Canada's CBC is once again pushing the boundaries in social TV. Sunday night the network premiered Over the Rainbow a new show that "showcases aspiring Canadian performers as they vie for the leading role of Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, opening this December at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto, ON." The network has launched a second screen app that's allowing viewers to take control of the main screen.

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Wilson Cleveland isn't the average show creator and actor. His career includes being a publicist, working at Goldman Sachs and now creating, writing and starring in Hiscox's 'Leap Year' -- which premieres its second season today. The Hulu show -- produced by CJP Digital Media and Happy Little Guillotine Films -- "follows the founders of startup C3D as they scramble to build and launch their 'Skype™ with holograms' technology."

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The popular A&E Network show "Storage Wars" now has a companion iPad app just in time for the new season. Powered by TVPlus -- which powers the X-Factor app -- the "Storage Wars Fan Challenge" app enables users to play along with the show for bragging rights and a chance to win $1,000 each week. If you've watched Storage Wars before, cast members bid for storage lockers with the hope of finding unexpected treasure...

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A couple hundred execs gathered in San Francisco for the Social TV Summit on Tuesday, and as always, we've pulled together some highlights from the event. This isn't an exhaustive list; for more, you can glean the highlight clips provided by Snappy.tv. One of the biggest reoccurring themes at social TV events is how early we are in the product development process, and how second screen experiences are something entirely new...

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TVplus, the social TV startup that took home the gold at the last Social TV Summit, will be working with Epix HD tonight (Sunday) to provide second screen content for the "Secret Policeman's Ball, a star-studded celebration of Amnesty International's 50th Anniversary." Coldplay, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will be among the performers at the Ball airing tonight from New York City's Radio Music Hall. TV plus will be, "providing the opportunity for the audience to have real-time access to informative interactive content about the evening's performers as well as the history and mission of Amnesty International," according to their release.

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Sure, lots of people use their mobile phones and tablets in front of TV -- 80% in fact -- but how do second-screen apps perform? TVPlus revealed today at the Social TV Summit that it's seeing click-through rates of companion TV content on its iPad app "north of 10 percent." That's an impressive number. By companion content, TVPlus defines it as "unique pieces of related content delivered synchronously on a second screen while users watch a broadcast." The key word here, synchronously.

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The X Factor iPad app disappointed me at first. Upon opening, it thought I lived on the East Coast, popping up a countdown for Thursday night's show while I watched Wednesday's show live on TV (I live in Seattle). But then I saw the "synchronize" button at the bottom of the app. I touched, and after a few moments of listening to my TV, it transformed the app into a synched second-screen experience.

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