intensive packed a one-two punch for me. As a PR intern, I got exposure to the dynamics of event-oriented public relations. As a consumer and media industry watcher, I gained insight into what makes the TV industry tick and what’s ahead for them (and for me). Many thanks to the two Trac(e)y’s - Tracey Sheehy of Breakaway and Tracy Swedlow, itvt’s founder and the show’s organizer - for making this opportunity possible!
A Shel of My Former Self
Ars Technica
All Things Digital
Bad Pitch Blog
Breakaway Blog
GigaOm
Influential Marketing Blog
Louis Gray
Mashable
PRNewser
Pro PR Tips
ReadWriteWeb
Scobleizer
Silicon Valley Watcher
Strategic Public Relations
TechCrunch
VentureBeat
Webware
Wi-Fi Networking News
ZDNet’s Social Business
