ABC’s New iPad App Syncs with TV for Interactive Programming

The iPad is an entertainment device on its own, but it’s also proving to be a perfect second screen companion to the television watching experience. Disney and ABC are looking to capitalize on this potential with the release of a new iPad app that provides broadcast viewers with synchronized interactive content as they watch.

The app in question goes by the name of ABC’s My Generation Sync [iTunes link]. The first of a kind app is designed to push exclusive content around the new show My Generation (premiering next week on ABC) to TV watchers also toying around with their iPad in real time.

The My Generation iPad experience will center around engaging viewers with questions, facts and tidbits about show characters, polls and quizzes. The synchronization works regardless of whether or not the viewer tunes in live or watches a show recording at a later time.

Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform powers the real-time synchronization between TV and iPad. Nielsen’s technology is capable of automatically detecting and synchronizing with TV programming by picking up the audio from your television set — if you can hear the audio, the app can too. A click of the “Sync With Show” button will prompt the app to listen for 10 seconds and then offer up iPad content synced with show content. Disney and ABC are the first to use Nielsen’s platform, but we suspect that this technology will become integrated into a number of entertainment-focused applications moving forward.

[via mashable]

Posted in: Apple