KickApps Partners with WorldNow to Bring Social Media to Local
Broadcasters
TV Stations Create New Revenue Opportunities
NEW YORK (Business Wire EON) April 15, 2008 --
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.
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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