Telefónica’s pay-TV platform Movistar Plus is launching a new service branded Social TV to allow subscribers to interact with other people directly on the TV screen while watching the TV programmes.

The service, presented at the MWC in Barcelona as a “pioneering and unique initiative” in the TV world, will enable subscribers to comment, debate or talk to friends or contacts during any live programme using a conference call and simultaneous chat system.

To access the service, the subscriber will need an integrated microphone-equipped camera to enjoy on a TV screen, tablet or smartphone, and interact with all available content on Movistar+, from a football or tennis match, to a TV show or a cinema gathering, among many others.

The social conversation, in the format the user chooses – text, chat or voice and image through video conferencing – will appear on the TV screen in real time at the same time as the TV content being broadcast.

Telefonica aims to extend the service to all its pay-TV platforms in Latin America where it currently has 4.5 million pay-TV customers combined in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, through various technology platforms. Countries to which seven other new markets will be added gradually: Ecuador, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
With these new launches and investment in differentiated content, Telefónica will consolidate its leadership in the region with its HD content offering, a market which recorded a growth of 140 per cent in 2015. It also plans to increase its proposed OTT multi-screen services with quality content and will promote the development of hybrid services that enable users to enjoy the best content either through linear or on-demand channels.
For the company, the move represents a great breakthough as it goes beyond the simply live-tweeting a TV show with the mobile.

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