MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Disney/ABC Television Group and media research company Nielsen have announced the debut of ABC‘s My Generation Sync iPad App on the App Store.
This app aims to enhance the experience of watching the show on TV by providing synchronised interactive content and social media functionality on the iPad.
Released one week in advance of the 23 September premiere of the drama, the app is built on Nielsen‘s Media-Sync Platform which allows mobile apps to automatically detect and synchronize with TV programming using audio watermarks.
ABC‘s My Generation Sync app for iPad allows fans of the new ABC series to unlock synchronized content and features, as well as share with other viewers of the programme through their social networks.
Disney/ABC Television Group executive VP, digital media Albert Cheng says, "In the ever-evolving television landscape, we are constantly looking to create immersive viewing experiences around our shows. Together with Nielsen, we‘ve created a sync-to-broadcast app that appeals to both fans and advertisers, and holds an array of possibilities for deeper engagement with our content and our advertisers‘ brands."
Diosney says that the app follows the recently released ABC Family Chatterbox app and The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens enhanced eBook. DATG was the first to bring full episode video to the iTunes store and just this past April, DATG delivered ad-supported video to iPad via the acclaimed ABC Player App.
The app has proven to be a tremendous success with over 900,000 downloads and more than 8 million episodes started. Additionally, DATG launched an ABC News App in July 2010 that has to date been downloaded more than 420,000 times.
iPad users who download ABC‘s My Generation Sync App will be able to automatically synchronise to any episode (live or time-shifted) of the series and access exclusive interactive content produced by ABC as a companion to that specific point in the episode.
Companion content will include polls, trivia, behind-the-scenes insights, production details and social networking features. The application will also allow consumers to interact with companion messages from sponsors of "My Generation."
Nielsen‘s Media-Sync Platform is an application development and operations environment that allows TV content producers and broadcasters to deploy sync-to-broadcast mobile apps in a rapid and scalable manner. Media-Sync relies on audio watermarks that are inserted into nearly every TV programme in the US to support Nielsen‘s industry standard TV audience ratings service.
While still inaudible to the human ear, the latest generation of watermarks can be detected and decoded through the microphone of mobile devices in a normal living room setting. The Media-Sync Platform is a product of Nielsen‘s joint venture with Digimarc Corporation, a leading provider of media identification solutions.
Nielsen executive VP, strategy and business development Sid Gorham says, "The Media-Sync Platform was born out of Nielsen‘s continuous investment in leading-edge audience measurement technologies and we believe it paves the way to fundamentally change the way consumers interact with TV programs and TV advertisements. We are thrilled to collaborate with the innovative team at Disney/ABC to develop the first Media-Sync app and look forward to a broader industry wide launch in early 2011."
