Shazam has broken through 250 million users worldwide as it rolls out an expansion of its second-screen TV service in the US.
The newly-expanded TV companion app will now allow those in the US to access cast details and photos, music in shows, celebrity gossip, trivia, celebrity tweets and other information about any TV programme in the market as well as instantly share comments on Facebook and Twitter.
Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher said: “With more than a quarter of a billion people who have used Shazam worldwide, no other app has our scale when it comes to offering the opportunity to engage with the media that interests them the most, whether it’s music or television. And now, that experience is even better than before, enabling people in the US to engage with any show at any time."
Shazam has also announced plans to expand its TV service in other markets. At present its TV service is available in the UK and other Western European markets providing what it calls second-screen activity on smartphones for TV advertising campaigns for brands such as Renault, Toyota, Reebok, Schwepps, Unilever, Microsoft and Pepsi. It reveals this will be widened out in the coming months to allow Shazam users in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to use the app to engage with their favourite TV programmes as well.
In a further development, the company is improving the social features it offers for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices. This will include allowing anyone activating the Shazam Friends feature in the app to see what their Facebook friends are tagging and to make comment their friends' tags in the app.
Fisher noted that industry studies revealed 88% of smartphone owners used their mobile device while watching TV, adding: "With our expansion into television, we’ve seen a surge of activity due to recent Shazam-enabled events such as the NBC Olympic broadcast, where more than one million people tagged the closing ceremony, as well as the US Open tennis grand slam event on CBS earlier this month. We think that broadening our television service and offering more comprehensive social features will continue to drive activity and engagement.”
Advertisement
