Sixnology is one of the top application and software/hardware integrated developers in Taiwan, producing commissioned works and own products, such as Timely.tv. It has over 260,000 downloads and 1,154 five-star ratings so far, the best among second screen apps. Each week, over 60,000 users look for their TV show preferences with this app, generating more than 15,000 reminders. It also releases 25 pieces of TV guides per week for recommendations.
In the long-time stagnant TV industry in Taiwan, Timely.tv is a unique case. In the United States, however, innovations and extensions in this areas are abundant. Viggle (collect points by check-ins for rewards), for example, recently acquires Dijit (schedule recommendations across platforms), and TiVO (just announce TiVO Roamio for recording) just merges with Digitalsmith (video recommendations across platforms). Follow Lost Remote for more information.
After subscribing TV programs, users will receive notices from the app before shows start. During Chinese New Year, local movie Zone Pro Site, premiered on TV on CNY Eve, accumulates the most subscriptions, and consequently reaches the highest rating for the channel. If you look closely, subscription ranking on Timely.tv is similar to rating list in the end. It happens several times already, such as The Avengerspremiered on TV last July.
On the other hand, Timely.tv collaborated with popular variety show Kangxi Coming before. By scanning QR code on TV screen and collecting points in games, users can receive prizes or enter lucky draws. It’s an approach to attract more audience or increase stickiness. Rating analysis shows that sections with QR code jump significantly. On average, Sixnology claims, the event increases 10% to 25% of rating for the specific episode.
Recent development shows:
- Data on Timely.tv is representative enough to replace traditional rating mechanism, especially its capability to forecast beforehand. It’s collective voting by users.
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With second screen applications, active viewing experiences are highlighted. How to influence active behaviors (subscribe via Timely.tv and receive reminders) in advance becomes key variable to rating.
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Some programs may increase ratings via interactions between first and second screens, but more case studies are needed.
Translated from:台灣：Timely.tv 能否成為預測收視率的水晶球？
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on PunNode, TechNode’s partner in Taiwan.