But what do other industry professionals expect from Social TV in 2013? Will it be limited to advertisers or will content creators create more interactive experiences in this space?

Nick Adams, Head of digital development at Mindshare

Three things are coming together to create a perfect storm for social TV in 2013. 

  • Penetration of tablets will increase dramatically thanks to cheaper 7” versions
  • TV producers are developing programming where complementary second screen experiences are baked in to the overall concept
  • Viewers are increasingly voicing their opinions about programming on social networks

Expect to see broadcasters offering more opportunities for viewers to interact with and influence live programming via the second screen, and expect to see more collaboration between Twitter and broadcasters.  Media planners will start to cherry-pick TV spots for their social impact as much as for their reach.

Sean O’Neal, Global CMO, The Daily Mail Online

Although television studios have attempted to develop compelling second-screen experiences,  it is the online entertainment news publishers who perhaps have the greatest potential to capitalize on this opportunity.  

TV studios are good at producing content for TV.  Independent online publishers, however, can tap into deep editorial teams who develop content that compliments the television programming on a second screen in a unique way – in real-time, on the fly.

Mike Knowlton, Murmur

I expect to see a continued growth in Second Screen viewing, we’ll see a new move to better integration social activity into TV content. 

Right now second screen is disconnected from the show. Any attempts to integrate social functionality into video narrative have been trivial. I look for this integration to really blossom in 2013/2014.

Andrew Der, Digital Strategy and Innovation

Social TV is too intriguing of an opportunity to build a community around content and drive commerce at the same time. With multiple startups and apps operating in these spaces – community building (eg, TV Dinner,GetGlue, and Yap.TV) and commerce (Shazam, WiOffer, and Viggle) – I expect both content producers and advertisers to leverage these capabilities to engage more viewers and drive sales of the products being advertised both during commercials and within the TV shows themselves.

Sean W. Bohan, Co-Founder, Decahedralist Strategic Consulting

The user doesn’t call this “Social TV” – they call it their normal behavior. Apps that create more enhanced experiences (synching to the audio from the TV, timed with the show, etc.) will create new opportunities for sponsorship and revenue. 

Expect Networks and Shows to have competing apps as timeshifting/streaming continue to change how, where and when we watch (FOX owns the app for Sons of Anarchy  while the show is on the air, Producers own it when it is moved to DVD/Streaming).

Kunur Patel, brand strategist, Percolate

As the landscape for check-in apps for TV shows begins to consolidate, keep an eye on the major social platforms integration with networks, programming and especially talent.  Given that adoption of TV-only mobile apps like Viggle are still nascent, it’s the likes of Twitter and Facebook that will rule continue to social chatter about TV. 

Twitter especially has become the world’s real-time water cooler for major televised events. While its pages to collect all tweets around the Olympics and NASCAR drew cries that Twitter wants to be a media company, broadcasters especially will enter into cooperative relationships with the social network. 

If you’re looking for power plays, watch the celebs and actors using social media to corral their fans and drive live tune-in. Here’s where a starlet’s huge online following will soon translate into even bigger paychecks.