Chapter 4

The Second Screen

Enhancing TV with Synched Content Experiences

Olen Weaver, age 37, started his career in his home state of Oklahoma as a sound engineer designing audio systems for major concerts across the country for over 19 years. After his son was born, Olen wanted to make sure he stayed close to home; so he turned another one of his passions, photography, into a full-fledged local business. When shooting photos as a hobby, Olen uses his Nikon D300 to photograph picturesque landscapes inspired by his childhood obsession for National Geographic. In contrast, his professional studio focuses on capturing people through portraits as well as candid moments from weddings and other events.

In June of 2010, Olen purchased an iPad despite his trepidation as to how useful a device it would be for him. Today, he cannot imagine life without it. His beloved tablet has become embedded in every aspect of his business, from invoicing and client bookings to sound level measurements and portfolio showcasing.

One day, while using The Weather Channel app to check his local forecast, Olen saw an advertisement for a new TWC show called From the Edge with Peter Lik. After watching a few preview video clips online, Olen became hooked on wanting to see more from the world-famous photographer and immediately set his DVR to record the TV series. Along the way, he discovered that The Weather Channel was also offering a free iPad app to act as a real-time synchronized “second screen” companion ...

Get Social TV: How Marketers Can Reach and Engage Audiences by Connecting Television to the Web, Social Media, and Mobile now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.