RTL Newmedia to launch new football app feature
September 17 will see RTL Newmedia introduce a major new feature on its Club RTL second-screen app, designed specifically for UEFA Champions League and Europa League viewers. The new Club RTL app – developed for iOS and Android in conjunction with Tevizz and EVS – will be available for the entire 2013-2014 season, covering both leagues.
This innovative new feature from RTL Newmedia brings together the very best image and social media functions in a single application. As soon as the match kicks off, viewers will be able to watch match highlights on their tablet or smartphone, and read comments about each clip from social media. As well as the videos themselves, users will automatically receive real-time commentaries from celebrities, football professionals, popular bloggers and fans. Viewers will also be able to share messages with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers, as well as engage in debates and share their favourite moments on RTL’s Facebook and Twitter pages and on RTL Sport’s live chat.
This solution – the first of its type in the world – has been developed for RTL Newmedia in partnership with Tevizz and EVS. Tevizz is a fast-growing Belgian start-up that develops AV production enrichment solutions, using social media content and second-screen technologies. Tevizz’s technology automatically analyses social media messages relating to a particular clip during an AV broadcast. It also enables the audience to be followed in real-time using social media data and monitor trends throughout the broadcast. With this data, media outlets are able to enrich their productions with social media content such as messages and visuals, as well as second-screen technologies.
With its live multicam media delivery platform C-Cast, EVS allows RTL to access content during live production and deliver it on-the-fly to viewers through a connected screen. As a result, viewers can choose to view match-action from different camera angles just minutes after it has occurred.
Jean-Jacques Deleeuw, director, RTL Newmedia, RTL Belgium, comments: “This revolutionary feature brings together instant video replay and targeted social media monitoring capabilities. It is a central part of our strategy, combining first and second screens and social TV. Together, these multiple screens and social content deliver an enriched user experience.”
Luc Doneux, executive vice-president, Sports Division, EVS, adds: “Our C-Cast solution has been designed to enhance end-user experience by aggregating and displaying third-party content such as statistics and social media messages with live multi-camera video footage. For the Club RTL app, Tevizz’s technology integrates seamlessly with our C-Cast solution, as social media comments and messages are linked with the timeline of video clips produced with EVS’s production systems. As a result, Club RTL now offers an enhanced user experience and capitalises upon the full range of resources at its disposal.”