Smart Screen Exclusive
Syfy Partners with Watchwith for LG Smart TVs
Story Highlights
By Chris Tribbey
During the heyday of physical disc, part of the reason it was so popular was the addition of bonus content. And though streaming, OTT, VOD and digital sellthrough are becoming bigger by the day, adding bonus content to movies and TV shows has been a successful marketing feature – but now it’s a way to more engaging stories on the biggest screen in the house.
San Francisco-based Watchwith is aiming to change that. On June 17, the company announced that NBCUniversal’s Syfy channel is now using Watchwith Televised tool to include in-program content for broadcasts of the original series ‘Defiance,’ offering perfectly timed bonus features as an interactive overlay on the LG Smart TVs.
Using the Syfy Sync digital offering, LG Smart TV owners watching the Friday broadcasts of ‘Defiance’ can use their TV remote to learn more about the show’s back-story and characters, participate in audience polls and more without interrupting the program.
Zane Vella, CEO of Watchwith, said it’s an important milestone for his company and for content owners.
Watchwith has been working on the tool for years, and finally saw it go live with the June 12 broadcast of ‘Defiance.’
“How as a content owner are you going to differentiate yourself and offer added value to your product after the disc window?” he said.
“It’s a great user experience, especially for a show like ‘Defiance,’ and the Syfy Sync feature now makes the show more attractive for both first-time viewers and long-time fans.”
The LG Smart TV platforms uses automatic content recognition from Cognitive Networks to identify the specific episode of ‘Defiance,’ launching the Watchwith Televised HTML5 application to offer the bonus content.
And not only does the feature work for live broadcasts, it also works with VOD, Vella pointed out.
“Watchwith has been a key partner in our Syfy Sync product development from the beginning. We’re happy to be working with them to bring it to yet another platform,” said Matthew Chiavelli, VP of digital media and strategy for Syfy.
For more details about Watchwith Televised, visit watchwith.com/televised.
For more details about Syfy Sync, visit ssyfy.com/apps/syfy-sync. For a preview of the ‘Defiance’ Watchwith-enabled bonus experience, click here.
