When the TV is not enough: the second screen phenomenon

One eye on the TV, another on your smartphone: Whether it's for live Twitter responses to sports events or a summary of a complicated film plot, viewers are finding it increasingly difficult to watch films and shows without the help of their smartphone. 

Even when people are watching a show on television these days, their smartphone, tablet or notebook hardly gets a break. 

Googling a film review, looking up an actor online, looking for live responses on Twitter or messaging a best friend – that second screen in your pocket makes it all possible. Sometimes it gets even more attention than the TV. 

"The second screen, the smartphone, has actually become a permanently used first screen," says Professor Jens Mueller, a media researcher at the Business and Information Technology School (BiTS) in Iserlohn, Germany. 

"This device connects us to the world, provides us with up-to-date information at any time, is a lexicon thanks to Wikipedia, explains the world to us with Google, or let’s us play with millions of apps," he says. 

Whether the services that come with the second screen really add value is up to everyone to decide for themselves. More and more television channels are trying it out. 

It's like the icing on the cake, Mueller says. "You like it, it tastes good, but it doesn't make a boring cake into a wedding cake." 

Some TV channel have even developed second screen apps to accompany hit shows. One such app in Germany shows the potential perpetrators in a popular crime show, as well as possible motives and other information. 

It all appears at the same time as the action unfolds on the TV screen. The goal is to discover the guilty party before they're revealed in the programme. 

Meanwhile football fans are using apps like these to watch a goal from different camera angles. They also have access to Twitter comments and additional information about the teams and players. 

The question is how the flood of information affect the viewer. Does it damage the ability to concentrate or perhaps even strengthen it? 

Today no-one wants to do without their smartphone at any time or place, Mueller says. This device has turned everyone into a multi-tasker. 

But despite the many diversions on the internet and social networks, this media scientist is certain of one thing: "At the decisive penalty or the happy-ending kiss, all focus is once again on the first screen." 

For broadcasters, the advantage of the second screen is that it strengthens the connection between the viewer and the channel, Mueller says. More loyal viewers can lead to higher advertising revenues. 

The St. Poelten University of Applied Sciences in Austria recently investigated the effects of second-screen advertising and concluded that brand recognition is better when advertising is shown simultaneously on television and on a mobile device. 

A finding like this can only mean broadcasters are likely to drive their second-screen offerings forward. — dpa