KickApps Partners with WorldNow to Bring Social Media to Local Broadcasters

NEW YORK--(EON:Enhanced Online News)--KickApps, the leading on demand social media platform, and WorldNow today announced a strategic partnership to provide KickApps-powered social media applications to WorldNow’s customers. As part of the relationship, WorldNow will create and help to manage custom deployments of KickApps social media sites for its over 320 media clients, which include ABC, Cox Enterprises, Raycom Media and Young Broadcasting. This new offering adds to WorldNow’s suite of online products, consulting services and revenue programs that enable local media companies to build new businesses on the Internet.

“WorldNow is a key partner in our strategy for putting social media in the hands of every local broadcaster and TV station”

Broadcast TV has traditionally been the primary hub of information for local communities. In recent years, local broadcasters have extended their presence to the Internet with websites that feature local editorial news, weather reports, traffic updates, sports and classifieds. Using KickApps, WorldNow’s broadcasters can now either add highly interactive functionality to their existing websites or create niche social media web destinations for their viewers. By adding photo and video sharing, blogging, message boards and viral syndication of content using Widgets, broadcasters can increase engagement on their websites and in turn create highly targeted incremental advertising inventory.

WOIO, a Cleveland-based CBS affiliate and WorldNow customer, implemented KickApps in 2007 to power its local citizen journalism community, “See it, Snap it, Send it.” The site enables viewers of WOIO’s 19 Action News station to upload and share videos and photos and join discussions on the site’s message boards. Within the first three months of launching the site, WOIO experienced an 8X increase in unique visits/month and virtually doubled overall site traffic (90% increase).

“As a TV broadcaster, we look for ways to extend our TV experience on the web in a way that allows for interactivity and greater engagement from our audience,” said Adam Clark, web producer at WOIO-TV/WUAB-TV. “With our KickApps site, residents of Cleveland can take an active role in contributing to and defining the news of the day. By involving our viewers in the programming, we are able to achieve deeper connections with the community that we serve.”

User-generated content (UGC) has proven very popular when implemented in the context of niche interests such as high school sports, weather and traffic. Additionally, UGC-based contests are a very successful way of circulating traffic between TV and online audience engagement. For example, members of the community determine winners of the contests based on the quality of photos, video and blogs that are uploaded by audience members. Promoting the contest during morning and evening news broadcasts in turn drives traffic to both the website and TV programming.

“Sponsorships and promotions based on user-generated contests are a tremendous opportunity for local broadcasters to offer targeted sales programs to national and local advertisers,” said Todd Randak, EVP Business Development at WorldNow. “Our customers now have the ability to use KickApps’ innovative applications and WorldNow’s consulting services to create niche online communities and consequently, new revenue opportunities.”

With over 18,000 live KickApps social media sites, KickApps has emerged as the leading provider of private label social media applications for media and entertainment companies. The KickApps Platform enables web publishers to easily create and integrate social networking, UGC, online video players and widgets to their websites, massively reducing development time and maintenance needs.

“WorldNow is a key partner in our strategy for putting social media in the hands of every local broadcaster and TV station,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “The creation of niche social media websites offers an opportunity for local TV stations to tap into a broad group of advertisers that may or may not already be advertising on TV.”

About KickApps

KickApps provides on demand social media applications that enable web publishers and marketers to grow, engage and monetize online audiences. Its SaaS platform includes social networking, user-generated content, programmable video players, viral Widgets and other applications that are tightly integrated with robust media moderation, member management and reporting. The KickApps Platform seamlessly integrates with any website using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, feeds, Widgets and APIs (REST and SOAP). Customers include: ABC Family, CW Television, Guinness World Records, Scripps Network Interactive, VIBE Magazine, HBO, Cinemax, Cox Television, the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and thousands of other sites. For more information, please visit www.kickapps.com and www.kickdeveloper.com.

About WorldNow – A leader in Internet video and revenue solutions

WorldNow, a New York-based technology and sales company, is the only company to provide a comprehensive technology platform and strategic advertising services that enable media companies to expand to the digital realm with innovative Web publishing tools, advanced video delivery technology and industry-driving advertising leadership. WorldNow’s proven technology and advertising leadership equips its media partners with the tools to make the transition to the digital marketplace, expand their footprint in the online ecosystem and realize real-world profitability from their investment. Current WorldNow customers include ABC, Cox, Dispatch, Fisher, Gray, LIN Television, Media General, News Press & Gazette, Raycom Media, The New York Times, Time Warner Cable, Tribune, and Young. For more information please visit www.WorldNow.com.

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