Daniel Danker has been Chief Product Officer at Shazam since May 2013, and is responsible for the companys product strategy and direction, including expanding the role Shazam plays in music and growing new businesses like Shazam for Television. He joined Shazam from the BBC, where he was the General Manager of BBC iPlayer, launched iPlayer Radio, created a seamless journey from broadcast to connected television through the Connected Red Button, and delivered the media experience for the London 2012 Olympics. He will be speaking at the session Second Screen and Social Innovations' on Friday 13 September at 11:00.
Q: At IBC you're speaking on the panel Second Screen and Social Innovations'. How do you think the companion screen and its associated apps can help programme makers?
A: The creative community always celebrates new opportunities to make better content. We're now at a place with mobiles and tablets where the technology is sufficiently broadly adopted that programme makers can start to weave it naturally into the narrative of their shows. And that's really exciting, because it means that we're going to start to see stories told in new ways. Competitions, award shows, and sport have been first to change, but I'm also excited to see how documentaries, children's and educational content, even comedy evolves. There's a second aspect to the transformation, too. Data has already transformed many online services, making them more timely and personal. But we have yet to see that transformation really happen in the broadcast world. Now, products like Shazam use data to create stronger connections between programme makers and their viewers, and that's certain to have the kind of transformative impact in television as it has had in online services.
Q: From an outside perspective it can be seen that television is having trouble hooking into social media and truly becoming social television. What, if anything, do you think is holding it back?
A: Television isn't struggling with social media when you consider that 40% of tweets are about broadcast during primetime. But social is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Products that attempt to make TV social are only going to be valuable to viewers in very specific circumstances and for a very specific set of shows. Second screen has to think beyond social, helping people answer simple questions, not manufacture a need where it doesn't exist. Social is an important element to the second screen, but experiences that revolve purely around it are barking up the wrong tree.
Q: Are genuinely transmedia projects starting to appear? Does the industry need changes in production culture or techniques to move beyond the #pleasewatchourshow approach?
A: What we're really talking about here is the convergence of content and technology, and what it takes to make that convergence successful. By and large, for the last 10-15 years the technology of TV has evolved in two ways: better picture quality, and breaking free from time and place. I have the freedom to watch whenever I want to and on any screen, but broadly speaking these are still the same stories told the same way. When we talk about transmedia, I think what we all mean is that we're looking for technology to affect content such that the storylines change. For that to happen, technology needs to be simple and ubiquitous, and we're only just getting to a place where smartphone / tablet penetration is sufficiently high and apps like Shazam make the experience simple enough to delight mass audiences.
Q: Do you think any major production can afford to ignore the connected viewer in 2013?
A: No, if for no other reason than the making of TV content is increasingly connected with advertisers who expect to know and measure what is going on with their advertising spend.
Q What is your elevator pitch to broadcasters?
A: We can help you make contact with your audience to deliver more engaging programming, helping you be more creative in the process.
Q: You've been at Shazam for several months now. In what areas are you looking to steer its growth?
A: I'm focused on our core services of music, TV and advertising. In music, Shazam has amazing predictive capabilities that can delight our users beyond simple music discovery. With TV and advertising, Shazam offers unparalleled simplicity and flexibility, taking viewers directly to the content they just saw on the telly instead of making them type long web addresses or scroll through endless lists. Our growth will come from building on that simplicity, relevance, and flexibility to bring audiences closer to the programmes they love, and advertisers closer to their customers.
Q: Companion apps such as Shazam for TV are becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace. What do you think are the criteria for success?
A: Three key elements: simplicity, relevance and flexibility. For users, the second screen has to be easy to understand and simple to use. Then, the result they receive has to be relevant to them it has to give them the information that they're looking for without a lot of searching through extraneous content. Lastly, it has to be flexible for programmers and advertisers in that it can't be a one-size-fits-all the companion experience needs to give them the flexibility to express themselves the way they want to. The experience if you're watching the NFL needs to be different than if you're watching American Idol which needs to be different than if you're watching NCIS.
Q: Shazam has recently concluded a fairly major deal with Saavn to access the Indian market. There is a temptation to assume that broadcast technology is adopted first in the established markets and then rolls out to the emerging territories. Is mobile and the second screen circumventing
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Daniel Danker has been Chief Product Officer at Shazam since May 2013, and is responsible for the companys product strategy and direction, including expanding the role Shazam plays in music and growing new businesses like Shazam for Television. He joined Shazam from the BBC, where he was the General Manager of BBC iPlayer, launched iPlayer Radio, created a seamless journey from broadcast to connected television through the Connected Red Button, and delivered the media experience for the London 2012 Olympics. He will be speaking at the session Second Screen and Social Innovations' on Friday 13 September at 11:00.
