BBTV New Media launches mobile app to enhance Channel 7 experience
TO RETAIN audiences and boost ratings at Channel 7, the new-media arm of Bangkok Broadcasting and Television (BBTV) has introduced a mobile application aimed at engaging TV audiences.
“Do 7 HD is a social TV mobile application that is designed by our own team to provide an enhanced viewing experience for the Channel 7 audience. We target a million downloads over the next year,” Chakrapun Leelamasavat, managing director at BBTV New Media, said yesterday.
Besides engaging with selected prime-time TV programmes, the audience will also get a chance to collect reward points to redeem for special products or vouchers supported by a number of sponsors. They also have a change to win an overseas trip and meet and greet the superstars of Channel 7.
Chakrapun said this new app would benefit from the changes in the media landscape after the arrival of 24 terrestrial digital TV channels and the expansion of third-generation wireless broadband service.
Despite being a market leader in the TV industry, Channel 7, which is broadcast via both the analog and digital systems, has never stopped developing its services for new platforms, he said.
Seven years ago, the Channel 7 operator established BBTV New Media to oversee digital media for the parent company. Currently this business unit with about 30 programmers and mobile-application developers operates and manages all new-media platforms, such as Channel 7’s official website, its Line account, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the Bugaboo TV and BBTV Channel 7 apps.
The Channel 7 and Bugaboo TV websites each welcome about 300,000 unique visits a day. The Line account and BBTV Channel 7 app each have 3 million users. Its Facebook fanpage has almost 3 million “likes”.
As the media landscape changes, TV audiences become more fragmented, with the ability of multi-screen usage. As a result, audiences spend less time in front of their TV sets.
Chakapan Chakrapun noted that research by Time Warner Medialab suggested that interactive content was able to keep the attention of audiences. By using interactive mobile apps, TV programmes could gain 26 per cent more audience attention than a television set alone.
Besides supporting its parent company, BBTV New Media also seeks revenue from online advertising.
Chakrapun declined to reveal any figures about how much this unit would contribute to the parent firm’s overall revenue. But he did say BBTV New Media anticipated about 20-per-cent growth in advertising revenue annually.
