Second screen

Analysis

Some studies show viewer tendencies of using another device while watching television, such as a tablet or smartphone. Other studies distinguish a higher percentage of comments or posts on social networks about the content that is being watched. Proclaimed benefits from these studies include keeping the audience engaged (via polling, chatting, providing additional information about content, and participants, etc.) and generating revenue via advertising. Second screens can be used as a metering solution to get information about the audience.

Second screen solutions can be both far-reaching and inexpensive, which has led some to think a second screen may replace people meters in the future. One factor hampering the growth of second screens is that many shows are creating their applications for them. It is considered impractical to expect users to download multiple applications and switch between them for each channel or show.

Conference and business meeting organizers may also incorporate second screens. The second screen phenomenon was described as a significant and growing trend by the "2014 Trend Tracker". "Attendees are so glued to their devices, even while watching a live presentation (or at home, on television) that marketers are supplying them with a simultaneous engagement tool they can access on that device," says Robin Stanley, VP-design and creative at GES. "Software tools allow conference session presenters to share slides and presentations in real-time, so attendees can follow on with their device in hand." Second screen technology at conferences allows conference attendees to engage with the speaker and other participants.

Applications

Many applications designed for the second screen give another form of interactivity to the user and another way to sell advertising content. Second screening may also involve applications not formally connected to the primary entertainment. Some examples include:

• TV programs broadcasting live tweets and comments.
• Synchronization of audio-visual content via web advertising.
• Applications that extend the content information, whether news, weather, or chat, to another screen.
• Remote workers, as business travelers, can set up their working space anywhere to attend meetings and manage projects.
• Shows that add content exclusively for the second screen to their websites.
• Applications that synchronize the content being viewed to the mobile device.
• Video game consoles playing with extra data, such as map or strategy data, that synchronize with the content being viewed on the portable device, such as the Wii U. PlayStation also has a game accessibility feature called "Chat Transcription", which allows a user to read what others say and send text to speech messages through the PlayStation 4's Google Play App named "PlayStation Second Screen".
• TV discovery application with recommendations, electronic programming guides (live content), and personalization.
• Applications that display polling results and audience-triggered animated emoticons (along with the sender's name and location) in real-time on the broadcast instead of the user's second screen.
• Voting functionality for audiences at home via the broadcaster app.
• Video games that use mobile phones for interaction – examples include Kahoot!, The Jackbox Party Pack series of games, and Everybody 1-2-Switch!. The Nintendo switch online app also allows users to utilise their phone as a second screen for a variety of different games, including the use of "Zelda Notes" in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the Switch 2 edition of Breath of the Wild.

Sports broadcasting

Sports broadcasters, to stem the flight of the audience away from watching the main screen (the television) to the second screen, are offering alternative content to the main program, such as unseen moments, alternative information, soundtracks, and characters. Proposed new technologies allow the viewer to see different camera angles while watching the game.

TV2 (Denmark), Denmark's largest commercial TV channel, synchronized its Second Screen service with the live broadcast of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from May 5 to May 27, 2012. Viewers on all internet devices could get rider stats, biographies, news, stage reviews, city information, weather updates, and more. Viewers scanned a QR code on the TV broadcast to get connected to the service or typed in a short URL.

In the US, HDNet Fights utilizes a service that synchronizes with live MMA broadcasts. Viewers on smartphones and tablets can get stats, vote on fights and rounds, chat, win prizes, and see how fellow second-screen users voted on fight outcomes.

Other television

Slate described popular procedural dramas like Suits as examples of "second-screen content—shows that don't require viewers to hit rewind if they idly drift off while scrolling their phones." The Hollywood Reporter described the Jennifer Lopez film Atlas as "another Netflix movie to half-watch while doing laundry". John Landgraf of FX Networks bragged that, by contrast, Shogun was "not a two-screen show". Justine Bateman said to The Hollywood Reporter in 2023, that "the viewer's primary screen is their phone and the laptop and they don't want anything on your show to distract them from their primary screen because if they get distracted, they might look up, be confused, and go turn it off." Many users describe this as a 'visual muzak'. In 2025, Netflix reportedly told screenwriters to have characters announce actions, so those watching the streaming service in the background while doing something else know what is happening.

Examples

References

References

1. "Encourage Participation With Second Screen Technology". educationalmeasures.com.
2. (November 2015). "2015 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining Workshop (ICDMW)".
3. "Tata Consultancy Services | Technology, Digital Solutions, Consulting".
4. Mukherjee, P., Wong, J.S., and Jansen, B. J. (2014) [https://faculty.ist.psu.edu/jjansen/academic/jansen_patterns_second_screens.pdf Patterns of Social Media Conversations Using Second Screens]. The Sixth ASE International Conference on Social Computing (SocialCom 2014). Stanford, CA. 27–31 May
5. (April 2014). "Second Screen and Participation: A Content Analysis on a Full Season Dataset of Tweets: Second Screen and Participation". Journal of Communication.
6. "Newswire – In the U.S., Tablets are TV Buddies while eReaders Make Great Bedfellows – Nielsen". nielsen.com.
7. "Living With Digital: Consumer Insights into Entertainment Consumption".
8. "What Do TV-Social Media Multitaskers Talk About?". emarketer.com.
9. "Nielsen Families Become 'Framilies,' Ratings Giant Begins Registering Mobile Devices in TV Households".
10. (2013-04-16). "5 Things Keeping Second Screen Apps from the Masses – Double Encore".
11. "White Papers". NiceMeeting.
12. (2014). "2014 Trend Tracker".
13. (2011-08-14). "Double The Glow: Will Second Screen Apps Change the Way We Watch TV?". GOOD Magazine.
14. Yahr, Emily. (2018-01-04). "Do you fall down a Wikipedia rabbit hole after each episode of 'The Crown'? You're not alone.". Washington Post.
15. Ediciones El País. (2011-03-13). "Twitterrevolución". EL PAÍS.
16. "Tweeting for TV {{!}} Twitter Developers".
17. "Maximizing TV Advertising ROI". secondscreen.com.
18. "2011 MTV Video Music Awards – Highlights, Winners, Performers and Photos from the 2011 MTV VMAs". mtv.com.
19. "The Miso Sync Experiment". Dropbox.
20. "CNET: Product reviews, advice, how-tos and the latest news".
21. Biggs, John. (2012-06-04). "Microsoft Introduces Second-Screen Feature, Xbox SmartGlass".
22. Sean Buckley. (21 February 2013). "Sony announces PlayStation app for iOS and Android, will expand games to the second screen". AOL.
23. (20 February 2013). "Sony Announces PlayStation 4, Second-Screen Experience PlayStation App for iOS". macrumors.com.
24. (2012-06-04). "Xbox SmartGlass official as second-screen feature". SlashGear.
25. "Using Chat Transcription".
26. "ZELDA NOTES for Nintendo Switch App".
27. "Nintendo Switch App - Nintendo CA".
28. (2025-06-06). "How to Use Zelda Notes - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Guide".
29. "Alternative angles in Sports broadcast".
30. "Second screen is future of interactive coverage". TVBEurope.
31. "Giro 2.0 – second screen experiences". eventbasedinnovation.org.
32. "Mobovivo Launches Social TV Platform to Utilize Second Screen". techvibes.com.
33. Adams, Sam. (2024-01-30). "Why Suits Was the Most Streamed Show of 2023".
34. Rich, Katie. (2024-05-20). "'Shogun' Starts Some Drama".
35. Goldberg, Lesley. (2023-07-21). "Justine Bateman: Pulling AI Into the Arts Is "Absolutely the Wrong Direction"". The Hollywood Reporter.
36. Tavlin, Will. (Winter 2025). "Casual Viewing".
37. Buckley, Sean. (21 February 2013). "Sony announces PlayStation app for iOS and Android, will expand games to the second screen". Engadet.
38. Lawler, Richard. (21 May 2013). "Xbox One SmartGlass brings more control, content to companion devices". Engadet.
39. Orland, Kyle. (January 21, 2015). "Windows 10 includes in-home game streaming from Xbox One". Ars Technica.