ABC iPad App Syncs With TV Shows, Provides Interaction (video)
A marketer’s dream, especially those in TV, is to have the ability to poll or question those watching a show. Doing such would determine their audience’s level of engagement, gauge other marketing opportunities and ultimately be able to better target them with more relevant ads.
Well, that dream is no more. ABC has developed an app specifically for the show “My Generation”. Using something called “Media-Sync Technology”, the app is able to determine which episode and what scene you’re watching. It does this by literally listening to the TV show’s audio.
The app will then prompt you with polls and quizzes that supposedly let’s you “participate in real time” in the show. You can also delve into the characters and get behind the scenes info.
Cool idea, but is this information overload? I have trouble surfing the net and watching TV, let alone taking a quiz or read in depth info about a character.
While the actual point of the app might be flawed the idea isn’t. Just think of the opportunities for commercial integration. Aside from targeting with better commercials, perhaps an app that would run in the background of your iPad and provide pop up links to purchase a product when a spot airs – hopefully they’d incentivize with a discount.
Christen Costa
