The social TV network YouToo — which Mark Burnett invested in earlier this year — has launched a Facebook app to encourage people to submit video, get on TV and then tell their friends about it. “Naturally, you want to be seen by your friends and family on TV,” CEO Chris Wyatt told Lost Remote, explaining how getting on TV and then sharing the experience go hand in hand.
Both YouToo.com and the Facebook app pose questions to users, who can upload their video responses. The videos air on the YouToo TV cable network, and Wyatt says several broadcast partners will be participating soon, as well. If users submit the clips via the new “Be on TV” Facebook app, it shares the video with the user’s friends. Then, if the clip has been selected for TV, the user is notified when and where it will air — so they can tell their family and friends to watch. And when it airs, YouToo sends the user a video aircheck, which can be shared on Facebook, as well.
“It’s a hugely popular feature,” Wyatt says of both the airtime notifications and the airchecks. “Since everyone is not able to tune into the linear television broadcast, the aircheck gives users a chance to share the experience online. We’ve seen a 1600% fold increase in people forwarding and sharing their airchecks of their television appearances.”
We asked Wyatt if people are still as excited to get on TV as the were before the era of YouTube, Facebook and the fragmentation of TV. “Becoming famous has been one of the primary human motivators throughout history,” he says. “Today, we find ourselves with over 300 reality programs, millions of hopefuls lining up to be on television singing competitions and there has never been any shortage of aspiring actors in Hollywood. In face, Youtube grew to prominence with the tag line ‘Broadcast Yourself.’ but that is only online and not on the first screen.”
YouToo says it has broadcast 90,000 user clips on its cable network, which is in 177 of the top 200 markets. For Facebook users who don’t want to be on TV, the Be on TV app allows them to send personalized messages including birthday greetings and congratulations to family and friends.