Still think that TV and radio are not being changed by social media?

I still have conversations with people who think that traditional media such as TV and radio are not being disrupted by social media. My contention is that, increasingly, and particularly in the case of radio, people are consuming media via apps on mobile devices, and that this means that they see TV and radio as one of many apps.

And here is a little illustration. Earlier today, the BBC cricket correspondent, Jonathan Agnew, was surprised to find that, as he attempted to hand over to a report on the Lancashire v. Durham County Championship match, he was interrupted by colleague Simon Mann, to be told that there had been a change of plan, and that there was now to be a feature celebrating “Aggers'” 300th Test Match as a commentator, and 25 years as Cricket Correspondent. As the clips of his commentating highlights faded out, Sir Michael Parkinson then took to the airwaves to begin an interview with him.

What made this different was that, anyone who had “liked” BBC Test Match Special’s Facebook Page would have been let into the secret before Aggers, as Sir Michael’s entry into the Engineering Room was being live streamed via Facebook Live with a commentary by a member of the team. So, while radio listeners were hearing Aggers carrying on on air, oblivious, Facebook users knew he was about to be knocked out of his stride.

What this means to me is that “broadcasting” is no longer linear. While the backroom scenes being streamed via Facebook were not officially part of the programme, they were a vital piece of information about what came next. And, as the Facebook Live camera moved into the actual commentary box, there was then a choice for anyone with a smart mobile device, either to continue just listening to the interview, or to switch to Facebook and see the interview with pictures. Thus the programme was available, on mobile devices, either via the BBC iPlayer Radio app (or others such as Tunein), or via Facebook. It’s a question of switching apps.

I know it’s a long way off, but we are heading closer to the day when mainstream broadcasting is simply one of many apps to chose from.