The leaders of live social TV recently converged in New York city to discuss the future of this emerging technologies.  The summit was hosted by Never.No and was attended by networks representatives from Major League Baseball network, CBC Broadcasting, Al jazeera network, Music Choice , International Broadcasting Bureau, and Social Guide.

So what is social TV?  Social television is real-time engagement during a broadcast event. This will be something you will soon see more of, as networks and regional O&O stations adopt this trend.  Incorporating social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and others, allows broadcasters to engage audiences in real time more than ever before. This goes far beyond just taking a feed from a Facebook page or making broadcast graphics to reflect something that was said on Twitter.  Social TV will now help compliment broadcasters in their 1^st and 2^nd screen goals. Social television could be a potential game changer for real time news and events from all over the globe, not to mention the additional revenues for broadcasters can reap from this technology if executed properly.

Broadcasters are now hopping on the trend of using Twitter/Facebook/social media to encourage viewers to interact with their programs. In some cases they rely on the spontaneity of viewers to make their own Tweets or they can give an on screen call to action to encourage interaction.

Combining this social television with broadcast design, they can take artful approaches to getting viewers involved. Think how much feedback they could get from the audience during an event such as a presidential debate, for example, by encouraging tweets and creating interactive polls.

With the rise in popularity of social TV, people will have another platform to talk about your company and products/services. Just think how valuable it would be for companies to deliver live testimonials on air through social media, using a social television platform.

Soon it will common place for broadcasters to use hash tags and @ handles to get people involved not only on their second screen but first screen as well. A two way interaction that can add dollars to their bottom line.

From a technical standpoint, this could be quite complicated. However, there is a company that specializes in this, thus providing you connective portal into your existing graphical workflow and structure. This platform can also be controlled by a producer so all facts and tweets can be reviewed before hitting air.

Brands and marketers should begin implementing plans for the approaching revolution in TV consumption. A good portion of the television watching population already accesses the internet while viewing the television. That number only rises when you include the addition of smart phone and tablet users. This will no doubt drive view engagement and online social interaction.

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. The good news is you don't have to be broadcast network to take adavantage of it to engage an audience. Social media works for just about any business of any size.