Agora Media Group Innovation Blog

The relatively new Streaming API by Twitter makes it possible to achieve the following (taken from the Twitter blog):

• You’re visualizing tweets in real-time online or on-air.
• You want to present tweets in a continuously-refreshing experience, e.g, you want to broadcast new NCAA basketball tweets as they’re created.
• You’re following a specific group of users in real-time, e.g. a group of reporters.
• You want to capture a very large number of tweets for analysis (either real-time or after-the-fact), e.g. all the tweets about a State of the Union address.

These are interesting applications which can and will have impact on TV formats and concepts. Real-time integration of User Generated Content (UGC) into the TV content.

In the further integration of TV and Web, Twitter has been tested more than once in bridging the two, think of TV Chatter and Chitter.tv, both are efforts and learning curves in order to understand relationships between the two and how people consume their content.
Another interesting effort is Twision, the Spanish Twitter driven TV show. Have a look at the video (Spanish spoken) to have an idea how the concept works.

Both have different approaches and will benefit by the Streaming API opportunities.

What are the different approaches?
TV Chatter and Chitter.tv are sites which bundle tweets/UGC around other content. A network of information is created and displayed around the broadcast.
Twision on the other hand goes further in its integration of co-creational efforts. In this program, viewers co-create with the presentators the content which is real-time broadcasted.

I have tested both TV Chatter and Chitter.tv, and the distribution of attention between the broadcast and the network tweeting around it, makes it difficult to follow both.
The two require attention in order to be fully experienced and understood. I got the feeling that the television was on the “background” in a kind of multitasking way where the served Web content was the primary focus.

However the TV Chatters’ are solutions “in between” and easier, for an integral experience of TV and Web, Twision formats are the future. Not only format- and technology-wise, but more importantly, from a prosumerist and co-creational concept. To create a near real-time experience, the power of the Streaming API willl add its value.

Regarding the last point, capturing tweets for analysis, could prove itself to be an important addition to Social Network Analysis (SNA), real-time uncovering patterns and relationships.
Besides the insights and knowledge acquirement, this kind of UGC can be moulded into a business model, able to be accessed by companies to learn more about their target groups and further granulate marketing efforts.
It can be a revenue stream for Twitter, in a partnership model or otherwise.

What do you think of the Streaming API and its possible effect on TV?