Can We Get Smart About Covering Smart TVs?

Recent findings from Nielsen the Interactive Advertising Bureau and other sources paint one clear picture amp160At least 60 percent of all US households own a smart TV set made by Samsung LG Panasonic Sharp and Vizio to name five heavy weights in this arena andor a device on the order of Apple TV with more than 10000 applications Chromecast from Google Roku Amazon Fire TV and Shield from Nvidia In a press briefing this spring Nielsen estimated that usage of these sets and devices is accelerating on the order of 1920 days per month 23 hours peramp160day amp160At last month39s Cultural Insights Forum in New York Horowitz Associates suggested that multicultural Millennials are a fastgrowing portion of the smart TVdevice population using them to stream and watch what they want from Netflix Hulu and other programming sourcesquotStreaming has become the new normalquot acknowledged Horowitz executive Adriana Waterson adding that six out of every 10 Millennials of color participating in a recent company survey stream four out of every 10 hours of content they watch via TVWhat39s more what smart TV sets and devices can offer 247 has expanded in radical fashion over the last two years alone amp160Depending on what set or device is operating in their homes users can play more advanced video games read ebooks or arrange services from AirBnB Zillow or Home Advisor and order pizza from Papa John39s or tickets from StubHub amp160In recent months Amazon Prime customers picked up the ability to order any Amazon merchandise amp160any amp160from Apple TV or Amazon Fire TVequipped TV sets or plugins amp160Samsung now offers Glimpse an independentlyamp160created app giving viewers a graphic way to track the whereabouts of friends or family members with their permission amp160Increasingly viewers can exercise their vocal chords and request the programs or apps they desire via Siri Alexa and other artificial intellegencepowered devicesSome of the newest smart TV sets available for sale build Siri Alexa and othersamp160into these sets amp160Also because these sets and devices are softwarecentric and can be upgraded in rapid fashion no one knows their ultimate capacity and capability amp160Virtual and augmented reality services represent two of the possibilities that may get realizedOne could easily conclude these developments would provoke local and national newspapers and newscasts or segments of CNBC Fox Business Network and Bloomberg Television or ongoing coverage in technology oriented Web sites like Techcrunch Recode and Newscom amp160Instead theamp160opposite is happening amp160There us little or no coverage whatsoeverWhat prevents journalists on each level from taking this subject on especially when there39s no shadow of a doubt the public is adopting this technology in fairly quick fashion when compared to other landmark products amp160Why the absence of discussion about the current and future smart TV environment at most TV industry and consumer electronics industry conference and eventsamp160 It39s incredible to fathom that these gatherings can39t make time for at least one panel on this topic amp160Over the last four years CE Week scheduled for July 1213 here in New York with hundreds of journalists and industry analysts attending has avoided the subject after several years devoting considerable time to smart TV amp160Again there39s no panel in 2017 and there are no major smart set or device makers taking exhibit spaceThat39s one huge reason for the lack of extensive coverage smart TV set and device makers keeping mum in public about their latest features amp160When these companies don39t talk or avoid friendly venues that provide an excellent forum for what they39re up to such as TV industry conferences or onenight events from entrepreneurs like Pepcom journalists move on to other mattersAnd then there are the blown opportunities to take full advantage of the spotlight such as Apple39s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote presentation by CEO Tim Cook last month amp160With thousands of app developers on hand in Silicon Valley other app makers watching from afar and journalists looking on either way Cook had the perfect stage to update everyone on Apple TV and what39s coming there amp160Instead with a quotThe Future of TVquot slide behind him Cook devoted less than 90 seconds near the beginning of a twohour keynote to Apple TV amp160His boileddown message Amazon Prime will join Apple TV39s lineup of features later this year and I39ll have more to say about Apple TV later this year amp160That39s allDid anyone suggest to Cook that millions of people use Apple TV and that maybeamp160this was an outstanding time to share the kind of apps available at present and in the near future amp160How about encouraging all those app developers out there to keep innovating and fire up new services Apparently not amp160After spending less than 90 seconds on Apple TV Cook devoted more than 15 minutes to theamp160Apple Watch with new apps demonstrated As a result weamp160were hardpressed to see or read anything on Apple TV anywhere amp160Even more unbelievable there was no followup reporting or critique of Cook39s presentationA few weeks earlier Google39s annual iO conference keynote also live from Silicon Valley and directed at Androidfollowing app developers spared no time on Chromecast amp160NoneWhen 60 percent of US households have crossed a threshold in adopting a product that product is overdue for a greater level of attention than ever before amp160Smart TV sets and devices could end up the most important and impactful mediaconsumer electronicsTVtechnology reaching mass acceptance this decade and maybe this centuryAttention from all corners as Arthur Miller once declared must be paidUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this contentamp160are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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Can We Get Smart About Covering Smart TVs?

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Simon Applebaum

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