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Today, the dynamic between low-budget producer and content-hungry distributor has flipped. Netflix doesn’t just stream films—it wills them into existence. The composition of contemporary B movies is dictated by middlemen like Netflix and Redbox, international direct-to-DVD distributors, and cable networks like Syfy, all of which pad their offerings with Asylum originals tailored to their needs.

The nimble creative process is “cashing in on this shifting moment in film consumption between the demise of the video store and the rise of streaming,” says Davis.

Filtering in low-budget films with the high-budget versions “fuels this perception that there’s a wealth of new content.”

Significantly, 14% of consumers used their tablets to search for content and engage in social media directly related to the television program they were watching. 

The findings present an opportunity for broadcast and cable networks to interact with consumers much more readily and immediately than they have in the past,

Among devices, the PC/laptop is still the top device used for these “over-the-top” (OTT) services with 65% of respondents using them to watch video content (up from 59% last year). About a third (31%) said they did the same on a mobile phone (up from 24%), while 22% said they used a tablet (up from 14%). Tablets and PCs are the preferred devices to watch longer-form video (such as movies or TV shows), according to the survey. 

87% of consumers are splitting their attention between the TV and their laptops, smartphones and tablet computers. Here's the kicker: Although such distracted viewing is common, fewer people are using these second screens to interact with the applications designed specifically for the TV programs they're watching.

Although these so-called "companion" applications are popular with some viewers, they don't resonate with most consumers,

47% of viewers have used their portable devices to learn more about the TV shows or movies they're watching, or the actors appearing on screen. But they are turning to established sources, including IMDb, Wikipedia and social networks, for such information, NPD found.

Among the most common is shopping for a product seen in an ad, by 19.4% of TV watchers who engage in second-screen activities.

That’s behind only learning about an actor/actress (29.8%) and learning about the show/movie (23.1%). The researchers note that shopping for products is most prevalent among laptop users and consumers in the 35-49 age group, and that “converting viewers into impulse shoppers has big potential impact for advertisers.”

Not too far behind the top tier of activities is discussing a show on a social networking site, cited by 14.8% of respondents. That’s a figure worth watching closely – as social TV has the potential to increase engagement. A just-released neuroscience study from MEC and Channel Seven in Australia discovered that interacting with social media while watching TV drove a 9% increase in program engagement among study participants, and that second-screen interaction aided recall of specific elements of the broadcast.

Social network users are 27.3% more likely to say that the sites are important for making entertainment-related decisions than not (56% vs. 44%),

Twitter users are more likely than Facebook users to follow actors and actresses (41% vs. 32%), sports figures (25% vs. 17%), reality TV stars (23% vs. 16%), and journalists and reporters (15% vs. 9%). By contrast, Facebook members are more likely to follow companies and brands (49% vs. 37%), sports teams (30% vs. 22%), TV shows (49% vs. 30%), and movies (43% vs. 25%).

Roughly 4 in 5 respondents said they always or sometimes visit Facebook while watching TV, while 41% reported tweeting about the show they are watching. In fact, of those posting about TV shows, roughly three-quarters did so while watching programs live, and 51% said they post while watching to feel connected to others who might be watching.

MTV uses its Facebook presence as a kind of online promo aggregator – a buffet with bite-sized appetizers delivered from all over MTV’s extensive stable of blogs, niche websites, TV programming and movies.

More than two-thirds of smartphone and tablet users haven’t downloaded their pay-TV provider’s app, and nearly three-quarters never buy movies to watch from the VOD service.