apps

Breaking News, a startup owned by NBC News, today debuted a new feature to its iOS app that pushes proximity-based news alerts when a big story breaks near a user’s […]

Fox Broadcasting has released a new version of its Fox Now video app for Apple devices that suggests shows users might want to watch based on their preferences and viewing history — a feature designed to keep people watching more video.

Watchup, the video aggregator app that straddles a place for users between a Hulu- and Flipboard-like experience of news videos, is on its way to a new platform. The company says that within a month there will be an announcement of a partnership with a video game console maker, where a premium version of the app will make its debut.

Christian radio broadcaster K-LOVE’s new app eschews audio for discussion forums, gamified elements and weekly “challenges” geared at creating a stickier experience that rewards frequent visits and promotes grassroots marketing.

If your station has rows and racks and piles of old  videotapes, you have a storage expense that you can turn into an asset. The reasons to digitize archived news videotape are based on value, the score that businesses use in deciding to act. So where’s the potential value in digitizing the videotape library? There are at least eight great reasons, including providing valuable legacy content for both on air and online.

WatchESPN, the sports giant’s mobile app, is part of an aggressive push by ESPN into online services as pay television matures. ESPN pioneered sports TV on that medium and for three decades rode a steady rise in U.S. cable and satellite TV subscriptions. These now have leveled off and appear to be contracting. ESPN is at the forefront of the TV industry’s efforts to expand into Internet distribution. Wall Street Journal subscribers can read the full story here.

Users of the Fox Sports Go app will have access to English and Spanish feeds of Feb. 2’s Super Bowl XLVIII. The event will be Fox Sports’ first live stream of the Super Bowl.

Day two of BIA/Kelsey’s Leading In Local Conference In San Francisco featured a number of disparate discussions. Among the standouts: a new hyperlocal model fueled by video content, a pair of forthcoming user-generated content-oriented apps from Wanderful Media and the looming influence of big data on local markets.

One of the more helpful tools cord cutters give up when they finally say farewell to cable or satellite, and presumedly the DVR built into the cable box, are those helpful channel guides. TVGuide brings that guide into your hands, provides show teasers, organizes your favorite shows and more.

Local news apps are in trouble. Large Internet companies are making direct plays for local news audiences, who tend to consume only a small slice of content via mobile. “The implications for local media,” says StepLeader’s Matthew Davis, “The delivery and presentation of news into the app environment is ready for an overhaul.”

The new app allows users to stream live MSNBC programming, watch clips from past shows, and watch full episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show, Politics Nation with Rev. Al Sharpton, Hardball with Chris Matthews, All In with Chris Hayes and more.

Meredith, Post-Newsweek are the latest group owners to adopt the Connected Ad Network advertising app platform.

The redesigned ABC News app features personalized push alerts, which allows users to customize their experience with the app. The app also includes up-to-the-minute news coverage and live streaming video.

The new NBC app, which will focus on full-episode video content, will be the foundation for NBC’s TV Everywhere offering, which is slated to launch in 2014.

With over 800,000 downloads, the Dallas Fox O&O’s weather app is a big part of its promo strategy. Says John Kukla, creative services director: “When there’s bad weather in the forecast, we can respond with 15-20 digital billboards around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Web banners on our website and on social media, [all to] remind viewers that it’s going to a particularly WAPP-y day.”

The company has rolled out a retooled version of its core news application across all of its markets. Gray says the new apps bring the company’s core strengths of news, weather and sports under one umbrella. “What we wanted to do was compile the best news, weather, sports app that we could without having to segment those off,” says Gray’s Lisa Bishop.

Online game play for NBC’s Million Second Quiz stayed down until Tuesday morning, a setback for a show banking on social TV elements.

NBC has moved its mobile website and app development for its stations in house, building the sites off its content management system and aiming for four to six niche apps for each of its 10 stations. “Strategically, the overall goal for us is to find one or two things that we can do really well in each of our markets,” says Lora LeSage, senior VP of digital media at NBC Owned Television Stations.

The TWC TV app for Xbox Live, which was announced back in June, is now available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft’s partnership with Time Warner Cable is a significant part of its efforts to position the Xbox 360 as the definitive one-stop solution for TV and movie streaming, and demonstrates the company’s continuing commitment to the console even as it prepares for the Xbox One’s launch later this year.

The new app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Kindle Fire, as well as Android and Windows Phone 8 devices, allows users to access their Today videos, stories and photos in a new integrated, multimedia experience.

Responsive design may be a positive step in the right direction for the media industry, but there are some tech-based business considerations around the move towards responsive. “While the future of the Web is seemingly shifting towards the responsive route, there are still many tech-related questions that need to be answered to ensure it’s the right solution for one’s business,” says Icreon’s Devanshi Garg. Part two of a two-part CrowdCheck on the benefits and challenges of responsive design. Read part one here.

The new, more visually oriented iteration uses a photo tile layout, with larger tiles spotlighting top stories. Tiles can also be dedicated to individual sponsors and can click through to outside URLs or, potentially, native advertising.

The iPad app, which originally billed itself as a “Hulu for news,” is celebrating its first anniversary with an overhaul of its interface that launches video upon opening and gives users more control over their video experience.

In an effort to help brands measure the impact of second-screen ad campaigns, Shazam is introducing a new metric tracking users’ engagement with TV spots using the media “tagging” app. It’s officially called the “Shazam Engagement Rate” and, according to the company,, the engagement metric will tell brands not just how many times their commercial was “tagged” but also how large the audience was at the time.

The new app, customized for each of ABC’s owned television stations, offers voice alerts warning users of severe weather, and includes a “follow me anywhere” setting that allows users to get radar and weather information wherever they travel.

TV stations need to study their audiences’ behavior to build engaging second-screen apps that truly meet their needs. Bryce Moore: “Fail to put the audience first and you end up creating products because you can, not necessarily because anyone needs it.”