MUMBAI: The total Social TV market is expected to grow from $151.14 billion in 2012 to $256.44 billion by 2017 with a CAGR of 11.2 per cent, according to a research report Social TV Market: Global Advancements Forecasts & Analysis (2012 - 2017) published by MarketsandMarkets.

Europe commanded the largest share of the Social TV market revenue in 2012 at $55.48 billion and is expected to reach $77.74 billion by 2017, at a CAGR of seven per cent from 2012 to 2017.

Internet and social networking acts as a medium for the convergence of the social layer with television and to enable viewers to communicate electronically with their friends watching the same program, the report says.

Television viewers are able to personalise the television experience by analyzing the various statistics provided by Social TV. Viewers are provided with a wide variety of choices from content discovery applications, check-in applications, and social programming application.

Many social television tools and applications have given a customised television experience based on the viewer‘s choice of interest. Many companies have developed second screen applications to engage more viewers and to increase the targeted audience. It also notes that the future for television is social through integration of social interaction on the television. Broadcasters are developing and enriching social TV integration; they are targeting the tune-in customer, engagement and their loyalty to boost the rating and they are also discovering the social TV challenges.