There's A Turf War Between The Major Social Networks Over Second Screen Real Estate

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Facebook And Twitter Battle For The Second Screen (New York Times)
It's become an almost unconscious habit for TV watchers to post reaction statuses, look up information, or like pages on their mobile devices while watching a program on the big screen.

And no one is benefiting more from this than the major social networks. Facebook and Twitter have effectively disrupted show-themed apps and standalone social TV apps by default. Those apps are just not as convenient for existing Facebook and Twitter users and they generate much less buzz.

Now, Facebook and Twitter are attempting to outdo each other as the top digital water cooler for primetime TV. Twitter has been in the lead for some time, but Facebook is attempting to woo advertisers by promoting its massive user reach and its new video ad platform.

In the latest battle, Twitter data revealed by Nielsen showed that 600,000 Twitter users tweeted or retweeted 1.2 million messages in the 10 hours surrounding last week's Breaking Bad finale (which hauled in over 10 million viewers). Facebook claims 3 million people posted, commented, or liked content related to the show in a 24 hour window. For further insight, refer to the recent BII report, "Why This TV Season Will Confirm Mobile's Rise As A Complementary Second Screen." Read >

In other news...

Kevin Packingham, chief product officer at Samsung, has left the company for undisclosed reasons. Packingham helped release Samsung's popular Galaxy S III on all the major U.S. carriers. (New York Times)

Amazon is working quickly to release its first set-top box for the holiday season. It will compete in the same category as Apple TV and Roku. (Wall Street Journal)

Instagram launched in-feed video and image ads to users in the U.S. (TechCrunch)

Apple has acquired personal assistant app Cue for over $40 million. (TechCrunch)

Snapchat is rolling out "Stories," a new feature that will allow users to send a rolling 24-hour compilation of picture messages sent that day. It's a way to keep users' eyes on mobile devices and it also directly targets Facebook's News Feed product. (The Verge)

Prominent eCommerce startup Fab.com will cut about 20% of its total workforce in an effort to boost its bottom line. (Reuters)