De Agostini launches second-screen app for Super!

Italian publisher, content creation company and channel provider De Agostini has launched a second-screen app targeted at the country’s youth market.

The app, which was developed by Vetrya and taps Civolution’s second-screen synchronisation technology, is being deployed by De Agostini’s Super! digital-terrestrial channel and enables teenagers to use an avatar to interact with their favourite programmes.

To incentivise its audience to participate, Super! will reward the top five weekly users with prizes and gifts.

The Super! app uses Civolution’s SyncNow content recognition technology to synchronise the second screen experience with the TV.

Upon registration, the viewer is requested to create an avatar that will be used to interact with the programmes including access to original content, taking part in quizzes and collecting stars to receive gifts.

“The second screen model is the new paradigm in interactive TV. We are investing heavily on these new innovative digital services as we truly believe that these will transform the world of television as we know it today,’’ said Luca Tomassini, founder and CEO of Vetrya. “Through our partnership with Civolution, using our platform tivin, we offer a series of second screen interactive TV services – couch commerce, voting, social TV – that can be monetized by publishers and broadcasters exploiting the natural channel of return internet through specific applications. We are proud to enable the innovative television channel Super! towards full convergence between the world of traditional TV and broadband.”