This is an important play in the social TV market for a few reasons. First, Loyalize has managed to ink a deal with a major network (which controls 42% of the viewing audience and 41% of advertising revenue) in Australia. Second, the technology makes possible for viewers to, “interact with all free-to-air primetime TV programs and major sporting events from Channel 7 and other networks,” meaning that Loyalize’s instant polling technology won’t be for just one show, but across a linear schedule.

Lastly, this partnership has poised the company to expand further across Australian linear TV. “Yahoo!7 has confirmed that the Loyalize platform will not be locked to the 7 Network,” the company said. “Yahoo!7 plans to expand to the other Australian television networks as early as February 2012,” they added.  

Loyalize CEO Todd Greene gave us an interview about the launch.

Lost Remote: How does the app work?

Todd Greene: Loyalize’s Social TV app is branded by Yahoo!7 in Australia as “Fango”. Fango gives TV watchers four new benefits:

• Interactive Experiences: Real-time interactive experiences with other viewers before, during, and after a show airs. These experiences include real-time polls, trivia, games like mood-o-meter, smacktalk, chat, and more.
• Show Sharing and Viewing Trends: A guide of what’s showing, what’s hot, and sharing their viewing habits with friends on Twitter and Facebook
• Awards: Users of Fango win both virtual awards like badges, points, and climb “loyalty levels” by achieving different objectives within the app. Yahoo!7 also is launching real, tangible awards based on activities performed while using the app.
• Related Content: Users of the app can find related videos, blogs, pictures, and lots of other content related to the show they are watching.

LR: What’s the social tv market like in Australia?

TG: Yahoo!7 is excited to be the first-to-market with a Social TV app launched by any content provider in the country. Australia is the world’s most competitive TV market, with a high percentage of the population watching a few hit shows, with many fewer channels than the USA. Seven Networks is the largest TV network, and owns 42% of the viewing audience and 41% of all advertising TV revenue. Australis is also the world’s most “social” country, with citizens spending more time online with social apps than any other country in the world. Finally, Australia has the 2nd highest penetration of smartphones worldwide (37%) and also a big growth in the tablet market. So, Australia represents the best country for rolling out Loyalize’s highly social “Audience Participation” platform.

LR: How does the partnership work?

TG: Yahoo!7 has licensed the Loyalize platform to use across every show broadcast in Australia, on every channel. Yahoo!7 also works as a strategic partner, helping with new product ideas and shares audience usage data and usability studies for helping Loyalize improve the product.

Plus: See more reviews of second-screen apps

ABC will also produce three new “online-first” video series hosted by their talent for distribution on Yahoo News. “Newsmakers” features big-name interviews starting with George Stephanopoulos’ sitdown with President Barack Obama today. “Around the World with Christiane Amanpour” focuses on international news and “This Could Be Big,” anchored by Bill Weir, spotlights hot technology products.

On a larger scale, Yahoo News says the partnership will feature “original reporting produced first for the web. Groundbreaking, digital-first reporting” with an “instant reach of 100 million Americans.”

“This relationship will give ABC News an unrivaled ability to reach across the Web, combining Yahoo!’s vast distribution and cutting-edge technology with our award-winning journalism. For years, we’ve proudly proclaimed that more Americans get their news from ABC News than any other source,” said Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News. “Going forward, we will greatly expand this leadership by building a connection with a whole new online audience.”

What do you think, good move for ABC News (and Yahoo)?

Today at CES, Yahoo is showing off a rather cool upgrade to its Connected TV widget platform. Called “broadcast interactivity,” Yahoo’s software listens to TV audio and identifies unique signatures to match against widget content, displaying relevant content in an overlay as you watch. And it works for both live and on-demand video.

So for example, one of Yahoo’s pilot partners is CBS. As viewers watch, an info pane pops up, showing fun facts about the show and allowing them to find more via their remotes. For Home Shopping Network (HSN), viewers can make purchases. Yahoo is also working with ABC, Showtime and advertisers Ford and Mattel for the pilot.

If you ask us, these content experiences feel very 1.0, given the social opportunities of connected TVs. But the pilot is just getting underway. The audio sensing, however, seems like it has lots of potential.

Yahoo’s biggest problem with its platform is how you can get it, given the massive surge of TV app competition in this space. Yahoo announced at CES that it will launch a set-top box with D-Link, but it’s going to be tough to compete with low-cost rivals like Roku. Explains CNET: “The platform might work better as a software appendage on a Tivo or cable company DVR.”

Many of the headlines, especially at the neighborhood level, originate from neighborhood blogs. You can post an event, or sign up with Associated Content to become a paid contributor. “We have launched Yahoo! local in a few neighborhoods and towns to refine the experience while gathering more content for the next set of cities,” explains the site.

While this is still in beta, at first blush, it seems to be a rather minor effort compared to AOL’s steep investment in Patch. It’ll also be interesting to see how — if at all — Yahoo plans to blend its new local product with its Neighbors forum.

“Facebook will reach out to people on Facebook in key congressional districts to explore the issues that are driving campaigns, giving ABC News a unique perspective into these races. People on Facebook will have an opportunity to interact with ABC News broadcasts, offering questions, comments, and opinions. In addition, they will be able to contribute questions to a series of local debates.”

ABC News is also partnering with Yahoo! News to do election polling, with results posted on both sites. In addition, the network will be doing daily 15-minute webcasts beginning October 25th at 6:45 am, the idea being that the webcast will be a lead-in to “Good Morning America,” and will focus on the election.

“Even the juiciest scoop published by a paper in print or online will not remain exclusive for long. It will take only minutes for a heads-up local news venture to match any story appearing in the local newspaper. The ‘QuickRead’ technique developed by the Huffington Post is but one example of the how easily content can be cribbed.”

Well, beyond that, many neighborhood blogs are out-covering newspapers in their own neighborhoods, in large part due to thriving online communities that keep the stories flowing. Even if you wonder if any of these larger hyperlocal efforts will succeed — which is still an open question — you can’t argue that the short-term competition will play a major role in the economics of charging for content.

Adds Outside.in CEO Mark Josephson in comments: “That’s why they should jump in head first and partner with the local neighborhood blogs and other content creators, rather than try to compete with them. Think the same of Patch. There is a chance to create a new sustainable ecosystem if the parties play nicely together.”

All 81 of Gannett’s local publishing outlets and 7 of its Broadcast Division sites will begin selling ad space on Yahoo web properties  this quarter. The partnership highlights Yahoo’s continued push into local advertising, a largely untapped and fertile marketplace for the digital media company.

This partnership will extend Gannett’s local media organization reach to cover as much as 80% of the total digital audience in each market.

“This partnership builds on the strength of Gannett’s growing digital business and powerful local brands,” says Gracia Martore, president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Gannett. “Working with Yahoo! will allow us to offer targeted advertising messages with unmatched local audience reach.”

As part of the agreement, Gannett may also provide select local content for programming across Yahoo! properties in the U.S., including the Yahoo! homepage. A phased rollout will begin this quarter and will continue into 2011.

“Local advertising continues to be an important area of focus for us, and Yahoo! is committed to helping local businesses reach high quality target audiences,” said Hilary Schneider, executive vice president, Yahoo! Americas. “This partnership significantly expands our local offering and gives advertisers the technology and scale they need to reach online consumers.” (via Yahoo)