Showcaster to Experiment with Zeebox Social TV Second Screen

By emeadows
October 10, 2012

London company Showcaster is about to release a live video show called #Yappfactor, which will air during this fall’s “The X Factor” (UK).
The show won’t air on broadcast TV but instead inside the Zeebox social TV sidekick application.
Zeebox just added Viacom as a U.S. investor and promotional partner in addition to Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
“‘The X Factor’ stream will see comedian and radio host Jake Yapp offer ‘tongue-in-cheek’ observations to UK Zeebox users’ sofas while they watch the show on the TV in front of them,” according to paidContent.
The article writes of the possible pitfalls of dual video streams: “Although many viewers have become used to reading and participating in text-based discussion and to Googling for information relevant to the shows they are watching, the introduction of parallel video in addition to the principal live broadcast could prove overwhelming and disruptive, not least to fellow viewers in the same room — like a friend interrupting every song with an annoying sofa commentary.”
“#Yappfactor is a purely editorial exercise for us. It is nothing more than commentary from an independent comedian — an extension of the alternative Twitter commentary we’re already been running,” says Zeebox product and content development chief Simon Miller.

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