T HE V IRTUAL W ATCH P ARTY AS A S ECOND -S CREEN E XPERIENCE Melissa Roadman & Adam Smith Convergence Capstone Fall 2012

G OALS Build a second-screen experience to complement the work of Project OpenVault. Determine how effectively the experience was in engaging visitors. Analyze what potential this form of a second- screen experience has in the future.

R ESEARCH What are people doing with mobile devices and television? 85% of tablet users use the device while watching TV (Forrester Research) 30% of time spent on tablet is in front of the TV (Nielsen) 62% of people use social media while watching TV 67% use some mobile device while watching TV (Ericsson) 37% are engaging in content related to TV program watching (Viaccess-Orca)

T HE P ROJECT VirtualWatchParty.com Optimized for mobile platforms Chat room for visitors to discuss issues and results of the 2012 election with other mid-Missourians VIP room where visitors could chat and discuss with scholars, politicians and policy experts Provide information via connections to the Missourian ’s unlocked voter’s guide Beta Testing Presidential Debate #3

T HE P ROJECT

Promoted by KOMU, KBIA and the Missourian

W HAT W E F OUND 1,623 unique visitors on November 6 and 7 2,559 pageviews 51 users signed into the page via Twitter Allowed them to chat in the room Roughly half did so 9.5% of our visitors were engaged (if engaged is considered spending longer than 3 minutes) Almost all of those engaged spent between 10 and 30 minutes on the site Accounted for more than 25% of total page views

W HAT W E F OUND

Where they came from to the site 1. KOMU.com – most unique visitors 2. ColumbiaMissourian.com 3. KBIA.org 4. Facebook – most engaged visitors (spent 3+ min.) 5. Facebook Mobile

W HAT W E F OUND Where they came from (geography)

W HAT W E F OUND Where they came from (geography) Most unique visitors: Boone County Most engaged visitors: St. Charles

W HAT W E F OUND How people were accessing the party Chart 5

W HAT W E F OUND Primary Research Survey on the party site and sent to attendees afterwards Asked what visitors: What was enjoyed most: “Commentary from students.” “The chance to interact with others.” “I liked the live chat idea!” What can be improved: “I wish that the chat experience would have some kind of sound or more of a visual element to keep me engaged…” “It would be cool if the person’s photo could pop up next to their Twitter handle.” “There were some connectivity issues with Internet Explorer.”

W HAT WE FOUND

80% were watching TV 70% visiting news websites 60% using social media Corresponds closely to secondary research

M OVING F ORWARD As an exercise in potential of second-screen experiences for mobile, data and participation are unclear. There is an interest and an audience for second- screen experiences. The people who chose to engage stayed with it. Shows potential for events like the Academy Awards, political debates and sporting events.

M OVING F ORWARD Changes: Twitter- retweeting and own feed Mobile-native Conversation Prompts Fewer rooms See who is signed in More pronounced presence of VIPs Technical issues- links, browsers, design Other ways to sign in