MLB fans with an LG smart TV have reason to be excited this season. OneTwoSee, an interactive TV application company with a sports focus, and Bloomberg Sports have created a connected TV application that will bring interactive stats and advanced analytics to owners of LG smart TVs for the 2014-15 MLB season. The three companies announced the partnership at CES in January, and the application is free and included on all new LG smart TVs. The application will allow fans to see engaging data and graphics surrounding the game telecast. For example, LA Dodgers fans watching Clayton Kershaw pitch will be able to see the probability of him throwing a fastball versus a curveball, while another might display his ball to strike ratio. Both stats would update in real-time throughout the game. Similar types of stats would be displayed for batters.
The OneTwoSee, Bloomberg, and LG partnership is certainly a good example of what we can expect as more households purchase and use connected TVs (60% of broadband homes currently have connected TVs). The technology lends itself particularly well to sports integrations, and to advertisers seeking new ways to connect with consumers.
“Smart TV apps can provide highly personalized and targeted ad experiences that are configured to work in lockstep with the broadcast flow,” Chris Reynolds, CEO of OneTwoSee, told Lost Remote when asked about how advertisers will benefit from the LG integration. “Because the platforms are largely web based, the media delivery options and calls to action are fairly extensive. In addition, the ad delivery can be tied directly to contextually relevant events and triggered based on those events. For example, by leveraging our Action Trigger ad platform brands can deliver ads around certain types of plays, such as a steal or a home run, and tie the creative in a campaign to the event. Imagine a home security company tying delivery of a message whenever there is a stolen base, or a pain medication company delivering ads tied to big hits in an NHL game.”
Second screen application producers have been trying to find more seamless ways to integrate advertisers into their products. As we wrote about in February, NBC chose Adobe Primetime to power its digital Olympics coverage laregely because of its platform’s advertising capabilities. Still, the growing number of connected TV applications will not replace the use of second screen applications, and Reynolds actually views the relationship between the two as complementary rather than competitive:
“The smart TV form factor is great for providing tidbits of high value content where little user interaction is required. Second screen offerings, especially those delivered on larger form factor devices such as tablets, can provide greater levels of content and are more appropriate for supporting things that require higher levels of user interactivity such as social and game functions.”