For the past decade, the sports media industry has been obsessed with the "second screen." The thesis was straightforward: viewers watch the game on their TV while engaging with companion content — stats, social media, betting, fantasy — on their phone or tablet. Broadcasters invested millions in companion apps. Networks promoted QR codes during commercial breaks. Entire product teams were built around the assumption that the future of sports engagement was multi-screen.

That thesis is failing. And the data tells us why.

Every time you ask a viewer to pick up their phone, open an app, or scan a QR code, you're asking them to leave the viewing experience. The conversion rate on QR codes displayed during live broadcasts is consistently in the low single digits. Companion app downloads spike during launch week and flatline within months. Second-screen engagement competes with texting, social media, and every other notification on the viewer's phone.

The alternative — single-screen interactivity, where engagement features are embedded directly in the video stream as transparent overlays — is proving dramatically more effective. This guide examines why the second screen failed to deliver on its promise, how single-screen interactivity works, and why the shift from multi-screen to single-screen engagement is reshaping live sports streaming.

The Second Screen Promise vs. Reality

The second screen concept emerged in the early 2010s when smartphone penetration crossed critical mass and broadcasters realized that viewers were already dividing attention between their TV and their phone. Rather than fighting this behavior, the industry tried to harness it — building companion apps that synchronized with the broadcast to deliver stats, polls, social feeds, and interactive features.

The logic made sense on paper: the TV handles the video, the phone handles everything else. But in practice, the model suffered from fundamental friction problems.

App download friction. Before any engagement can happen, the viewer needs to download a companion app. App store conversion rates for sports companion apps are notoriously low, and retention is even worse. Most companion apps see 70-80% of their user base become inactive within 30 days of download.

Synchronization challenges. Keeping a companion app in sync with a live broadcast is technically difficult. Latency differences between the broadcast feed and the app's data feed mean that a "real-time" stat on the phone might be 5-30 seconds behind or ahead of what's on screen. This asynchrony breaks the illusion of a unified experience.

Attention fragmentation. The phone is the most competitive screen in a viewer's life. The moment they pick it up to engage with a companion app, they're one notification away from switching to Instagram, a text message, or a betting app. The companion app doesn't have a captive audience — it's competing with everything else the phone does.

QR code limitations. QR codes became the default bridge between the TV screen and the phone. But the conversion funnel is brutal: see the QR code on screen, pick up your phone, open the camera, scan the code, wait for the page to load, engage with the content. Each step loses a significant percentage of the audience. Industry data suggests that QR code scan rates during live broadcasts are typically 1-3% of the viewing audience.

The Single-Screen Alternative

Single-screen interactivity eliminates the multi-screen friction by embedding all interactive elements directly into the video stream. The viewer never needs to pick up a second device. Everything happens on the same screen they're already watching.

In practice, this means transparent overlays rendered on top of the video player that allow viewers to engage with predictions, polls, stats, betting odds, shopping features, and social interactions without interrupting the broadcast. The video continues playing at full quality while the interactive layer sits on top of it, appearing and disappearing based on game events, viewer preferences, and advertiser requirements.

How It Works Technically

The single-screen approach requires an overlay SDK — a software development kit that integrates with the streaming platform's video player to render interactive elements on a transparent layer above the video. The SDK is independent of the host app's technology stack, meaning it can integrate with any video player without requiring a rebuild of the underlying application.

The overlay SDK communicates with a real-time event engine that processes live game data and triggers interactive content based on game state. When a timeout is called, the event engine activates a prediction prompt. When a goal is scored, it surfaces relevant stats. When a commercial break begins, it can display a shoppable overlay. All of this happens within the same screen, on the same device, with zero friction.

On connected TV (CTV), where there is no touch interface, the overlay supports remote-control navigation — viewers can interact using directional buttons and a select key. On mobile devices, the overlay supports touch interaction. On web, it supports mouse and keyboard. The experience adapts to the device without requiring a separate app.

The Engagement Difference

The engagement metrics for single-screen interactivity versus companion apps are striking. Single-screen features see participation rates 5-10x higher than companion app equivalents because the friction of engagement drops to essentially zero. The viewer doesn't download anything, doesn't pick up another device, and doesn't leave the content. They see an interactive element, engage with it, and continue watching.

This is the same principle that makes Instagram Stories polls so effective — the engagement mechanism is embedded in the content the user is already consuming. The barrier to participation is a single tap.

The CTV Inflection Point

The shift from second-screen to single-screen is particularly important because of the rapid growth of CTV (connected TV) as the primary live sports viewing platform. CTV presents a unique challenge for the second-screen model: the viewer is sitting on a couch with a remote control, and asking them to pull out a phone to scan a QR code is an even higher-friction request than it is for a mobile viewer.

CTV viewers are the most valuable audience in streaming advertising, commanding the highest CPMs. They're also the audience most poorly served by second-screen engagement strategies. Single-screen overlays rendered directly on the CTV display solve this problem — interactive elements appear on the big screen, navigated with the remote, with no phone required.

The IAB Tech Lab's CTV Ad Portfolio standards (2025-2026) formalize overlay, pause ad, and squeezeback formats for CTV, providing standardized specifications that make single-screen interactivity programmatically tradeable. This standardization is accelerating the shift because it gives advertisers confidence that interactive CTV formats are scalable and measurable.

What Single-Screen Interactivity Enables

In-Stream Predictions Without a Companion App

Viewers see a prediction prompt during a timeout — "Will the Warriors score first after the break?" — and respond with a single tap (mobile) or remote click (CTV). Their prediction is recorded, results are displayed when the outcome resolves, and leaderboards update in real time. The entire experience happens within the video player.

Live Odds and Betting Integration Without Leaving the Stream

Live odds displays, bet slip builders, and sportsbook handoff prompts render as overlays within the stream. The viewer can browse odds, build a bet slip, and transfer to a licensed sportsbook app to complete the transaction — all triggered by a single interaction on the same screen.

Shoppable Moments Without QR Codes

When a player scores wearing a specific brand of shoes, an overlay displays the product with a purchase prompt. On mobile, the viewer taps to add to cart. On CTV, the viewer uses the remote to navigate to a purchase flow or sends the product to their phone via a linked account. No QR code, no companion app, no friction.

Social Features Without Switching Apps

Watch party management, group chat, reactions, and shared predictions all render within the video player. Viewers can communicate with friends, share predictions, and celebrate (or commiserate) without leaving the stream for Discord, iMessage, or Twitter.

Real-Time Stats Without a Stats App

Contextual statistics — player performance, team trends, historical matchup data — surface as overlays triggered by game events. A viewer doesn't need ESPN, StatMuse, or a browser tab. The relevant stat appears at the relevant moment, on the same screen.

The Advertising Implications

Single-screen interactivity doesn't just improve fan engagement — it creates dramatically better advertising surfaces.

Higher attention. Because the viewer's eyes never leave the screen, interactive ad formats (sponsored predictions, branded overlays, shoppable moments) receive 100% viewable attention. There's no split between TV and phone.

Native engagement. Interactive ad formats that mirror the fan engagement features (a sponsored prediction prompt that looks like an organic prediction prompt) feel native rather than interruptive. This drives higher engagement rates and more positive brand associations.

Measurable interaction. Every tap, click, and interaction on a single-screen overlay is trackable and attributable. Advertisers get precise engagement metrics — not just "was the ad viewable" but "did the viewer interact, how long, and what did they do next."

Simplified attribution. When the engagement and the ad exposure happen on the same device and the same screen, attribution becomes dramatically simpler than a multi-screen model where the ad is on the TV but the conversion happens on the phone.

The Transition

The shift from second-screen to single-screen doesn't mean companion apps disappear entirely. Some viewers will always want dedicated stat experiences or deep betting interfaces that warrant a full-screen phone app. But the primary engagement layer — the predictions, polls, social features, and contextual information that the majority of viewers want — is moving onto the main screen.

For streaming platforms, the question is whether their technology stack supports transparent overlay rendering across all devices. For content creators and rights holders, the question is whether their distribution partners can deliver the single-screen experience that maximizes the engagement and monetization potential of their content. And for advertisers, the question is whether they're buying inventory on platforms where viewers are actually paying attention — or platforms where attention is leaking to a second screen.

The QR code had a good run. But asking viewers to leave the stream was always a compromise, not a solution. Single-screen interactivity is the solution.