Broadcasters, content creators and advertisers should look to platforms like Mumsnet rather than Facebook or Twitter to gain a “social view” of their content, according to YouView CEO Richard Halton.
Speaking at Westminster Media Forum’s TV Convergence Keynote seminar in London this morning Halton said the time has come to move connected TV out of the early adopter environment into the mainstream.
“If you’re looking for a social view of your product I wouldn’t recommend Twitter or Facebook – Mumsnet if the group I would recommend – that’s where the mainstream UK voice is heard,” he said.
YouView, the video-on-demand joint venture between broadcasters the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, ISPs BT and Talk Talk and Arqiva, has been testing the product with the Mumsnet audience and has received feedback it deems critical to understanding what mainstream audiences desire.
These still centre on simplicity and ease of use rather than some of the more sophisticated attributes YouView can offer, according to Halton.
He said the UK market has a “healthy” balance of free and paid-for TV in the market with services like Freeview, YouView, Sky and Virgin Media. However, he said it is critical YouView ensures it keeps pace with the technological advances of services like Sky’s but while balancing that with what mainstream audiences want.
In February BT revealed it now has 60,000 customers with YouView set-top boxes having signed 21,000 over the fourth quarter of last year.