The Skype SMS and telephone functionality is redundant to the features of the phone, which just so happens to be the public rationale  for removing the Google Voice app from the iTunes store.  We have to look a little bit deeper into whether the app is deactivated on my phone or just no longer available.

The topic we chose to discuss this week relates to broadcast media outlets requesting that viewers follow them on Twitter, and why would anyone actually choose to do that.

We use the example of Fox Sports promoting their Twitter account during a Los Angeles Dodgers game and pose the question wondering why anyone needs to receive tweets about scores, upcoming programming and promotional messages when there are many other ways to get that information. It’s a classic example of an old media entity entrenched in their thinking of “broadcasting” a message via channels.

There is a way for broadcast outlets to use social networks incorporated into their on air content, as Rick Sanchez of CNN has demonstrated how to communicate with an audience and to incorporate their messages into his broadcasts.

Another example of integrating Twitter into a broadcast is Kyle Petty answering questions on the TNT broadcast of Nascar races.

The alternate view may come into play when considering local news organizations or broadcast outlets.  Just as in search becoming a very localized and personal experience, there may be some value in following an entity that will be disseminating local weather, traffic and headlines in real time.

We took a look at the Fox Sport South use of Twitter and determined that there was a big gap between the number of followers 1,151 versus following at 113 … but worst of all is that the stream has not been updated in a few days even though they were trying to “live tweet” the last game.  That’s a big fail on their part and someone needs to immediately determine the Twitter strategy for that organization.  Are you listening Fox Sports South?

What does this mean for a business owner? Does this reinforce the transparency and personal nature of business that social media is pushing the corporate world towards?  I think so .. get out from behind the corporate veil and get to know your customers and engage with them directly. Do not set up a twitter account as some faceless entity distributing your brochure ware.

How about the upcoming fall TV season? Will there be a plethora of sports integration, prime time programming soliciting followers, and any other attempts to request permission to send broadcast messages?

To reiterate, broadcast networks need to come up with a strategy before just diving in. An attempt to just throw things at the wall to see what sticks is a poor excuse for a plan.  There are ways to interact and grow an audience as a broadcast medium, but it means allowing real communication and not just looking at Twitter as just another distribution channel to broadcast messages.

The opening and closing theme for the Overflow Podcast is called The Information Age, by Anthony Fiumano and you can find it at the Podsafe Music Network.

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This year we take the opportunity to have the discussion on our Overflow podcast.

It seems we are about to enter an age where the expenditure for advertising in a mass market venue such as the big game will be followed closely by interaction in the social networking space.

The spot promoting Denny’s free grand slam breakfast for one day only, is generating a massive buzz on Twitter and blogs, anticipating and chronicling the crowds gathered to feast.

So from a measurement perspective, the best “creative” ads.. the ones that used to win the recognition…  might not be the “best” ads in terms of executing the objectives.  It will be the ads that can generate direct consumer interaction that will be recognized over the long haul as the most influential.

At one time, USA Today was the place to check for the feedback and recognition of the ads that were voted as best, however digging into the details of this year’s Ad Meter, 288 adults were given meters to rate their responses to the spots.  In this day and age of instant, real time feedback at social networks .. the results are dubious at best.

A great example of engaging the audience in real time, generating some excitement, and finally making a direct call to action after the spot aired came from ETrade.The Etrade baby was tweeting ( humorously)  as well as following up with an invitation to check out the outakes for their spot at the company web site. The Etrade baby is following 628 people currently and had engagement throughout the game.  My only advice to the company at this point is to start following people back and work on direct engagement beyond just making posts.

There was also a bit of community backlash happening during the broadcast including serious lashing out against Go Daddy. They have created these spots in the past, so is it possible that there has been this same sentiment all along and the company wasn’t aware of it due to in ability to engage directly with their customers?  Have they completely misread their audience?

A fun way to look at what was on everyone’s mind during the game is a visual tweet stream shown in a map format on New York Times.com. You can see key words in Tweets during certain moments during the game hitting the stream. Brands can gain some great insight from this viewpoint.

Where is this all headed? Are we going to see engagement at a greater level during the Super Bowl in 2010, with twitter profile names included in the spot?

….  On to Daytona

Today in the Overflow podcast we revisit these aspects of the business model plus the exciting addition of “twitterfied” content produced during the recent election cycle and planned for the future.

The basis of the programming is user produced “pods” that are submitted via the web site and voted on by the registered users of the site, with top vote getters making it to broadcast. Pod content can consist of everything from News, Politics, Music, Comedy etc.. plus the network producers will constantly develop assignments for a specific topic that they would like to run on TV.

Concurrently, advertisers provide users with the bare minimum of material to work with such as a logo bug, tag line, headline, video or billboard and allow them to produce their own commercials called VCAMs.  It costs very little to the advertiser since they don’t have production costs .. but if the ad is successful for them, they can choose to pay the producer and run it on other media outlets.  So they’ve witnessed the production cost savings & have had their own mini focus group to see how effective the ads are prior using the creative on other channels.

Here is an example produced by 21 year old Andrew David Watson (no relation) of Philadelphia.

During the election coverage this fall, Current rolled out the integration of a live Twitter feed on the screen as the debates were taking place called Hack the Debate. So as you were viewing what the candidates were saying, you could also see what the great community of the electorate was saying simultaneously.  It has to have been a double check for the statements and claims of each of the candidates, in the long run it will continue to ensure the the campaigns of the future remain more factual.

Information that has been disseminated recently indicates that Current TV is going to continue this type of integrated content with Twitter in the future, and plans to launch another programming channel focusing on movie content.

Let us know …. Do you watch Current TV?  What do you think about the quality of the content, the format of the programming and especially the VCAM user produced advertising?

After a day full of the usual weekend responsiblities, I was kicking back ready to watch a baseball game and reading through current tweets.  The following message from someone with the handle ATTBlueroom (I’m sure it is someone who serves in a Community Manager role) caught my attention, “Broken Social Scene and Wilco are up next on tonight’s Lolla webcast.” I am a huge fan of the band Wilco, so I got very excited to log on and check it out.

What I experienced made me realize that the famed “convergence” of television and internet that has been spoken about since the early dotcom days is upon us.  The stream was flawless on my dsl connection and all I wish was that I had a better sound system on the computer so that the full music quality could have been experienced.

The added feature of communicating with others via Twitter while simultaneously watching the show only added to the excitement.  Actually attending the event in person would be the only better shared experience.

Some observations:

• Apple TV and other web connected television appliances are going to explode on the scene shortly as the next big consumer appliance
• Using Twitter as a way to announce programming is a must for any broadcast channel
• ATTBlueroom actually needs to do a better job of monitoring the conversation to interact with viewers.  I had two people directly state that they were having trouble with the feed and it would have been a perfect opportunity for some direct company involvement (Contact me if you want to talk about my ideas!)
• I suspect that the issues were due to only having the option of Windows Media Player as the format for the stream, and possibly it would serve to have a variety of options based upon the users preferences.
• Television plus Twitter (or another communication platform – gaming consoles allow for actual conversation) for live events is going to be an integrated part of the viewing experience.  It will be important to allow the viewer to directly compartmentalize the communication being received however.  Non-relevant tweets during the broadcast would detract in some cases, which leads to more sorting of conversations into silos along with a search (track) functionality.  This is making me reevaluate the silo interface of TweetDeck, which just needs to become more stable at this point.
• Sporting Events, Concerts, Award Shows, Political Debates … any event that is being broadcast where interaction with others in real time adds to the experience will benefit from this convergence.
• It’s still unclear how the entire monetization strategy will work in these live events.  They could have interjected lower third promotional messages or sponsorship logos without harming the quality, but I believe that branding messages will need to be more subtle to be acceptable.

Wilco demonstrated why I believe they are the best band in the land right now.  The AT&T Blue Room broadcast was very well done in terms of production, while needing some assistance in the community interaction area.

I was extremely glad to have been part of the event, and wanted a big encore from the band as they left the stage.  I know we’ll see more of them and more of these types of events down the road though.