The Good, Bad & Ugly of the Second Screen

Yahoo's INTO Now

Ok full disclosure... in my paying job, during the past year I have worked with more and more companies that are involved in the Second Screen space. As a connoisseur (insert nerd) of all things tech, I've collected quite a few of them but in general my overall feeling is that most tend to lack intuitive UI's and frankly are just poorly thought out from a user’s perspective. So it brings me to ask, do they actually offer anything to the viewer? Well that's the question TV and movie critic Noel Murray recently explored for Grantland.  A self-professed second screen novice, Murray spent the month of February trying out various apps.  After using them to accompany his both live and pre-recorded viewing, Murray's general perspective was that they didn't really enhance his viewing experience as promised.  Read his story: 03/05 - The 'Second Screen': Is This App Really Necessary?

The new Fox Digital Syndication Network

Fox announced Tuesday that it is launching a syndication network that will allow outside second-screen TV app providers to use Fox's sync-to-broadcast experiences, which are currently only available in Fox Now apps. The new digital network is also designed to allow Fox to create, manage and syndicate content to smart TVs, connected TVs and television service providers looking to increase audience engagement. Most importantly, this is significant news to leading second-screen companies like: Shazam, Viggle, ConnecTV and NextGuide which will gain access Fox's social, behind-the-scenes and interactive content around Fox shows while synced to the broadcast.


According to Viggle's press release (linked at bottom), "Fox has some of the most loyal, invested fans on the planet, so we want them to have the richest, most immersive experience possible with our shows and our brand partners -- no matter which TV app or platform they use," said David Wertheimer, president, digital, Fox Broadcasting. "By syndicating the content we've built around our show broadcasts, we're extending the Fox experience to viewers across all digital platforms and providing our partners with new and valuable opportunities around our content." See More:
Viggle - 02/26 - FOX LAUNCHES NEW DIGITAL CONTENT SYNDICATION NETWORK or B&C - 02/26 - Fox to Launch Digital Content Syndication Network by Tim Baysinger