2nd Screen Technology – Heart of Convergence Culture

Just watching television is not enough for you? No problem: Welcome to the world of Social TV and second screen technology, where old and new media collide!

Since a couple of years, since the rise of digital devices and the ubiquity of social networks, the parallel usage of a second screen (e.g. smartphone or tablet) while watching content on a first screen (e.g. television) gets more and more important. Social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, extend into the domain of television and enable people to communicate pre-air (i.e. before the program starts), on-air (i.e. during the program) and post-air (after the program ended) with other users about the television content. In other words: there is a convergence of traditional television as a first and digital devices as a second screen. Jenkins (2006) argues that the age of media convergence enables communal, rather than individualistic modes of reception. Referring to him, the phenomena of Social TV as well as second screen technology could be seen as products of the convergence culture because content flow and consumer communication take place across multiple media platforms: traditional television gets more and more interactive while tablets and smartphones transform to new television screens. Hence, following the convergence paradigm, there is a deep connection and interaction between old media (television) and new media (digital devices and social media). Due to technological innovations, a cultural and social shift of TV reception and contend-related communication occurs. Dealing with it, it seems important to highlight that the use of second screens while watching television on a first screen is in a substantial way a consumer-driven process: in the first place, many consumers changed their reception behaviour while using digital devices parallel to gain or to share information with their friends or to discuss about the content. But since the production companies and TV channels try to give the consumers fodder to do it by producing specific Social TV programs, they also urge this convergence process. That is why the process is both, bottom-up as well as top-down.

An example for the top-down process could be seen in Netflix: In 2016, the streaming platform has announced a new feature that is developed especially for the ever-growing second screen trend and which should debut in the course of this year. Netflix customers who prefer to use their smartphone while watching series could get supplemental content on the digital device, such as behind-the-scenes information about the actors.

But beside the nexus of second screens with “small” first screens (television, laptop), there is also the possibility to connect smartphones or tablets with a much bigger one: the huge screen of a cinema hall. Dealing with movies (and also its selling in form of DVD or Blu-ray) in general, Holly (2015) states that second screen technology could relocate the additional content of a film, which is traditionally added separately in the form of outtakes, from the end of a DVD or Blu-ray Disc to the second screen of a digital device: “It’s like taking all of the bonus material associated with the movie and putting them in context within the movie[.]” He thinks that – thanks to an automatically content synchronization to the movie’s timestamp – second screen cinema apps for Android could lead to a full immersion by offering behind the scenes photos, videos or storyboard related to the scenes.

Although this version of connecting second screen technology with first screen movies is interesting, it does not really exhaust the convergence’s potential. For connecting the cinema screen with a digital device, the viewer should not only stay as a spectator who gets parallel bonus material instead of outtakes the end, he could rather be fully integrated in the plot as a kind of protagonist. This innovative attempt was tried by some Dutch directors who created in 2013 the first pure second screen film, called “App”. With the aid of the second screen technology, App possesses a multi-screen experience with intense emotional affect. In addition to the action on the cinema screen, the audience does not only receive supplemental outtakes on a second screen. Rather, it gets information which is deeply intertwined with the plot and the actors: short video tapes, WhatsApp and Facebook conversation excerpts of the fictive characters, different camera shots, images or fictional newspaper articles. For receiving it, the spectator has to download the movie’s application first (after the download, all second screen information is stored local on the user’s phone) and activate it at the beginning of the storyline. In contrast to the usual Wi-Fi requirement of the second screen usage, App’s application does not need any connection to a Wi-Fi spot; it works even in aeroplane mode. This is possible because the movie’s app reacts and synchronizes just by sound signals – that is why an intense experience is generated even if there is just a slow Internet connection. Due to App’s second screen nexus, the spectator gets intensely integrated into the plot and interacts in a kind of way with the actors because he gets the same data as the characters get in the movie. And even sometimes, the content on the second screen is not only additional to the first screen’s happenings; it is even like an anticipation to the further plot because the viewer receives some information earlier than the characters do. From time to time, the spectator is hence one step ahead than the actors.

Until now, App is unfortunately – probably – the only attempt which tried to couple the cinema screen with digital devices in the above described kind of intense immersion. Even after three years of App’s cinema premiere, it still constitutes a very innovative concept which is an excellent example for the convergence process of old and new media. Although a parallel discussion and communication on the second screen (which is a key feature of Social TV) is not possible because it is used for specific content related information, one should not criticize this lack too much. Much more, the movie’s intention lies in offering the spectator an innovative movie experience. Due to the production’s primary focus on the second screen technology, App’s content and storytelling on the first screen suffer from the attempt to connect both screens: although the open end could be in some way seen as a last thrill, the many unsolved contextual happenings are textual suboptimal. Nonetheless, the sophisticated information on the second screen appears as a compensative role because it accomplishes various shocking moments both qualitative and quantitative. But to make the concept successful on the long run though, the content has to be more elaborated. Then, for example beside Social TV and Netflix, it would be a further mass compatible option for the convergence of first screen (television, cinema, online streaming) and second screen (digital devices). In such a way, it could be an inspiration for second screen content producers. Extra information like personal data about the actors or outtakes is interesting, but also a bit boring. It is more thrilling and compelling to really integrate the viewer into the plot and the film character’s relationships or activities. So, App could be seen as a pioneer for future second screen development.

Sources

Buschow, Christopher et al. (2013). Social TV in Deutschland – Rettet soziale Interaktion das lineare Fernsehen? MedienWirtschaft, 10 (1), 24-32.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York, London: New York University Press, pp. 1-38.

Holly, R. (2015). Second Screen apps for Android – the perfect movie companion, Androidcentral. Retrieved 17 November 2016 from

http://www.androidcentral.com/second-screen-apps-android-perfect-movie-companion.

Meloa, A. (2016). Netflix hast the answer for those who want to watch TV on two screens, Business Insider. Retrieved 17 November 2016 from

http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-second-screen-feature-for-movies-tv-shows-2016-2.

Schneider, Beate; Buschow, Christopher (2013): Fernsehen trifft Social Media. Was Social TV für Produktionsunternehmen bedeutet. Medienproduktion – Online Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Praxis, (4), 7-9.

Stanoevska-Slabeva, Katarina; Milanova, Veselina (2013): Emerging Second Screen Value Net-works: Insights for TV Broadcasters. 4th International Workshop on Future Television Focus on Multiscreen Applications, 213-226.