Agenda-setting in social TV: How and when user comments influence perceived issue importance

As a combination of television viewing and social media use, social TV epitomizes the intersection of mass communication and interpersonal communication. However, it remains unknown how such a novel format of media experience influences the agenda-setting effects. A lab experiment ( N = 120) examined (a) how user-to-user interactions in social TV (i.e. real-time comments from virtual co-viewers) affect the agenda-setting process and (b) how such effect is moderated by different interface types (e.g. all-in-one screen vs a second screen). Results suggest that participants who watched a news clip that featured many (vs few) comments from virtual co-viewers perceived the issue to be more important, but such effect was at work only when user comments were viewed on the second screen. In addition, exposure to many (vs few) comments decreased participants’ satisfaction with social TV and their intention to use social TV in the future.

Designing an App to Support Families’ Joint Engagement with Media: Design Principles and Lessons from Research

In this paper, our collaborative project team shares design principles and lessons learned from research for designing an app to support families’ joint engagement with media and promote powerful shared learning experiences. We provide a rationale, based on research literature, for why a second-screen app in particular addresses our project goals. In addition, we describe the Splash and Bubbles for Parents app components as well as the co-design process and design-based research studies conducted to inform its design and development. Finally, our team offers design principles grounded in findings from our research that may be useful to app developers and researchers interested in continuing and expanding on this work.

Splash and Bubbles for Parents App: Station Study Report

This report, prepared for The Jim Henson Company, shares findings of a sub-study investigating the types of support parents and caregivers need when navigating and using the second-screen Splash and Bubbles for Parents app. This study originated from a prior field study finding indicating families would benefit from support around the app since it represents a new kind of digital tool. In partnership with local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations, we provided parents and caregivers more detailed support around the features of the app. Based on survey and interview findings, parents and caregivers found the app helpful for supporting their children’s science learning, thus validating the field study findings. We also found that all sections of the app were used and could help promote conversations between parent/caregiver and child. Moreover, families expressed choosing to use a specific app section when they felt it was more relevant or developmentally appropriate for their child.

Alternative Telecasts and the Ongoing Fracturing of Sports Television

Several media companies have recently experimented with expanding their television coverage of major sporting events across multiple outlets, offering traditional telecasts on their flagship channels while adding alternative telecasts on secondary outlets. Significantly, unlike most second-screen experiences, the alternative telecasts offered on secondary outlets have largely been meant not to complement the traditional telecasts but rather to substitute for them. In order to better understand what this new model of sports telecasting means for the present and future of sports television, this article is split into two parts. First, the article traces the rise of alternative telecasts, in the process distinguishing them from second-screen experiences and explaining their industrial origins. Second, the article examines how alternative telecasts contribute to the ongoing fracturing of sports television and, in the process, both continue to erode the communal engagement of sports television and reshape the genre’s relationship to its audiences.

The Influence of Second Screen Multitasking on Sponsorship Effects

Sponsorship is a marketing communication tool used to increase brand awareness, brand attitudes, and sales. Sponsorship activities are realized through various media, but television has been the most important medium to deliver these activities to sport fans. More recently, however, the importance of television has been challenged via the widespread use of smartphones (i.e., second screen). Media multitasking (e.g., using a smartphone while watching television) has become a common phenomenon, and sponsorship exposure through television is affected. Therefore, this study examines how multitasking influences sponsorship effects such as brand recall and attitude towards the brand. Data was collected from 203 participants who were randomly divided into three groups: no-multitasking, low-multitasking, and high-multitasking. In addition, sport involvement was also included in the study as a moderating variable. The results indicated that multitasking negatively influenced both sponsoring brand recall and attitude toward the brand. Sport involvement positively influenced only attitude toward the brand independently. Detailed explanations and business implications are provided.

The Influence of Second Screen Multitasking on Sponsorship Effects

Sponsorship is a marketing communication tool used to increase brand awareness, brand attitudes, and sales. Sponsorship activities are realized through various media, but television has been the most important medium to deliver these activities to sport fans. More recently, however, the importance of television has been challenged via the widespread use of smartphones (i.e., second screen). Media multitasking (e.g., using a smartphone while watching television) has become a common phenomenon, and sponsorship exposure through television is affected. Therefore, this study examines how multitasking influences sponsorship effects such as brand recall and attitude towards the brand. Data was collected from 203 participants who were randomly divided into three groups: no-multitasking, low-multitasking, and high-multitasking. In addition, sport involvement was also included in the study as a moderating variable. The results indicated that multitasking negatively influenced both sponsoring brand recall and attitude toward the brand. Sport involvement positively influenced only attitude toward the brand independently. Detailed explanations and business implications are provided.