In living rooms across the country, consumers are not watching just one screen, nor are they engaging with content in just one way as marketers and brands create increasingly innovative campaigns to keep consumers' eyes and ears on products.

Social media is now the acknowledged ‘elephant in the room’ as consumers increasingly engage in social activities while tuning into more traditional forms of content. According to Nielson's 2012 State of the Media report, nearly 41 percent of tablet owners and 38 percent of smartphone owners use the devices while watching television. 

While some broadcasts like the Oscars and ABC's The Bachelor benefit from such a social tie-in, most brands and advertisers are trying to figure out how to better leverage multiple media channels to build viewership and engagement without losing ground elsewhere. This season, The Bachelor incorporated live Twitter feeds into its broadcast. "I think it is fair to say that the integration of social media into live broadcasting is still in its infancy," Tim Bock, VP of production, alternative series and specials ABC told Mashable. "There are other entities utilizing these technologies on a show by show basis. But we at ABC are looking at the bigger picture of large scale implementation of audience interaction capabilities.”Continue reading...

Forget those bi-planes flying around college-football stadiums trailing 50-foot banners that say, "Courtney, Will You Marry Me?" Never has a marriage proposal been better-telegraphed than the one that's to come in the final episode of this season's The Bachelor on ABC tonight.

But throughout all the recent speculation about what Ben Flajnik will or won't do in the season's finale, and what comes after that for him and his tenuosly betrothed, the bachelor has been keeping a nurturing eye on another brand besides ABC's. The "other woman" in this case is the real love of his life: his co-owned vineyard and vino brand, Envolve. That's Flajnik holding the wine bottle, above.Continue reading...

Not even the semi-catatonic ramblings of the second man on the Moon were enough to dampen viewer enthusiasm for Dancing with the Stars in Monday night’s premiere showing of the long-running ABC hit reality program. The show debuted with its best opening-night viewership numbers ever, with a Nielsen-preliminary 23.9 million viewers.

In the opener, it immediately seemed ill advised to include 80-year-old former astronaut Buzz Aldrin among the stars, as he could barely move on the dance floor and his few comments were nearly unintelligible. Dancing’s last octogenarian, Cloris Leachman, at least was an actress with stage presence and a sharp wit.

But the other elements that ABC introduced and tweaked for this 10th season of Dancing all seemed to work nicely, improving the show – and portending continued robust ratings when it returns next week.Continue reading...

Microsoft's MSN approaches MySpace for music collaboration. [All Things D]

Detail of Google's new Android 2.0 features released this week. [Mashable]

Golden touch: The Obama family's favorite things sell well. [Daily Finance]

"The Bachelor" will run the NYC Marathon in a pair of Rockport dress shoes. [BrandFreak]