It’s no secret that the Television Industry is witnessing an enormous technological revolution. While fundamental consumer behavior will not change (viewers will continue to use television as a primary source for entertainment, information, and shared socialization), research emphasizes that unless broadcasters do more to engage vital audiences, they may be doomed to the same decline that many traditional companies within the Music Industry have experienced.

The Ericsson ConsumerLab 2015 TV and Media Report emphasizes this point. While linear TV continues to be the most popular distribution channel, almost as many viewers now watch VOD programming. What’s more, only 60 percent of Millennials (that critical 16 – 39 age group) watch linear TV daily. In short, traditional linear distribution channels are losing out to other platforms.

More worryingly, the report also finds that many viewers are not engaging with content because they do not find it satisfying. When that occurs broadcasters sacrifice market share as viewers channel surf to find something better. Lack of viewer engagement can result in dire consequences. Viewership numbers decline. Revenues dry up as advertisers search for more effective channels to promote and maximize sales for their brands.

It’s All About the Experience

To survive, we must recognize that Television programming is competing every day with a vast array of other forms of entertainment. Consumers – particularly Millennials who represent the future for many broadcasters – compare the experience of TV with hundreds of other forms of media. They play interactive, web-enabled games at any time and from anywhere. They use smartphones and tablets to instantly contact friends; to access school-related study programmes; to nurture relationships; to engage and share with hundreds of people in social networks.

Viewers have embraced these forms of entertainment and information access for a simple reason: they offer a satisfying user experience. Television broadcasters, of course, have a very different purpose than, say, an online gaming community. But it is clear that audiences are comparing their TV experiences with other forms of media interaction and are finding TV wanting. The traditional model of television is therefore being disrupted not only by OTT and VOD platform technologies, but also by powerful engagement strategies offered by competing media.

Unless broadcasters overcome this competitive threat, they will soon become irrelevant to the viewers they rely on.

The Answer: Engaging Viewers with Innovation

Broadcasting is now just beginning to embrace IT solutions. With the new opportunities that brings, broadcasters should ask, how can we adopt new tools to engage viewers more effectively? Or to put it more directly: how do we give viewers what they want?

Yes, viewers demand compelling content. Of course they do. But today’s viewers want more. They want to realize an experience with television that at least on some levels parallels the multi-faceted interactive experience they receive when enjoying other forms of media entertainment.

For that reason, it important to offer viewers new features, like interactive TV. Such innovative solutions allow broadcasters to actively engage with viewers who are handed on-screen tools that make TV programmes look good and feel great. And importantly, these solutions meet ever-developing consumer demand for a more engaging television experience while also providing a method that enables broadcasters to differentiate themselves from the competition.

As an example: Sixty recently launched Ease Live, which is an innovative solution that enables broadcasters to seamlessly send interactive, clickable on-air graphics, highlights, statistics, and other compelling information to viewers directly from broadcasters’ graphics systems. Used as an integral part of a live sports program, it  proactively engages viewers by providing player stats, historical team information, and related data on-the-fly. Such features become additional layers to the audience experience, making any match more exciting, more relevant, more ‘in the now’. This type of technology can add a new stickiness to traditional content which reflects changing consumer expectations, and help to align traditional broadcast models with disruptive interactive online methodologies.

Ever-changing consumer behavior is continuing to cause massive disruption to the TV Industry. Those who actively engage with viewers, and embrace recent interactive expectations, will increase product differentiation, competitive advantage, audience loyalty, and market share. Those who don’t will be left behind.