A presentation on TV Play Along by Jeroen Elfferich at Casual Connect 2008 in Seattle

1. TV Play Along
The Business Model You Haven’t Heard Of
Jeroen Elfferich
Casual Connect Seattle 2008
Ex Machina
Social Gaming Technology
www.exmachina.nl
info@exmachina.nl
+31 20 617 26 85
www.exmachina.nl

2. Ex Machina
Social Gaming Technology
•
Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
•
Enabling multiplayer web games since 1998
•
Enabling multiplayer mobile games since 2002
•
Enabling crossplatform games & communities
•
since 2006
www.exmachina.nl

3. Julius 4.0
www.exmachina.nl

4. TV Is Magic
4 hours a day (2 months non-stop per year!)
•
At least one TV in 99% of all households
•
2.24 average TV sets per US household
•
TV is turned on 6h47m a day
•
Total hours of TV consumed: 250 billion
•
Percentage of Americans who say they watch too
•
much TV: 49
• Youth – hours in school: 900 behind TV: 1,500
• TV commercials seen per year: 20,000
• 65+ billion $ industry, 7% growth
www.exmachina.nl

5. TV Is In Decline
• Internet will eclipse TV in advertising by 2012
• TV is source for news – ’04 campaign: 68% ‘08
campaign: 60%
• Want to watch video on PC: 82%
• 24% of US households has DVR
• Teens are online more than watching TV
• Interactive digital TV has slow adoption rates
The Achilles heel of television.
“The inherent weakness of television has always been the indirect relationship
between the viewer and the broadcaster. Because there has never been any
way to make individual viewers pay for the parts of the service they actually
watch, broadcast television is based upon a business model which forces
viewers to pay indirectly.”
www.exmachina.nl

6. Or Is It?
• Viewer participation as new source of income &
entertainment
• Triple-play multitasking
• Low distribution costs, rise of the mid-tail
• Balancing DVR & (live) events
• TV Game Shows doing better than ever
Television Web Sites Thrive During Prime Time, According to
Nielsen//NetRatings
“At NBC.com in February, 40 percent of total time spent was during prime
time, making it the No. 1 Web site when ranked during prime time. Web
properties ABC Primetime and Fox Broadcasting took the No. 2 and 3 spots,
with a respective 30 percent and 26 percent of total time spent taking place
between 8pm - 11pm”
www.exmachina.nl

7. Voting
(Inter)action
Medium
Channel surfing
Embedded
Time shifting
TV Infrastructure
Digital meta-data
Analog broadcast VOD
Online meta-data
Digital Cable/Sat/T EPG
Proprietary return
Interactive digital Respond to ads
IP return
IP (IPTV, P2P, d/l) TV content portal
Non-TV: IVR
Mobile Voting
Non-TV: SMS
Communicate
Non-TV: Online
Play Along
www.exmachina.nl

8. Communication (IM, Sharing, Twitter…)
(Inter)action
Medium
Channel surfing
Embedded
Time shifting
TV Infrastructure
Digital meta-data
Analog broadcast VOD
Online meta-data
Digital Cable/Sat/T EPG
Proprietary return
Interactive digital Respond to ads
IP return
IP (IPTV, P2P, d/l) TV content portal
Non-TV: IVR
Mobile Voting
Non-TV: SMS
Communicate
Non-TV: Online
Play Along
www.exmachina.nl

9. TV Play Along
(Inter)action
Medium
Channel surfing
Embedded
Time shifting
TV Infrastructure
Digital meta-data
Analog broadcast VOD
Online meta-data
Digital Cable/Sat/T EPG
Proprietary return
Interactive digital Respond to ads
IP return
IP (IPTV, P2P, d/l) TV content portal
Non-TV: IVR
Mobile Voting
Non-TV: SMS
Communicate
Non-TV: Online
Play Along
www.exmachina.nl

10. From Games to Broadcast to Games
• Until the 20th Century, games was the #1
pastime
• Radio, then TV turned us into passive consumers
of entertainment
• Late 20th Century, videogames showed that
people care about interactive entertainment
• And now, the broadcast industry is trying to
figure out how to succeed in interactive formats
• Or can the games industry serve this trend?
www.exmachina.nl

11. Crossplatform Gaming
• Anytime, anywhere, any connected device
• 3 Dominant screens
– TV: sit back, play along
– Web: versatile, pervasive
– Mobile: always on, personal
• Create interactive experience for all screens
www.exmachina.nl

12. Today’s Viewer Participation
• SMS & IVR very successful, but…
– Only simple interactivity, asynchronous
– Poor usability, complex controls
• TV-only (teletext, digital TV), but…
– Multiple players, one remote control?
– Often no return channel, no interactivity
– No integrated payment option
People want to participate, but compared to PC &
mobile games today’s solutions are too primitive
www.exmachina.nl

13. TV Play Along
• Beyond simple SMS / Call-in
• Extend TV formats to include continuous
gameplay on web and mobile
• Engage new and existing TV audiences
• Convert online audience into program viewers
• Strengthen broadcast brand and program brands
• Popularize game brands
www.exmachina.nl

14. TV Play Along Sweet Spot
• Any TV
Medium
• Use online return
Embedded
channel
TV Infrastructure
Digital meta-data
• Mobile, laptop as
Analog broadcast
ultimate TV
Online meta-data
Digital Cable/Sat/T
companions
Proprietary return
Interactive digital
• Optimal reach,
IP return
optimal
IP (IPTV, P2P, d/l)
interactivity
Non-TV: IVR
Mobile
• Billing,
Non-TV: SMS
community,
Non-TV: Online
personalization
www.exmachina.nl

15. Play Along Types
• TV Originated
– TV leads gameplay
– Parallel gaming (pre-recorded)
– Integrated gaming (live TV shows)
• TV Terminated
– TV follows gameplay
– Skill-based Call TV
– Turn online games into TV
– Automated TV production
www.exmachina.nl

16. TV Originated Integrated Gaming
TV PLAY ALONG EXAMPLE
www.exmachina.nl

17. Stage 1: Announce
Welcome! In a few moments,
Casual Connect Quiz will start.
Now YOU can play along and be
a contestant at home.
Simply pick up your PC or
mobile and join us!
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

18. Stage 1: Announce
For more information on how to
take part in this show, see text
page 123 or go to CCS.tv
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

19. Stage 2: Provisioning
SMS from 1234
Instructions on 123 CCS Quiz
Click this link to install Ex Machina
Mobile instructions: send text
the game app on your
message ‘CCS’ to shortcode 1234.
You’ll then get a link to install phone
the game on your phone.
Web instructions: go to CCS.tv in
www.CCS.tv
your browser. Register first. After
you log in, you’re ready to play
Welcome to Casual
Connect Quiz!
Instructions
Instructions
Username: …………
Mobile………
…………
Password: ………….
Web……………
Register or log in
…………
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

20. Stage 3: Gathering
CCS Quiz App
Excellent! Now we’re ready to
play. If you haven’t done so Ex Machina
13.479 players
already, now is the time to start
Game will start in
the application and log in.
30 seconds
You now have 30 seconds
before we close our lines and
start with the first round!
CCS Quiz Web App
13.479 players
Game will start in
30 seconds
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

21. Stage 4: Game Start
Game started
OK, here we go! We have over
25.146 players online
Ex Machina
25.000 players now, and a team
of 5 famous game designers in
Waiting for category
the studio. Everyone will get the
same answer at the same time,
and is given the same
opportunity to answer . CCS Quiz Web App
25.146 players online
Waiting for studio
candidate to select
category
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

22. Stage 4: Game Start
Category selected
We’ll pick a random contestant Casual Classics Ex Machina
from the studio… It’s seat 1, Seattle
Jessica Tams. Jessica, what will it State of the Industry
be? Casual Connect
Jessica: Well, this is my home
turf, I’ll pick ‘Seattle’!
Category selected
Casual Classics
Seattle
State of the Industry
Casual Connect
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

23. Stage 5: Game Session
Answer
Here’s the first question: Which Answer 1) Ex Machina
is the least rainiest city? Answer 2)
Answer 3)
1) New York
2) Seattle
3) Portland Answer
Answer 1)
Answer 2)
Answer 3)
Use your mouse or keypad
to enter your answer
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

24. Stage 5: Game Session
Answer
Just 10 seconds left… 5… 4, 3, 2,
Answer 1) Ex Machina
1…. so Jessica, time’s up, what’s
2) selected
your answer?
Answer 3)
Jessica: Well, contrary to what
most people think, Seattle’s not
Answer
the wettest, so Seattle!
Answer 1)
Answer 2)
1) New York
3) selected
2) Seattle
Use your mouse or keypad
3) Portland
to enter your answer
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

25. Stage 5: Game Session
Result
Was Jessica right to be
2) Correct Answer
Ex Machina
optimistic? Were those playing
at home correct? Let’s see… Yes Great! You receive 41
– Seattle it is! points, total at 41
Seattle has 37 inches or rain,
Portland has 45 and New York
Result
46!
3) Wrong Answer
Too bad!
Number 2) was the right
1) New York
answer
2) Seattle
You have 0 points
3) Portland
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

26. Stage 5: Game Session
Stats
Now let’s have a look and see 44% answered correct
Ex Machina
how everyone did. Jessica, you You have 41 points
were the only one in the studio Position 264 / 25.164
with the right answer. At home,
44% of our viewers answered
correctly.
Stats
44% of home players
answered correct
You have 0 points
Position 18.964 out of
25.164 contestants
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

27. Stage 5: Game Session (continued)
Ex Machina
Several more categories are selected and
questions from those categories answered,
the flow of which is similar to the previous
slides
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

28. Stage 6: Winner
Final score: 494
You have answered 10 Ex Machina
So the end of the game’s here – out of 12 correct.
in our studio, Jessica has won. You’re in the top
But we also have a winner from 5% of all players!
those playing along from home.
So here’s the top 5:
Final result
Your score is 284
Home winners
You have answered 6 out
1) Mark1337
2) LeaLeah of 12 correct. You’re in the
3) Bozon
top 40% of all players and
4) DragonSlay
2nd among your friends.
5) AnneH
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

29. Stage 6: Winner
TV Show has ended
The TV show is now over. But if
Do you want to keep
you feel like having another go, Ex Machina
playing?
you can continue for as long as
yes / no
you like on your phone or PC.
main menu
Every hour, day and week there
are great prizes!
See you next week, same time,
same channel, new quiz!
TV Show has ended
Click here to keep playing
online, or go back to the
main menu
VectorTelevision
Ex Machina
www.exmachina.nl

30. Suitable TV Play Along Formats
Trivia quiz shows
•
Word & puzzle games
•
National tests
•
Card games
•
Live sports
•
Debates
•
E-sports
•
Betting
•
Avatar games
•
www.exmachina.nl

31. Sources
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
•
Wikipedia
•
PWC Media Outlook
•
NPR
•
Nielsen//NetRatings
•
www.exmachina.nl