Zeebox has today announced a rebrand to Beamly as it launches a new social TV app to represent the “art of social television”.
The new app – available for iPhone, iPad, Android and the web – allows TV viewers to follow shows with personalised news and social feeds, follow other users with shared interests, discover what to watch with a personalised TV guide and interact live with programmes.
“The initial phase of social television and second screen was limited to apps providing a companion experience for audiences while watching TV,” said Ernesto Schmitt, CEO and co-founder of Beamly.
“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, discuss plotlines and carefully plan what to watch in the evening – long before even switching on the TV itself.
“Beamly for the first time brings together all of those touchpoints with TV in a single app, all day long.”
Beamly’s CTO and co-founder, Anthony Rose, added that Beamly has already seen a “marked progression” in the behaviours of users since gradually introducing the new social features.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
