First App Built on Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform – Using Audio Watermarks to Synchronize Mobile Devices to TV Programming
Los Angeles and New York, September 16, 2010 – Disney/ABC Television Group and The Nielsen Company today announced the debut of ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App on the App Store, a first-of-its-kind app that enhances the experience of watching “My Generation” on TV by providing synchronized interactive content and social media functionality on the iPad.
9월 23일 ABC의 새 프라임타임 드라마 '마이 제너레이션' 방영 일주일 전에 출시된 이 혁신적인 앱은 오디오 워터마크를 사용하여 모바일 앱이 TV 프로그램을 자동으로 감지하고 동기화할 수 있는 닐슨의 미디어 싱크 플랫폼에 기반하고 있습니다. ABC의 iPad용 '마이 제너레이션' 동기화 앱을 통해 새로운 ABC 시리즈의 팬들은 동기화된 콘텐츠와 기능을 잠금 해제하고 소셜 네트워크를 통해 프로그램의 다른 시청자들과 실시간으로 소통할 수 있습니다.
"끊임없이 진화하는 텔레비전 환경에서 우리는 끊임없이 몰입도 높은 시청 경험을 제공하기 위해 노력하고 있습니다."라고 Disney/ABC 텔레비전 그룹의 디지털 미디어 담당 수석 부사장인 Albert Cheng은 말합니다. "닐슨과 함께 우리는 팬과 광고주 모두에게 어필할 수 있는 동기화 방송 앱을 만들었으며, 콘텐츠와 광고주 브랜드에 더 깊이 관여할 수 있는 다양한 가능성을 제시합니다."
iPad users who download ABC’s “My Generation” Sync App will be able to automatically synchronize 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 promotions from sponsors of “My Generation.”
Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform is a complete 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 program 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.
“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,” says Sid Gorham, Nielsen’s EVP, Strategy and Business Development. “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.”
Premiering Thursday, September 23, (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT), ABC’s new scripted drama, “My Generation,” follows the personal stories of nine friends. The promises they thought their futures held, as well as how far they’ve come and just how they got here are all told through the camera of a documentary film crew. “My Generation” stars Michael Stahl David as Steven, Jaime King as Jacqueline, Kelli Garner as Dawn, Keir O’Donnell as Kenneth, Mehcad Brooks as Rolly, Julian Morris as Anders, Daniella Alonso as Brenda, Anne Son as Caroline, Sebastian Sozzi as Falcon and Elizabeth Keener as the filmmaker. Based on a Swedish format entitled “On God’s Highway,” “My Generation” was created and written by Noah Hawley (“The Unusuals,” “Bones”), who is also an executive producer along with Warren Littlefield, Henrik Bastin, Peter Magnusson and Martin Persson. Craig Gillespie directed the pilot. The project is from ABC Studios.
ABC’s new “My Generation” Sync App is the latest example of innovation from the Disney/ABC Television Group (DATG), and 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 has created an ABC News App that has to date been downloaded more than 420,000 times.
ABC’s My Generation Sync App is available from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. For a video demo of ABC’s “My Generation” Sync app, visit https://abc.go.com/shows/my-generation/ipad.
About Disney/ABC Television Group
The Disney/ABC Television Group is composed of The Walt Disney Company’s (NYSE: DIS) global entertainment and news television properties, including the ABC Television Network, ABC Studios, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family and SOAPnet, as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The Radio Disney Network, Hyperion publishing, and the Company’s equity interest in A&E Television Networks round out the Group’s portfolio of media businesses.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related assets. The privately held company has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA.
About DIGIMARC
Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ:DMRC), based in Beaverton, Oregon, is a leading innovator and provider of enabling technologies that create digital identities for all forms of media and many everyday objects. The embedded digital IDs are imperceptible to humans, but not to computers, networks and devices like mobile phones, which can now use cameras and microphones as sensory inputs to “see, hear and understand” the world around them within the context of their environment. Digimarc has built an extensive intellectual property portfolio with patents in digital watermarking, content identification and management, media and object discovery to enable ubiquitous computing, and related technologies. Digimarc develops solutions, licenses its intellectual property, and provides development services to business partners across a range of industries.
