First on Lost Remote: ABC News is hosting a GOP debate this Saturday, and the network’s new online partner is incorporating a social TV component into the live event. ABC News and Yahoo partnered in October, and Yahoo’s IntoNow recently launched an updated app that synchronizes content and interactivity with live TV. During the debate, viewers will be able to offer real-time feedback on the candidates via the IntoNow app.
Yahoo provided us with a couple screen-grabs of it in action. Viewers who “tag” the debate on TV will be able to participate in real-time polls that tie to specific candidate questions and answers. ABC News will be watching the data and at times incorporate the audience’s response in the broadcast with a follow-up question. For example, “72% of the Yahoo! audience thinks you did not answer the question. Would you like another chance to respond?”
Viewers can also comment, tweet and browse related politics stories in the app during the broadcast. During commercial breaks, they can go to Yahoo! News and ABCNews.com where they’ll see ongoing analysis of the debate and the audience’s responses from IntoNow.
Yahoo is billing this as evidence that the “second screen” has arrived in earnest. This is IntoNow’s first foray with working with ABC News — certainly not the last — and in my memory one of the highest-profile second-screen experiments around TV news. We’ll let you know how it goes on Saturday.