Over the course of 2013, we at Latitude will be conducting an ongoing investigation of some of the most important—and interesting—questions shaping the future of video today. How are viewers’ behaviors and expectations changing as media becomes more accessible across devices and services, and why? What fresh perspectives can we offer to content creators and marketers to address some of the challenges they’re currently facing? The TeleVisionary initiative will look beyond just TV content to include the entire video universe, such as other forms of video content, the impact of different devices or “screens” on viewing attitudes and behaviors, and so on.

To that end, we’ve assembled an internal task force to explore one micro-question or topic every few weeks and to share the results with our readers. Using a variety of creative research techniques and real-world “experiments,” we’ll aim to add ideas to the existing dialogue and uncover new potential opportunities for TV networks and other content creators, brands and marketers. (We’ll also have a little fun, too.) Any new metrics or insights gleaned may be incorporated into our custom work with clients and partners.

So, what kinds of things will we be exploring? Here are some beginning topics that our team came up with:

• Multi-Modal TV Engagement: What is the impact of having multiple modes of access to TV content (e.g., across different devices and across different platforms like live TV, Netflix, iTunes, etc.)? Does greater access result in greater likelihood to adopt—and stick with—new shows?
• The Social Tipping Point: How many people in a viewer’s social network need to be watching (or recommending) a particular show before she’ll try it out? How might this “tipping point” be mediated by the nature of a person’s relationships with people in her network?
• Maximum Load: Is there a maximum number of shows that a person is willing to carry at any given time? Why, and what are the exceptions?
• The Impact of Time-Shifted Viewing: To what extent does DVR-ing impact viewers’ recall of advertisements? What are some opportunities for marketers to reclaim viewers’ attention on a single screen or across screens?

If you’d like to suggest a question or topic for Latitude to explore as part of its TeleVisionary series, please email it to life-connected@latd.com.

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