In the first phase of our TV Everywhere enablers mini-series, I discussed Companion TV with second screen expert, Jeroen Elfferich, CEO & co-founder at Ex Machina and how smartphones and tablets are changing the way we create, and enjoy TV. He shared some great insight into how show formats are evolving to embrace our multi-screen lifestyle and how for the first time, the Internet is being harnessed to compliment TV, not to cannibalize it! He also admitted that he spends more time playing games on his iPad then he would have ever imagined!

Who/What is Ex Machina Games? Jeroen Elfferich: We are an online interactivity platform that creates meaningful experiences between TV shows and their audiences, using second screen companion devices such as smartphones and tablets. We work for TV shows, broadcasters, production houses, TV operators and online Internet companies and take interactivity and information distribution to the next level making it social, fun, massive, loyal and sticky.

What problem do you solve? Jeroen Elfferich: Increasingly, people are multi-tasking while watching TV (According to Devious Media 80% of 13-24 year-olds use two or more devices simultaneously while watching TV). Ex Machina gives meaning to what people do on their companion devices while they are watching a TV show e.g. rating contestants in a talent show, or providing feedback during a political debate. We are helping media companies and advertisers make more efficient use of their marketing budgets and time by keeping viewers engaged and providing valuable feedback and contribution. (NOTE: During last weekend’s Super Bowl, eight in 10 “couch consultants” commissioned for a survey by CTV Advertising, said they derived value from the second-screen content experiences. There was also a widespread acceptance and deeper engagement found for ads that rewarded their viewers with specific incentives)

What role do companion devices have to play with the way we watch TV? Jeroen Elfferich: In the future? Everything. For the first time, companion devices are enabling the Internet to compliment TV viewing vs. cannibalizing it. The uptake is so rapid that it is driving innovation and creativity around formats and enabling media companies to have direct dialog with their audiences and build profiles as never before. Companion devices are game changers.

So, what about Connected TVs? Jeroen Elfferich: We need to remember that audiences want an accessible experience regardless of brand of device. The Connected TV market is still fragmented and the addressable market is not as big as other device types. Also, since people only buy a TV every five to six years, their capabilities and processing power can never match that of personal devices which are regularly replaced and upgraded. It ‘s also a matter of concept – it’s better to offer a cleaner and easier experience on a companion device than over-laying features and content on a TV screen. The debate of how to create an integrated, consistent experience across devices is a big one and there is the school of thought that by shifting the intelligence onto the cloud or a home network to support audio sync and network based interaction, operators can finally reach that holy “UX” grail across all devices. For now, however, the companion devices are leading the way, showing us the potential and building a market for multi-screen TV.

What do games have to do with TV? Jeroen Elfferich: Take the traditional concept of a board game, one with personal aspects such as “RISK”, you can now use the main large-screen TV as game board – and players can use their own, personal devices (smart phone, tablet or laptop) as a ‘digital deck of cards’. Add connectivity and social networks and the other players don’t necessarily have to be in the room or country with you. Gaming, or perhaps more accurately interactive entertainment, is mainstream and the communities around the popular Zynga games for instance, are spending as much time together online as are the hard-core MMO PC gamers… if not more so. Create similar, engaging and game-play experiences around TV and you have the perfect format.

So what can TV companies do to integrate gaming into their shows? Jeroen Elfferich. We are witnessing a gradual shift among production companies to create TV formats that drive second screen interaction… but it takes time! In 2007 we presented, with a Dutch production house, a new kind TV format, a quiz game that had no studio contestants and was designed as a multiplayer game viewers who could play along live using a mobile app or laptop. We showed this at MIPTV that year and while broadcasters loved the innovation on display, no one would buy! For somewhat cautious studio execs, a game show where there is no studio audience was just too far-fetched for them at the time. Thankfully, Fremantle saw the potential, came up with the made-for-second-screen format Intuition and last autumn we launched a pilot of 10 shows with RTL and we are very happy with the results. When aired at 1 pm, 10% of viewers picked up their smart phone or tablet and joined the game. Free to play, the game tests viewers’ gut instincts with picture-based questions on people and places. Everyone who takes part in the show wins prize vouchers and the number of vouchers won is determined by the audience’s average score.

What are you currently working on? Jeroen Elfferich: A lot of things, it seems like we’re starting three new projects every week. To mention a few, we are working on Intuition spinoffs with Fremantle; working with a US start up on creating more interactivity around TV commercials via second screen interactivity and testing automated second screen experiences and gaming around music videos with MTV in various European countries which is very exciting. Creating a much more efficient way to produce shows, the concept enables MTV viewers to participate around music videos with their friends, score points and win prizes.

What has been your greatest success to date? Jeroen Elfferich: We ran over 100 shows last year alone and our platform has never failed us… and we usually see tens of thousands of people engaged at the same time! In the last season of The Voice of Holland, for example, our PlayToTV server platform handled over half a million second screen users and over10 million plays of the popular ThuisCoach game.

How do you imagine we will be watching TV in five years time? Jeroen Elfferich: To a large extent the same way as we are today, gathered, with the family around the living room TV. However, this will primarily be for watching and participating in live events that are more communicable such as reality programs, news events and sports. And of course everyone will be using at least two screens, connecting with the TV content as much as they are with family and friends. TV series and movies meanwhile will continue to shift to on demand on any device.

What games do you play? Jeroen Elfferich: I don’t play games as much as I would like to (or used to) and if I do, I try to find games with I can play with my kids. New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Wii is a great, collaborative game and the iPad is a fantastic games device with a good line up of old school board games as well as new experiences designed for touch… it just works!

Ex Machina is a key Irdeto partner, providing second screen TV engagement within Irdeto’s multi-screen user-experiences and reference applications for tablets, smartphones, Connected TVs and other iOS and Android devices.

Johan Schuyt
TransIP hosts a great number of websites, and requires a dependable Javascript framework to run its various client-side services on, Johan explained. Google’s closure not only compiles your scripts in the most optimal way – completely rewriting your code for optimal size and performance – it also provides in a thoroughly tested library that does everything from basic crossbrowser manipulation of the DOM to complex interface components.

Johad admits that taking the step from (for instance) using jQuery to using closure in combination with separate development and production environments, unit testing, build-scripts, and very strict programming conventions may pose a bit of a challenge – even to an experienced team of Javascript developers. The benefits with respect to code quality, performance, size and maintainability however make it totally worth the investment.

Peter Nederlof
My own talk was on CSS transformations, and the benefits of adding a bit of math and Javascript to the mix. After a quick overview of the various transformation and transition properties that modern browsers support, I showed a few examples of triggering transitions with class names, triggering them with events and finally by applying transformations directly to elements with Javascript.

The presentation can be found right here (it’s in Dutch, and a CSS 3D capable browser is advised), and the matrix implementation can be found on github. Enjoy!

First of all our website. Completely redone, reflecting our vision, PlayToTV’s capabilities and recent projects. Feel free browse around and let us know what you think!

Second: project news!

• Together with Civolution, we just introduced a watermark-based audio sync second screen solution for French broadcaster TF1
• We’re about to go live with a new project for MTV, more details on our website soon
• In Germany we ran the season final of Das Grosse Allgemeinwissensquiz for Sat.1
• Plus we’re in the middle of the live shows for The voice of Holland, a massive success by all counts. How about 500.000 users for the second screen app? 1 in 4 Android or iPhone owners in Holland is now playing along!

Third, Richard Morris joined us and heads Ex Machina in London. Arguably the UK is the most advanced market for second screen right now and we’re excited to have Richard on board to manage our growing UK business.

I won’t spend much time predicting what will happen in 2012. One thing is certain though: we’ll all be using more screens, more of the time. To make content take advantage of that is our aim, and we look forward to working with you to make it happen in 2012 and beyond!

On behalf of all of us at Ex Machina, have a great holiday and all the best for the new year!

But fortunately Marloes did and dedicated that evening to rethink what Ex Machina should be about, online. We instantly liked her ideas and in the matter of a few weeks a new site was conceived. We’ve now launched it and we’ll be filling it more and more with product information, case studies and a wide variety of posts. You’ll encounter a cool HTML5-based project carousel, a tighter look, a clearer focus on our unique PlayToTV second screen offering, highlights from our international track record and a proper blog. Finally.

So come on in further and check out what we have to offer? Maybe you’d like to browse our portfolio of second screen projects we’ve done, to read about our history and people, to learn more about our PlayToTV platform or to find out why we’ve picked second screen as the raison d’etre for our company.

We hope you like it here, please share your thoughts and feedback.

Best wishes from all at Ex Machina!

The massively successful TV show has this season introduced the Thuiscoach app, where during each stage of the show people can ‘coach along’ from home. 500.000 people have downloaded the app, or one in five iPhone and Android users in The Netherlands.

Every episode over 3 million people watch the show, which makes it the number one TV show in The Netherlands and a marked improvement over last season. Twitter, Facebook and the website (where Ex Machina created an HTML5 version of the Thuiscoach app so people without a smartphone can still participate) attract hundreds of thousands of users each week.

And in related news, last Friday’s episode was the first Live Show, meaning we’re once again offering the Live Rating, explained by The voice of Holland host Winston Gerschtanowitz as follows:

More information:
Case study: The voice of Holland
Article: http://mediablogger.nl/web/show/id=28611/dbid=12/500-000-thuiscoaches-bij-the-voice-of-holland/

The voice of Holland is the biggest new TV show in years. It has taken the talent show genre to a new level. And now Talpa, the creators of the show, are taking it to more and more countries. Ex Machina is the partner of choice for second screen for The voice of Holland since season one, where we introduced the live rating functionality.

Season 2

For season two, running from September 2011 to January 2012, The voice uses PlayToTV for second screen interactivity during and in between shows for all 17 episodes across all three stages: Blind Auditions, Battles and Live Shows.

During the blind auditions every week there’s a pre-show game: you can do your own blind audition and listen to performances of the upcoming episode on your phone, tablet or computer at your leisure. Based on what you hear you pick the talent that you think will make it to the next round. When the show airs, you’ll instantly see if you predicted correctly as soon as the judge reveals their pick. And several additional live prediction events are offered during each show as well.

For the Battles, the pre-show game means you’ll listen to two competing performance and you pick the one you think will win. During the show again your prediction will be matched against the judges opinion, as well as many other predictions.

In the Live Shows, you can once again choose from candidates to make it through to the next round in the pre-show game. And every single live performance can now be rated with an intuitive slider, giving live feedback and a real time graph about how the second screen users like the performance. The graph is shown on TV as well, giving more meaning to those who participate.

Facts & Figures

• 520,000 downloads
• 420,000 registered users
• 10% votes via app
• 10 million games played

The following video is taken from the first live show broadcast on December 2nd, and explains the live rating feature:

ThuisCoach

The second screen experience for The voice of Holland is called ‘Thuiscoach’. Ex Machina’s PlayToTV is the server platform behind it all, handling the massive loads of users. PlayToTV APIs are implemented in the Android and iPhone apps developed by Icemobile and the HTML5 client playable on the thevoiceofholland.com website is created in house at Ex Machina. All the interactive events are managed using PlayToTV’s director client, both for the pre-recorded stage as well as in the live shows.

See the whole video here.

BBC describes two screen viewing as follows:

With a second screen – a phone, tablet or computer – watching television has become more social and more active. Viewers can flood the internet with programme-related chatter, contact TV producers or just find out more information about what is going on in front of them.

LJ Rich takes a look at the extra stuff you can stream while you have one eye on the TV screen.

It includes a nice mention of our project Intuitie:

“Players engage in a truly 21st century version of the pub quiz”

A short clip including the mention of Intuition is below:

In Juni 2011 a new prime time famil quiz show “Das große Allgemeinwissensquiz” was introduced to the German audience on major broadcaster Sat.1. The shows are hosted by famous and award winning Johannes B. Kerner and test the general knowledge of the studio candidates, battling each other in an elimination race for a grand prize of €500.000. After a successful first series, Sat.1 re-ordered PlayToTV as the second screen solution for the Fall/Winter episodes.

For the first time ever on SAT.1, the audience at home could participate synchronously with the TV-quiz by going to the “Das große Allgemeinwissensquiz”-website, which was connected to Ex Machina’s PlayToTV platform. Using web- and mobile-browsers, the people at home faced the same questions, timings and challenges as the studio candidates and could real time compare their general knowledge with them and that of their friends. At the end of each show, the second screen players were given a final grade based on their general knowledge score and they could cross post and boast about it on popular social network sites as Facebook and Twitter.

Using Ex Machina’s unique online content management system, scheduling service and Director Client for live operations, the ProSiebenSat.1 Digital department was in complete control of the second screen platform during broadcast.

Facts and figures

• Debut Spring 2011
• Re-ordered for Fall – Winter
• Full facebook integration: see what your friends answer, chat, friend leaderboard, post to facebook
• Competition: see how well you perform, against the rest of the country and your friends
• Rapid paced, 60 questions per show
• Special content accessible during commercial breaks
• Content created and interactivity managed by Sat.1 staff in house using PlayToTV’s director client
• HTML5-based client compatible with smartphone, tablet and computer

Social, Fun, Massive and Loyal

PlayToTV is our solution for broadcasters, game publishers, media companies and advertisers, offering people a massive, engaging, playful and social experience to play along with scheduled events such as:

• TV programs
  • Game shows
  • Audition shows
  • Reality TV
  • Sports TV
  • Debate & Talk shows
• Live Games & Sports
• In– & Outdoor events
• Corporate events & Conferences

With this solution Ex Machina takes interactivity and information distribution to the next level: social, fun, massive, loyal and sticky.

Online Management Tool: Director Client

The Director Client is a web-based tool which enables the (live) online management of all content, games, scheduling, synchronization, tournaments, score lists, user statistics, payments, communities and newsletters. The Director Client is an integral part of our PlayToTV offering.

Revenue Opportunities

• Targeted online ads
• Synchronized interactive ads for broadcast
• E-commerce
• Lead Generation & Community
• Premium & Freemium gameplay

Other trends that stood out at the event were the various efforts to harness the 2screen phenomenon – people fiddling with their smartphones and tablets while watching TV. Two startups worth watching into 2012 are Ex Machina and Zeebox. The former company’s CEO Jeroen Elfferich spoke in a session focused on disruptive startups, talking about his work on FremantleMedia’s Intuitie – the first TV show made for second-screeners.

“Today, most of the second-screen examples we see lack meaning,” said Elfferich. “They have been bolted on to an existing TV show. We need to look for more meaningful examples.

It’s worth your time to check out the full article here.