zeebox reborn as Beamly
April 14, 2014
Beamly (formerly zeebox) is launching on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web with what it describes as a new brand and a vibrant, exciting new app representing the state of the art of social television.
With the Beamly app, TV fans now have a single 24/7 destination where they can:
- Follow the shows and stars they love to get personalised news and social feeds – updated live
- Find and follow other fans to connect with around shared passions
- Chat and share in TV Rooms – Beamly’s social spaces for television, hosted by TV influencers, celebrities and passionate superfans
- Discover what to watch with Beamly’s super-smart personalised guide
- Interact live with their favourite shows via custom playalong games, contextual votes and more, all synched live to what’s on screen
“The rebrand to Beamly is a celebration of the huge development our app has been through since launching two years ago, originally as a simple programme guide and synch experience,” said Ernesto Schmitt, CEO and co-founder.
“The initial phase of social television and second screen was limited to apps providing a companion experience for audiences while watching TV. However, people’s emotional engagement with TV spans the whole day: they want to read up on stories about the shows and stars they love in the morning, discuss plotlines over the watercooler in the afternoon, and carefully plan what to watch in the evening – long before ever switching on the TV itself. While they watch, they want a great interactive experience that synchs with what’s on screen. And after the show is over, they want to chat and share socially with other fans,” said Schmitt. “Beamly for the first time brings together all of these touchpoints with TV in a single app, all day long.”
Anthony Rose, CTO and co-founder said the network had already seen a marked progression in the behaviours of users since gradually introducing its new social features over the past few months. “The social effect of users following other users, for instance, lifts frequency by nine times to over 21 visits per user per week, and usage to over 500 minutes per user per week – so we’re pretty excited. And since almost two-thirds of our users are now female, and the 16-24 age bracket is our core, the new Beamly brand captures the Zeitgeist of these millennials perfectly.”
To mark the launch, Beamly is welcoming on board over 100 TV and pop culture influencers who are hosting their own live, vibrant TV Rooms and profiles in the app. Across Grammy Award Winning Songwriter/Singer and reality star Kandi Burruss of Real Housewives of Atlanta fame and YouTube sensations such as Tyler Oakley, Sawyer Hartman and Kalel Cullen, Beamly users have the chance to connect and interact directly with TV Influencers that matter to them – while talent has the opportunity to express their own TV passions, while building followers and connecting with their fans in a ways not possible on other social platforms.
“What I like about Beamly is it allows me to connect with my viewers around TV shows that we’re passionate about anyway,” said Tyler Oakley, whose YouTube subscribers top four million. “It’s just another way for us to connect in a more intimate way.”
In the coming weeks, several more reality stars across hit shows will be joining Beamly, following fans and lighting up conversation. First to join is Kandi Burruss from Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta.
“I love the idea of being able to follow and connect with fans around our show and all the other shows I’m obsessed with,” explained Burruss. “You’ll definitely find me in the ‘Scandal’ TV Room and look out for some of my new wedding pics in the ‘Atlanta’ TV Room later this month!”
Existing partners such as NBCU and Viacom, as well as new TV network partners can also syndicate Beamly’s rich interactive capabilities. These include TV rooms for vibrant show-specific communities that fans can engage with on the .com page of a TV Network and a rich suite of gaming experiences that networks like Bravo and Oxygen are enabling.
Beamly is available free from the App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play for Android, on the web at http://beamly.com/ – and coming soon to Windows Phone.