PHOTO/Hollywood Reporter
Beamly, formerly known as Zeebox, launched on Monday on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web as both a new brand and a vibrant new app that is sure to represent the state-of-the-art social television.
Upon downloading the Beamly app, TV fans will have a singular, 24/7 destination where they can: follow the shows and stars that they love to get personalized news and social feeds updated live, find and follow other fans to connect with, chat and share in TV rooms, discover what to watch with Beamly’s super-smart personalized guide, and interact live with their favorite shows via custom play along games, contextual votes and more.
“The rebrand to Beamly is a celebration of the huge development our app has been through since launching two years ago, originally as a simple program guide and synch experience,” said Ernesto Schmitt, CEO and co-founder.
To get the launch underway, Beamly welcomed over 100 TV and pop culture influencers on board. They are each hosting their own live, vibrant TV Rooms and profiles in the app. Among these celebrities are Grammy Award Winning Songwriter/Singer and reality star Kandi Burruss of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” and YouTube sensations like Tyler Oakley, Sawyer Hartman and Kalel Cullen.
Beamly users can interact directly with the TV personalities that matter to them, while the talent has the opportunity to express their own TV passions and connect with their fans in ways that are not possible on other social platforms.
“What I like about Beamly is it allows me to connect with my viewers around TV shows that we’re passionate about anyway,” said YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley. “It’s just another way for us to connect in a more intimate way.”
Existing Beamly partners like NBCU and Viacom, as well as new TV network partners can syndicate the app’s rich, interactive capabilities, which include TV rooms for show-specific communities that fans can engage with, and a rich suite of gaming experiences that networks like Bravo and Oxygen are enabling.
Beamly is available free from the App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play for Android, on the web at http://beamly.com/. It is coming soon to Windows Phone.
For more on the Evolution of Second Screen, check out a blog post from Beamly’s co-founder and CTO, Anthony Rose: http://inside.beamly.com/zeebox-becomes-beamly-welcome-social-tv-2-0/
