I have to admit, I didn’t see the larger players start to consolidate in the Social TV sector until after Q1 of next year. (Giving each platform one last shot at The Super Bowl) But the Nielsen acquisition of Social Guide seems to have accelerated the the process. Here are a few quick thoughts on what this means in the larger scheme for Social TV

1. Viggle wanted the team and network contacts Get Glue had accumulated over the past 5 years. Smart. The newer player in the space, Viggle, buys five years of hires, research and investment to have at their immediate disposal.

2. Investors in Get Glue wanted their money back (with minimal profit at this point) ASAP because the GG model and pivot toward EPG did not prove enough to see a long term profitability. (Although they won’t give up on the stupid stickers bit… as promised on their blog)

3. Smart investors and executives are admitting Twitter’s dominance and consolidating to try and make a dent in the Social TV market.

4. There absolutely is a HUGE EXPLODING SOCIAL TV MARKET despite what Mr Kafka thinks, it’s right there in front of us all, and it’s called Twitter, it can’t “explode” because too many people can’t / wont use Twitter itself! The “social tv behavior” is still mainly hiding in SMS messages, email, Facebook status updates and being squeezed into the square peg / round hole situation of Twitter.

Last February, Michael Humphrey wrote a post for Forbes called "Super Bowl Ratings Redux: Why Social TV Must Address The Twitter Paradox" where he adressed the still remaining biggest issue remaining in a Social TV breakthrough…

"One of the good arguments that Social TV entrepreneurs make is that conversation is only part of the second screen experience. We will move beyond Twitter, they say, by augmenting content. We’ll give users chances to vote, to glean extra information, perhaps even see new angles on an event that the average TV viewer cannot. This is an exciting proposition. But with that vision, they always add, “And we’ll give them access to their social networks, for those who want to engage in the conversation.” To not do that would be insane. But when they do that, they tempt their users back to the stream.

It will take smarter innovators than I to figure out how to navigate that paradox. But if companies can, they will be watching their ship come in.” -MH

It still appears nobody in the market has solved the “Twitter paradox" and the Viggle acquisition of Get Glue is further proof, but the opportunity in Social TV is still mind boggling if said paradox can be appropriately addressed. 

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