Watchwith and Gracenote Announce Live Television Sync-to-Broadcast Platform Offering

- Watchwith Related Content Syndication Platform Integrates with Gracenote's Entourage™ Automatic Content Recognition Solution

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBC 2012 -- Watchwith® and Gracenote® today announced Gracenote's Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) platform, Gracenote Entourage™, has been pre-integrated with the Watchwith related content syndication Platform. The combination of Gracenote and Watchwith technologies gives broadcasters and content distributors a means to develop companion apps that can sync second-screen devices with broadcast programming and deliver scene-level, related content.

With Gracenote Entourage's ACR capability pre-integrated into the Watchwith Platform SDKs, developers can create apps that easily identify what a user is watching, and unlock scene-by-scene custom content powered by Watchwith's Related Content Database™. This revolutionizes the TV experience, letting viewers sync their tablets and smart phones with main TV screens to unlock extra content, purchase featured products, get more from advertising, and interact with other viewers in real-time.

"Automatically identifying what the viewer is watching at a specific moment in the program is the starting point for a more engaging user experience and a game changer for television programmers, advertisers and video service providers," said Zane Vella, CEO of Watchwith. "Integrating with Gracenote Entourage allows our broadcast and cable network customers to accelerate time-to-market for their apps and gives them the business flexibility they need to create profitable, differentiated viewer experiences and build viewer engagement across multiple screens."

"The second screen offers a new frontier for broadcasters, content providers and advertisers to create direct dialogue with TV audiences. In order to win over viewers to the second screen, however, the industry must create experiences that go beyond technology gimmicks to offer real entertainment value," said Stephen White, president of Gracenote. "Our alliance with Watchwith combines powerful Gracenote recognition technology with scene-level data that has the potential to extend storylines and characters beyond the main screen, giving viewers more reasons to tune-in."

Launched earlier this year at CES 2012, Gracenote Entourage uses advanced audio fingerprinting technology to enable TVs, smart phones and tablets to automatically identify movies, TV programs and music by "listening" to short sound clips.  By unlocking data from the Gracenote's video database, Entourage creates paths for TV viewers to explore related content and link to on-demand services to purchase, stream and download content that intrigues them. 

Demonstration at IBC 2012
A demonstration of the joint solution can be viewed at the Gracenote stand at IBC 2012 in Hall 14, Stand 14.366. For more information or to schedule a demo and briefing at the show, please contact Daniel Couzens at +44-(0)-20-7437-0227 or danielc@onechocolatecomms.co.uk.

About Watchwith
Watchwith, the leader in related content syndication, unlocks value across the entertainment industry by transforming how people experience film and television. The Watchwith Platform™ gives content owners and app developers a way to realize new value by creating an engaging layer of time-based related content events around film, television programming and advertising. The Watchwith Platform also provides syndication of the related content experience to smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, game consoles, OTT set-top boxes, managed network set-top boxes and Blu-ray™ discs. Powered by the Related Content Database™, Watchwith enables content owners to create new licensable related content properties that will generate profits across media far into the future. Motorola Mobility, Inc., and Sony Network Entertainment are strategic investors in the company. Watchwith is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit watchwith.com.

About Gracenote
A pioneer in digital media, Gracenote, Inc. provides music and video content and technologies to the world's hottest entertainment products and brands. The company's partners in the entertainment community include major music publishers and labels, prominent independents and movie studios and television networks. A wholly owned, independent subsidiary of the Sony Corporation of America (SCA), Gracenote has offices in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin, Seoul, and Taipei with worldwide headquarters in Emeryville, California. For more information, follow us at @GracenoteTweets and www.facebook.com/PoweredbyGracenote.

NOTE: Watchwith is a registered trademark of Related Content Database, Inc. Watchwith Platform, Watchwith Console, Watchwith Showrunner, Watchwith API, Watchwith Sync Service and Related Content Database are trademarks of Related Content Database, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Gracenote is a registered trademark of Gracenote, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

For More Information Contact:

Veronica Skelton
Concept PR for Gracenote
+1-415-342-3435
vskelton@gracenote.com

Daniel Couzens
OneChocolate (for Gravity Mobile in the UK)
T: +44-(0)-20-7437-0227
M: +44-(0)-7971-593-907
danielc@onechocolatecomms.co.uk

Geoff Katz
Watchwith
+1-310-770-8312
geoff@watchwith.com