I just got finished watching the season premier of 24. I've followed the show for years and always enjoy the 4 hour premier over two nights. It's a great way to hook fans into the story line quickly. At the conclusion of tonights episode, Fox informed me that by texting "24" to "Jack," I would be able to see scenes from the next episode. Welcome to the third screen!
For the past year or so, FX has been leading the way in driving traffic to the website by enticing viewers to catch the next 4 minutes of episodes for "Rescue Me," "The Shield," and now "Dirt." A revolution is happening here people and another place to realize this is by looking out for Cisco's new commercial. Cisco has done a great job of creating "The Human Network" and their new campaign is definitely reaching their target audience. Anyway, back to my point...
It's only a matter of time before the cell phone becomes part of the "On Demand" environment. Fox's foray into this type of distribution only solidifies the fact that within the next year or two, the cell phone as we know it will completely change. Sure, I can download stuff from Verizon now and watch old TV. We can download stuff to phones and pull them up for later viewing, but there is still so much more possibility in terms of distributing content.
With Fox really being the first to break the ice, I'll be interested to see who jumps in next. How long until bluetooth technology kicks in and McDonald's start sending you coupons or specials as soon as you pull up to the drive through window? Why not offer people the ability to text "BK" to The King as part of a contest for a free burger. If you're driving in for lunch anyway, wouldn't you try it? Of course, we need to have a discussion with the cell phone carriers and convince them to stop charging people for every text!
Anyway, I could go on for hours and take this topic into several different directions, but I better stop now.
I get really excited at what you call 3rd screen. And I think you're right based on what we're seeing in nations with more advanced wireless technology (Japan, Finland). But that "on demand" ad thing has always been a year away, hasn't it? I literally remember speaking at a conference in 1999 or 2000 and telling people we'd soon get cell phone alerts with GAP special discounts as we passed GAP.
Posted by: nalts | January 16, 2007 at 09:25 PM
The idea for "on demand" ads has been around for years, but it didn't seem like anyone was willing to make an investment as cell phone users would have to permit the bluetooth transmission. However, with the SMS craze, I think the ability to text for special offers might become more popular. It will be interesting to see if anyone goes this route, but with FOX taking that next step, I think the convesation has been revived. Shoot me an email if you want to talk more about 3rd Screen. I get jazzed up about the possibilities as well!
Posted by: Kevin | January 16, 2007 at 10:19 PM