Exploring Appointment Viewing on Television
Some of my most interesting moments is watching popcentral Dstv 189 passively and most importantly from a screen other than the one in my office or in my house.
It usually helps me to get into a consumer mode which is one of the most difficult things for people who work in, curate and create TV experience. All the posturing like a consumer often drops when you start counting the number of Ads, see something wrong, like a typo in a caption, a glitch or infact the date of the month in late 20s.
But whenever any of these things don’t come up and I am just chatting away with someone else and the tv is on, somewhere in the back ground I really I enjoy myself and some very interesting contemplations come up, which usually leads to a phone call to the team- “ladies I have an idea” especially if it’s business, my business team are all women, or when it’s design, it’s usually “guys- I have an idea”, let’s try this and I make a pitch to the team.
Let’s get to why I am writing this.
Today at my mum’s, I was sitting in her bedroom and I think one of my nephews had earlier put on the decoder, so I happened into popcentral on her TV. I know she loves me but I’m sure she doesn’t watch popcentral. Anyway our conversation started as I sat on a sofa directly across from her and the TV was on the right, so i took occasional glances and of course Nancy, Samson and Toun. Started getting calls. I guess they wish I never watch TV.
So I saw a show, it was “Jollof”, one of our creators shows that features @denrele @anire and some other cool people. Usually on the show they attend events and brought highlights of the moment. On this episode it was the wedding of a young couple and I did enjoy watching them dance and all.
Just before I caught the show, I had seen a post on Instagram by YouTube about Wizkids Live show on the platform and somewhere in the caption read that I should go put on my notification, before seeing the suggestion about notification I had sent the post to my Story, either to help me remember or just because I’m a fan.
Back to Popcentral I thought to my self how could I get people to tune in to our shows, like the “Jollof” show. Would be great to make appointment with the show and other shows next time because I enjoyed it. If you have our app “poppin”, you will always get these notifications, and you can set it up yourself too, we also have billboard promotions across lagos, we use social media actively and if you follow me anywhere, you know I’m kinda like the information minister and i say the truth about the dates and shows.
Between that thought and watching the show I navigated to my YouTube app and searched for there to switch on my notification, then it dawned on me that I was trying to “make appointment” a phrase which was perhaps only usually used for television as most assume that because social media and other social platforms are on a mobile phone, people just unconsciously consume it always and on the go.
A debate I have had with countless brand managers, MKDs and buyers generally who try to make a claim that most people are on their mobile phones.
Yes we are on our mobile phones, some of us are, (except the huge population who have to asked to come Online 😀), now that cracked me up, “come online” but it’s true, they go off line then come after a phone call or when they want to see something. Appointment.
Anyway it’s obvious that everyone is making appointment one way or the other. And TV remains the hugest commander of attention, both by numbers and time spent watching.
The way TV works as with other VOD platforms, is that people make time to watch them and consume the content.
No wonder even the biggest platforms have started attempting to curate your viewing experience beyond the once glorious reason why everyone wants VOD, you can watch anytime”, now they tell you the day it drops and the time, they tell you the viewing rank. Great!
So my thoughts have been on how to present the content I have on our channel to people in a non invasive way but consistently enough for them to make appointment.
People don’t sit down in front of their TV all day watching and waiting for the next, never have, and even I don’t want such viewers becausre they will soon be unable to afford the payTV monthly fee or infact the petrol in their generator to put on the TV.
TV remains the cheapest way to get the biggest number of people to watch something at the same time, and social media is not a TV killer, rather it is the toppings on the ice-cream when used properly. It is an enabler on both sides.
Push the big data on TV, the longer shows and get viewers to engage on the mobile to discuss what they are watching or feedback. Using TV and social/online in a complementary manner is the only way to get maximum benefits. TV as a utility.
For a social TV like Popcentral that already reaches thousands on the go from our app and growing, it’s a plus but besides the catch up and shows feature on our poppin app which is perhaps the best app from any TV in Africa and contending favorably internationally, there’s nothing like the big screen and the experience with friends and family.
This is what TV created, the home theatre with friends, family and loved ones and the opportunity to start conversations with people you watch with and thankfully social allows us to have those conversations in our several tribes and online hamlets. This is the story of the cinema in every home, the TV as the hero on the wall, on the table and Signature viewing experience if you have great Sofas and sits like IMAX in your living room.
Finally the saying that nothing really happens until it happens on TV continues to hold true. My suggestion to local brand owners and custodians is to adopt a more complementary strategy. A lot of new reports in more advanced climes have started pointing to the power of programmed linear TV, no wonder every social app now has a live or story feature and not to forget the bliss of not having to search through thousands of shows just to switch off your Netflix and go to bed.
So I’m here thinking how can I serve you more shows, consistently and get you to decide to make appointment and you actually do out of all the noise everywhere. Beyond those who already know, I want more.
Yea I get the star/celebrity power but some other creators make amazing content too, not celebrity driven, it can’t always be about that, though proven a good catch.
TV remains the leader in “brand encounter”, with social a user can deliberately decide to avoid the brand. Even when you smartly make it into content and serve it through an influencer, they can still smell it. But TV can be in your face and still non invasive and if they like the content they often don’t mind, viewers also know someone had to pay for it.
Brands are not even my problem now, for now I want to learn more organic ways to tell as many people about our shows and hopefully they make appointment.
TV guides did it well back in the day, and I’m thinking there might be a breakthrough idea from a tech end, because the TV guides back then helped you read and learn as much about the show you might love to see. It’s still there on the DStv EPG but is it the most convenient way to read it? Drop me a hint here if you resonate with this post and share some ideas with me.
