Upfront week is already proving to be the platform for major social TV announcements. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that ESPN and Twitter will expand their partnership that was announced a year ago. Last year’s partnership set an important precedent that allowed advertisers to buy ads across TV and Twitter at the same time. Now video is becoming the focus of the growth of their partnership. Read more

Upfront week is underway and there are already major social TV announcements that have been made. According to the LA Times, “Fox said it would use Twitter to distribute clips of upcoming TV shows, tout highlights of live events or share video after episodes of various shows have aired.” This new partnership is going to allow Fox to tap into Twitter’s ad platform. Here are the exciting details. Read more

The growth of the social TV industry has reached new heights. There’s a book and now graduate student André-Pierre du Plessis has completed an impressive 40-minute documentary on the state of social TV and the industry. He created and produced Tech Report, the first weekly tech-news TV show in South Africa that is broadcast through Africa and the UK and he’s currently completing a master’s degree in business journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. I had the pleasure of participating in this documentary, which you can watch here. Read more

(By Mike Proulx, Co-Author of Social TV, SVP/Director of Digital Strategy at Hill Holliday)

There are conversations happening in the boardrooms of every TV network and MSO about the one thing that could have the most impact on television as we know it today. And it’s something corporate communications professionals across the industry don’t want to be public about – at least not right now.

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Atlanta startup Movl says it’s been acquired by Samsung Electronics for an undisclosed sum. Just two years old, Movl began by creating games that interacted with TV — like “We Draw,” which won Samsung’s top developer award in 2011. Then the startup created a platform for iOS and Android developers to seamlessly integrate their apps with smart TVs, starting with Samsung and Google TV — with more on the way.

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On April 25th The CW aired a backdoor pilot of “The Originals,” a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries. Did feedback from Twitter help the network make it’s decision to pick up the show the next day? According to sentiment analysis from Fizziology, the pilot received 81% positive sentiment, with 20% of conversations saying they’d watch it. Read more

We wrote about the amazing numbers CNN Digital posted as a result of the Pope Francis announcement. Still, CNN is a go-to news source for both celebratory and tragic news, and  the events in Boston were of major concern to not only Bostonians but also to people all over the world. As events unfolded in Boston, CNN Digital had its most successful week ever in terms of page views, topping 808 million, followed only by the week of the 2008 Election which resulted in 665 million page views. While the tragedy brought up many editorial concerns both with CNN and other traditional and non-traditional news sources, the web results are still very impressive. Read more

NBC Sports proved its social chops with its coverage of the 2012 London Olympics. Now, looking to continue on its sports and social success, NBC is determined to give those tuning in to watch “the greatest two minutes in sports” an all-encompassing viewing experience. Here are some of the ways NBC plans to make today’s Kentucky Derby the most social one ever. Read more

Viggle , the second-screen platform that rewards its members for watching their favorite TV shows,  has partnered with the NBA to provide rewards and discounts to fans watching the 2013 NBA Playoffs and The Finals. In January, Viggle announced a similar partnership with the NFL for its MyGuy app, its real-time fantasy sports app.
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After producing hit films like Soul Food and reality shows for BET and TV One, Tracey Edmonds is looking to conquer the Web. In March, she launched Alright TV,  a family- and faith-oriented Web network.

“Alright TV was born from my social media network, and the daily exchange of positive, inspiring and uplifting messages that I have through my social network,” she told Mediabistro in the latest installment of So What Do You Do?. “Viewers are hungry for faith-friendly and inspiration programming, and Alright TV has grown mostly through word of mouth, our online followers and within the faith community.”

Edmonds stressed that her team is always open to pitches for new programming. “We’re going for high entertainment value that has positive messaging. That’s the formula and the directive that we’re asking people to look for when they submit content to us,” she said.

Read the full interview, including contact info for who to send your content pitches to, in So What Do You Do, Tracey Edmonds, Award-Winning TV and Film Producer?

– Nicholas Braun