A new personalized TV guide, already on GetGlue’s iPad and Web versions, is part of its updated iPhone app (just out in the App Store; it will hit the Google Play store for Android in coming weeks). The service has special events tied to Sunday’s Grammys, as well as the Feb. 24 Academy Awards and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March.
The New York-based tech start-up, which released its free iPhone app in June 2010, has seen users grow to 4 million. It has partnered with 75 major networks and most major Hollywood studios and distributors. Founder Alex Iskold says GetGlue’s mission is to transform the “water cooler that we have been using to discuss television in person.”
GetGlue emerged early on in the so-called second-screen phenomenon, in which TV viewers simultaneously interact with friends on smartphones and tablets. Now, nearly half the U.S. population uses social media while watching TV, according to research firm InSites Consulting.
“You don’t want to miss the show that everyone will talk about the next day, but you can’t afford to miss the latest hilarious status update or comment of your friend, either,” says InSite’s co-founder Joeri Van den Bergh, author of How Cool Brands Stay Hot: Branding to Generation Y.
GetGlue users check in when they’re watching a certain TV show, movie or sports event (gone are previous check-in options allowing books, video games and topics such as coffee). Within the GetGlue app, viewers of Downton Abbey or the Super Bowl, for example, can chat about the broadcast. “It kind of opens up this community conversation, where you are able to watch together,” says longtime user Greg Sahadachny, 30, of Silver Spring, Md. The app also allows you to post your check-ins on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
As a reward, when you check in during the real-time broadcast, you might get a virtual sticker for that event, be it a football game, TV episode or movie opening. When users have checked in enough times, they can ask GetGlue to send them real-world stickers of their achievements. “I try to get every sticker for my favorite shows,” says Jenna Vento, 22, a student at the University of Georgia who is partial to USA Network’s Psych.
The iPhone update
For the Grammys, GetGlue is working with The Recording Academy for special stickers and prizes, including two tickets to next year’s Grammys. Turner Sports and GetGlue plan a series of March Madness stickers.
The company is teaming with ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences show website (Oscar.go.com) for promotions during the Feb. 24 broadcast. You can get stickers for nominated films.
That synergy helps GetGlue stand out in the social-TV market, says Natan Edelsburg, who tracks the category on news site LostRemote.com. “Social platforms are now the glue that makes TV grow, and vice versa,” he says.
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