BT Sport partner Sceenic named Game Changer in Sports Innovation Lab Power Play Index

BT Sport’s Watch Together functionality developed by Sceenic is proving popular

BT Sport partner, Sceenic, the software provider behind the broadcaster’s app functionality for Match Day Experience and Watch Together, has been named a Game Changer in the Co-Watch trend in the latest Sports Innovation Lab Power Play Index.

Sports Innovation Lab’s Power Play Index for the Fluid Fan Behaviour of Co-Watch identifies companies that are best positioned to create immersive viewing experiences for fans at home.

Sceenic is the only Game Changer in the index, which charts the top 10 technology providers that offer co-watch solutions in the market.

“When we publish a Power Play Index, we let the data do the talking. Our methodology identifies companies with both the market validation and technology depth that allows them to enable the Fluid Fan,” said Josh Walker, co-founder and president of Sports Innovation Lab.

“Sceenic is our Co-Watching Game Changer for 2020, proving that powerful co-watching technology isn’t the future, but the present.”

The Power Play Index ranks companies in two categories: Technology Alignment – determined through a company’s signal score as it relates to watch parties, video chat, and voice chat; Market Validation – determined through a company’s signal score as it relates to leagues, venues, people, and partners.

The research showed that sports broadcasters, rights holders, and venues will increasingly rely on the revenue potential of the “fluid fan,” as Sports Innovation Lab terms them. This category is defined as someone identified as more likely to be upsold or attracted to experiences outside of the main event.

It also showed that 64% of sports fans aged 18 to 24 consume sports on their mobile devices, and the expectation levels for mobile platforms to deliver gamified enhancements is high.

Sceenic’s Watch Together functionality could be incorporated into LaLiga platforms. It is currently being looked at within LaLiga’s innovation lab

Sceenic is identified as the highest ranking company for each measure due to the seamless turnkey nature of its offering for video, over the top (OTT), IPTV or STB providers, and the ease of integration for the Sceenic Watch Together SDKs and APIs into existing platforms with customisation.

In 2013, Sceenic created the Watch Together software solution, adding value to fan-engagement and keeping the conversation within their clients’ platforms.

Said Paul Bojarski, CEO, Sceenic: “Seven years in development and refinement, our Watch Together technology stack is proving its worth in large scale deployments with BT Sport, T-Mobile Germany, NPO – Tour de France and others. What is now exciting is seeing how Watch Together actively supports our customers’ business objectives: the organic multiplier effect it brings to subscriber acquisition and retention, the powerful compliment of C2C word of mouth recommendations to machine learning, and the emergence of wholly original in-room interactive marketing/advertising opportunities.”

The report  noted Sceenic’s partners and the experiences that they power in the market for clients, such as BT Sport in the UK, NPO in the Netherlands, ScreenHits TV throughout the EU and US, and LaLiga, among others.

In 2019 Sceenic showcased and offered the Watch Together software solution on EE’s 5G nertwork in the UK, and launched Matchday Experience on the BT Sport app in October 2020, with all BT Sport customers able to access the service from January 2021.

Powered by Sceenic during the 2020 Tour de France, NPO, the Netherlands Public Broadcaster enabled their users to meet the former cyclist Michael Boogerd inside their NPO Start web platform to share insights, answer questions and take online selfies with fans.