Has CBS Finally Found a Social-Worthy Streaming Event?
06 Dec
Posted by: Bryan Bennett in: Broadcast Networks, College Football, Live Streaming, Social Media, Sports
A few months ago I wrote a blog post over at the TVLoop Blog asking the question: Is watching TV a social experience? My opinion is that because of the synchronous relationship required, the CBS social viewing rooms would not be successful. A big reason users watch TV shows online is because of the convenience factor. They can watch the show when they want and where they want. That in and of itself hampers the social nature of watching online videos since it’s highly unlikely that users will be at the same point in the show. However, I do think TV content lends itself to online social interaction as evidenced by the 16 million users that have installed TVLoop applications on Facebook and other social networks. Within the applications, users rate, review, and discuss episodes while also playing trivia games, taking quizzes, and viewing photos of their favorite actors and characters.
Now, CBS (via CBSSports.com) has finally found video to stream that is worthy of live social viewing…college football. The SEC Championship game today between Alabama and Florida will be broadcast on CBS while also streamed live on CBSSports.com. ESPN has being doing this for a couple of years with moderate success with ESPN360, and CBS has dipped it’s toe into live streaming in the past with the NCAA basketball tournament. However, neither of those events contained any sort of social features that allowed you to interact with other fans and viewers. Sporting events are uniquely suited to social viewing so it will be interesting to see if CBS seizes the opportunity to put their social viewing rooms to practical use tonight. From my perspective, CBS faces a key hurdle in that the SEC Championship is a national broadcast that is available to everyone with a TV and rabbit ears. Why would I watch that on my 20″ monitor when I can watch it on my 42″ plasma. The real win for streaming sports is when I get access to a game that I normally would not be able to watch from the comfort of my couch. ESPN360 and CBSSports.com’s streaming of March Madness definitely fit that bill.
What do you guys think? Can streaming sports be a social experience?
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