Fox News rolls out an iPad app
A little over a year ago, Fox News debuted an iPhone app, and today the cable news network premieres on the iPad. Like the iPhone app, the iPad app is free. The app features two primary horizontal panes, one with self-scrolling “happening now” stories, another that toggles between top stories, Fox News programs, favorites and [...]
Under hack attack, PBS Newshour falls back on Tumblr
PBS suffered a hacking attack Monday that included intruders posting inaccurate information to some of its news sites. The attack affected the websites for NewsHour, Frontline and PBS. In response, PBS Newshour took to its Tumblog to publish transcripts and videos from Monday’s broadcast. We talked with Teresa Gorman, the social media production assistant for [...]
Anchor produces quick ‘Newsburst’ social media newscast
During a commercial break on WTMJ’s morning newscast, anchor Vince Vitrano shoots “Newsburst,” a quick, informal video newscast he shares on social media. “I wanted to have a little more fun with it out on our news set, and include my co-anchor Susan Kim,” Vitrano explains. “I shoot and edit (a very limited edit) the [...]
Tweet briefs: Twitter pics, PBS, YouTube, Hulu
A few recent social media and TV headlines from @lostremote: – Is Twitter working on its own photo service? TechCrunch thinks so – PBS uses social media to debunk fake story hacked onto site – YouTube counting on former Netflix exec to help it turn a profit – News Corp. wants to run more ads [...]
After Oprah, WSB-TV taps social media for 4 p.m. show
The day after Oprah bid farewell from local TV stations across America, WSB-TV in Atlanta launched a 4 p.m. newscast to replace her. With the launch of the new show, Channel 2 at 4 p.m., WSB tapped Twitter and Facebook to invite people to participate. WSB staff started the day before Thursday’s launch by posing [...]
WESH TV’s tweets from the bench at Casey Anthony trial
This is a guest post from Kimberly Wilson, who founded Social News Desk, a company that specializes in social media solutions for newsrooms. You’ll find her on Twitter @kimberly_wilson. $h*! My Dad Says is out, and what @JudgePerrySays is in. The Twitter feed turned CBS Sitcom, $h*! My Dad Says got the ax earlier this [...]
The most-watched TV shows on Comcast Xfinity
Comcast says it recently surpassed 20 billion views of its On Demand movies, TV shows, music videos and sports clips. For perspective, Comcast says that’s twice as many as the total number of app downloads by all iPhone, iPad, and iPod customers worldwide. So what’s the most-viewed On Demand clip ever? The very funny movie, [...]
NBC Nightly News debuts an iPad app
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams rolled out its first iPad app this week, just in time for Williams’ reporting from the tornado devastation in Joplin, Missouri. Organized by day and topics, users can browse video clips or watch the entire broadcast. Leading up to the day’s show, producers post “Nightly News extras” — additional [...]
Spoiler! Social sites predict ‘Idol’ results yet again
Updated: Like they’ve done for several weeks now, two social sites have accurately predicted the results of American Idol. Tonight, they correctly predicted that Scotty McCreery would walk away the winner. We first wrote about this phenomenon nearly a month ago, and week after week, we’ve watched as Yap.tv and Likester predicted which contestant would [...]
Facebook’s Zuckerberg: TV is next social frontier
Speaking at the EG8 technology forum in Paris, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that TV, music and books are the next “media experiences” that will be revolutionized by social media. “I hope we can play a part in enabling those new companies to get built, and companies that are out there producing this great content [...]
Future of TV? ‘American Idol’ taps Facebook events
For several days leading up to this weeks two-episode season finale of American Idol, the show’s website encouraged fans to RSVP to the show on Facebook: As of this afternoon, 25,000 people RSVP’d for the event, some inviting their friends to attend, as well. It’s not the first TV show-as-event: NBC created a Facebook event [...]
The most socially ‘engaging’ TV networks
Yesterday we wrote about Bluefin Labs, which is comparing social media conversations against TV viewing in an effort to reinvent TV ratings around engagement. They ran an analysis for 2011 to date to come up with a top 10 list of the most “engaging” broadcast and cable TV networks: 1. FOX 2. ABC 3. MTV [...]
Tornado brings out community on KOMU’s Facebook page
With all the unbelievable weather over the past few weeks, we’ve seen TV stations like Alabama’s ABC 33/40 (story) and St. Louis’ KMOV (story) put Facebook to work as a community gathering place for tornado damage reports, requests for help, recovery efforts and words of encouragement. In the wake of the devastating tornado in Joplin, [...]
Bluefin Labs aims to reinvent TV ratings with social media
When the head of the Cognitive Machines group at MIT Media Lab says he’s linked TV viewing with social media, well, you read the press release. Deb Roy, who recently gave a compelling TED talk about “the birth of the word,” teamed up with colleague Michael Fleischman to turn their research into a company called [...]
USA Network rolls out second screen experience
After testing a real-time experience with Psych and Burn Notice over the last few months, USA Network has rolled out its “Chatter” viewing companion for nine of its TV series. Viewers can connect with other viewers — and in some cases, actors and producers from the show — while the show is airing. The Chatter [...]
Samsung hits 5 million TV app downloads
While still a modest number, downloads of Samsung’s TV apps are accelerating. Samsung crossed the 2 million mark in late January, and today it announced it hit 5 million — 100,000 app downloads every four days. Samsung says more than 550 apps are available for Samsung TVs and selected Blu-ray players.
The most popular app? YouTube. Also in the top ten: Google Maps, Accuweather, Vimeo, Texas Hold ‘Em, Blockbuster, Daily Motion and USA Today.
“The success of our developers and the rate at which our downloads have increased are evidence that this new medium of apps designed specifically for the television experience is taking hold in the consumer living room,” said Samsung VP Kevin Kyungshik Lee in a press release. “These apps are one of the cornerstones of the overall Smart TV experience and they will continue to grow both in number and the diversity of experiences.”
Meanwhile, Google announced earlier this month that its rolling out Android TV apps for Google TV devices this summer.
Click through below to see a Samsung infographic on its TV apps…
Ashton Kutcher rolls out his own Twitter app
The new star of CBS’ Two and a Half Men has just unveiled his own Twitter app. That’s right, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) is the first to roll out a branded desktop app from Ubermedia, which he calls A Plus. He’ll be demoing it Tuesday morning at TechCrunch Disrupt. This is the first desktop app of [...]
Briefs: Twitter+Tweetdeck, TiVo+Hulu, Facebook
A few recent stories from @lostremote worth linking here: – Twitter buys Tweetdeck for $40 million, reports CNN – Hulu Plus rolls out on TiVo Premiere, bringing more web TV to the masses – How Facebook says “likes” and social plugins help publishers Also, fan us on Facebook or get our stories in a daily [...]
NBC stations reach out to non-profit news sites
When regulators gave the green light to the Comcast-NBC deal earlier this year, the two companies made a commitment to collaborate with local non-profit news organizations. The idea stemmed from KNSD’s relationship with Voice of San Diego, and today NBC announced it’s opening the application process to find at least four more non-profit partners in [...]
‘Second screen’ ad network syncs with TV commercials
As more people watch TV along with their tablets, phones and laptops, the opportunity to monetize the second screen is growing fast. A new company is creating a network of second screen advertisements that appear while TV commercials air. “We’re working on being the DoubleClick essentially of the second screen and TV companion space,” explains [...]
