Providers must look for new ways to engage TV viewers

It’s no secret that Verizon’s new FiOS offering has gotten a lot of attention, in particular in industry circles, for some of the brand new services it offers, like basic integration with Facebook and Twitter for a social viewing experience.

Yet for all the buzz, no one has argued that FiOS really gets it right, just that it is moving in the right direction. Integration with both Facebook and Twitter is limited, it doesn’t allow users to filter updates to only view their friends (we’ve talked before about the merits of private vs public experiences), and requires an awkward interface through the Verizon-provided remote (probably not the most practical way to socialize)

The point is, Verizon has recognized and is starting to address that, with an increasing amount of content available online and on-demand, the TV provider must find new ways to make viewing through their services the first choice of customers.

Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts recently reiterated this idea at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. He sees the need for significant advances in allowing TV to be viewed anywhere at anytime through advanced authentication, and control over content so that the provider is not simply a passive channel through which content is pushed.

Social TV can become an important component in delivering an experience that is more interactive and moves the consumer from a passive to a proactive engagement with the services being provided. But in order for that to happen, providers must make these efforts a priority and recognize the important new ways TV can change to support a continued user base.