Social TV rewards platform Viggle has launched a new in-app experience in honor of the football season. MyGuy is “a fantasy football app that allows users to earn points and win prizes for watching the games on TV,” according to the company. After viewers check into a sports game — using the Viggle app — they’ll be given an option to use MyGuy. We spoke with Viggle President Chris Stephenson about the launch.
TV-focused sports apps continue to emerge each week. We wrote about five of them in July and there are already many more on the market. Even Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen recently invested in SportStream a new second screen app focused on making sports TV more social. SportsStream points to this study which shows 83% of sports fans check social platforms while they’re watching.
For Viggle, this launch shows that they’re more than just an app, but instead a platform available to develop specific niches within the TV ecosystem. Fantasy football is obviously a big part of the social TV football experience and Viggle is trying to innovate the space with the launch of MyGuy.
Lost Remote: Why has Viggle launched a new app experience?
Chris Stephenson: We designed Viggle as a platform on which our network and brand partners can build their own apps and experiences. Viggle is meant to span all TV and the apps that get built on Viggle are specialized, whether that’s around specific shows, subjects, brands, etc. We built MyGuy this way so that we could give the millions of Americans who love fantasy sports a robust experience, including the Smacktalk chat feature, the ability to sub players as the game plays out, etc. It also serves as a proof of concept app for our partners.
LR: What are the social features?
Stephenson: With our integration of Facebook Connect, people can now sign in with Facebook. Additionally, any actions they take within Viggle such as checking in, redeeming points for rewards, playing MyGuy, etc… will all automatically appear on their timeline (provided they authorize that of course).
LR: Will you still encourage sports viewers to use Viggle to watch sports?
Stephenson: Absolutely. Viggle is an integral part of the process. In order to get to MyGuy, the sports viewer first checks into the game on television. MyGuy is presented as an option at that point and the sports fan can choose to play if they want to. MyGuy knows what teams are playing and the Viggle user can easily pick their players. They can sub as often as they want during the game. They’ll get Viggle points for watching the game and they’ll win more based on how their players do.
LR: Anything else?
Stephenson: Take a look at the fantasy focus groups that Olivia Lee did for us when we were testing MyGuy. She’s a UK comedienne known for her hidden camera show “Dirty Sexy Funny.” You can find them here (and embedded above) . In addition to Facebook Connect and MyGuy, we also released a program guide within the “What’s On” section of the app. You can customize the guide by tapping and holding on your favorite channels.