When it comes to the second-screen experience, fear of cannibalization has gone the way of the Flip phone and dial-up modem. The London 2012 Olympics and, more recently, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament proved that a dynamic second-screen experience does not negatively impact the first-screen product; in fact, with the right strategy, the second screen can be a positive force that draws fans to the first screen.
At last week's College Sports Summit in Atlanta, content creators and technology manufacturers discussed their varied approaches to the second screen and the necessary integration of social media into the experience.
For many at the collegiate level, however, the term second screen is not entirely accurate.
From left: Mass Relevance's Josh Rickel, Columbia University's Alex Oberweger, and University of Miami's Brian Bowsher
For us, second screen is actually first screen for a lot of what we're doing, said Alex Oberweger, associate athletics director for strategic communications, Columbia University. We're in New York City, which means we're competing with the Yankees, Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders, Red Bulls getting a share of the voice is difficult for us. We're very much interested in what we can do with the second-screen experience. We also understand that, on a college campus, the preferred method of communication for students and, increasingly, alumni is through social media, and so we're trying very hard to integrate the two.
Colleges are responding to students' insatiable need for social networking. From social-media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter to newer tools like Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and others, content creators are finding that they must create content specifically for those sites.
The biggest takeaway that we have in our efforts on the second screen in this past season is just to go to where your fans are, says Brian Bowsher, digital media strategist, University of Miami. Digital really reflects the real world,' where [we could] throw a great game-watch party, but fans really like watching games at bars, or they like watching at home, or they go to their friend's house, so it doesn't make a total amount of sense to go to all this effort to create something in order to drive people to this one spot. The onus is on us to really create content for all those different places where people naturally watch their games.
A recent Nielsen survey reported that an estimated 70% of tablet owners watch sports on their primary screen while engaging with their Web-connected device. While this is hardly surprising for any smartphone user who has checked his or her e-mail or looked up player stats during a game, college and professional teams are looking for ways to direct eyeballs to their second-screen content and not someone else's.
It isn't just about this thing that distracts from the TV; it's supposed to complement the actual broadcast, said Kelly Moulton, VP, North America and head of marketing, never.no. How can we not just stream out a bunch of different data and video but actually train audience to press a button and see that their [answer to a] poll question ends up in an interesting graphic on-air?
Throughout the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Turner Sports used its second-screen product to get fans interested in games they otherwise might not have seen. March Madness Live a suite of products for broadband, iOS, and Android streaming every game of the tournament acted as a primary-screen experience during the first two days of the tournament before shifting to a complementary role in later rounds.
Some of the key learnings for us [were] around how people consume the tournament and what they want to share, said Seth Miller, product manager, social, March Madness Live, Turner Sports. The ability for us to be able to clip and share real-time highlights of games and distribute those is incredibly and increasingly powerful as a means of getting people interested in games. Not many people necessarily would have tuned their sets or tuned their apps to [watch] Florida Gulf Coast.
Turner Sports' Seth Miller (left) and Duke University's Chad Lampman
For a basketball powerhouse like Duke University, the second-screen product is similarly deployed as both a first-screen and second-screen experience depending on the sport. Fans watching a Duke basketball game either in-venue or at home can interact with the second screen by answering poll questions and engaging with social media through the Duke Blue Devils app. Meanwhile, those looking to catch Duke's other sports can stream live games through the portal.
It's almost a first screen for most of our sports. Obviously, [for] some of our bigger sports, it's a second-screen experience, but, [for] a lot of [sports], it's the first screen, said Chad Lampman, director of video, Duke University. We've done a lot of stuff with teasing things through Twitter to drive [fans] back to our Website. We'll put up some highlights or a feature that we're doing, show 15-30 seconds of it on Twitter, and say, Here's a link to watch the rest of it. That's been very popular and very successful for Duke; it's actually helped our numbers on our Website.
The Big Ten Network, through its broadband and mobile BTN2Go products, has also striven to increase interest in its programming through social media. BTN tapped Mass Relevance to aggregate real-time Big Ten conversation in one hub.
One thing we definitely learned from this and I think it's important to mention is, these types of experiences aren't what I call field of dreams,' said Josh Rickel, VP, media & entertainment, Mass Relevance. It's not if you build it, they will come. They really do require promotion.
Most recent headlines
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
When it comes to the second-screen experience, fear of cannibalization has gone the way of the Flip phone and dial-up modem. The London 2012 Olympics and, more recently, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament proved that a dynamic second-screen experience does not negatively impact the first-screen product; in fact, with the right strategy, the second screen can be a positive force that draws fans to the first screen.
