Social TV underpins a new TV ecosystem that has grown around creating, marketing and promoting second-screen activities.

That’s according to the latest report from Evolumedia Group and the Canada Media Fund entitled The Second Screen and Television: Overview and growth perspectives.

It’s no surprise that second screens have become second nature for the media consumers.

Social TV is emerging as the most popular way to use a second screen, particularly amongst Generation Always-On, what the report calls the youth population born between 1982 and 1995.

According to the report, Generation Always-On spends more than 50 hours per week with digital media.

And further, the typical second-screen multi-taskers are the 18 to 34 age group, for whom smartphones are the most-used devices for second-screen activity.

And broadcasters, advertisers and producers need to align their content with this generation’s multi-tasking consumer habits by creating second-screen content for smartphones, digital tablets and laptops that’s complementary to what they’re watching on the main screen, the report states.

Twitter is the king of social TV, according to the report – and the majority of conversation around a show happens during its initial airing, with anticipatory tweets 15 to 30 minutes before airing, and reaction tweets 15 to 30 minutes after.

Rights holders, the report states, should dedicate specific content to this microblogging platform to increase brand loyalty.

The idea is that the best second-screen apps and interactions enhance the viewer experience and increase their attention, instead of distracting viewers from their favourite shows, making them more receptive to advertising.

“When they [viewers] find something engaging on the TV, they pay attention. When their interest wanes, in the absence of a second screen, they could change the channel, get up, read a magazine, etc. With a second screen that allows live social engagement, they have more reasons to stay on channel with their friend,” says Turner Broadcasting chief research officer Jack Wakshlag in the report.

From Playback online