Beamly was a social platform based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK and

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. The company was founded in April 2011 as tBone TV, later renamed to Zeebox, by Ernesto Schmitt and Anthony Rose. It was started as a social discovery and engagement platform with 2nd-screen TV, creating the concept of ''social television''. Beamly, then called Zeebox, aimed to provide the optimal platform for connected television, making it a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and interactive viewing experience rather than the standard television viewing format. The platform allowed users to follow and interact with their favourite TV shows, as well as play games and take part in polls. It expanded to the US in September 2012 and into Australia in November. Beamly took on funding from

BSkyb Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

, Viacom and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. Its first round valued it at above US$150M. It was sold to the

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listed

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component Coty, Inc. in 2015 for an undisclosed sum.

Business

Zeebox was founded in April 2011 as tBone TV Limited by Anthony Rose, the ex-CTO of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

, and Ernesto Schmitt, entrepreneur and ex-Board Director of

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...

. The founding team also included Simon Miller (CTO), Max Bleyleben (COO), and Alex Nunes. The company was renamed to "Zeebox" in August 2011 prior to its public launch in November of that year. It launched in IOS in December.

Concept & Social integration

Zeebox aimed to provide the optimal platform for connected television, making it a

and interactive viewing experience rather than the standard television viewing format. At first glance, the showed the user what's currently on TV (taking in all the Freeview channels and some premium Sky and

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

ones too), as well as displaying upcoming programmes. Through connecting Zeebox to the user's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

account, the service let the user pick what they were watching, as well as see what their Zeebox-using Facebook friends were watching, invite them to watch something "with" the user, instant message them or hide what you're watching with them.

Smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart T ...

integration made use of the

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

app as a

remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...

Entry into international markets

United States expansion

In August 2012, it was announced that Zeebox would be expanding to the

. It launched that September on

IOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android. It launched with strategic investments from Comcast, as well as from NBC Universal. The startup also partnered with HBO to provide customised experiences around its own HBO original shows. For Comcast customers, the Zeebox app was available as a universal remote control, allowing users to quickly switch over to shows that they discover in the app. Zeebox contained enhanced pages for 307 shows across 28 different NBC Universal networks.

Australian expansion

In November 2012, Zeebox launched in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. This was part of a joint venture in

with

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

and

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

., In Australia, the app had been downloaded more than 350,000 times in 3 months, according to Network Ten's chief operating officer, Jon Marquard.

Advertising

Zeebox had extensive advertising campaigns including Jordan Klepper; many of which poked fun at " TV giants". Featuring three 30 second TV ads, the campaigns featured Zeebox as TV's new sidekick, with TV sulking because ‘little brother’ zeebox is getting all the attention.

Beamly

The company had 2 million active users by 2014, when it relaunched its website and iOS and Android apps on 14 April as Beamly, using further features that aimed to get people logging in throughout the day to chat about their favourite shows.

Changes

The Beamly platform encouraged people to "follow" individual TV shows,

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

and other Beamly users, before serving them up a feed of activity and show recommendations. Shows each had their own "TV rooms" within the app where fans can chat throughout the day, and interact live with games, polls and other features when they're on air. The relaunch was also an attempt to respond to shifting TV habits, as people watch more shows on-demand, including from providers like Netflix as well as traditional broadcasters.

Usage

In the 12 months from its relaunch in 2014, Beamly went from 2 million active users to over 10 million. Trials lifted audience engagement by 72 per cent month on month. Usage data showed that Beamly helped turn fans into super users, who on average visited the platform for more than 500 minutes and 21 times per week. In 2012, the app was opened about 27 times each month per user in the U.K., with each session lasting somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes apiece. During this time, Beamly was surpassing television chatting figures on sites such as

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Investments

In January 2012,

BSkyB Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...

bought a 10% stake in Zeebox and announced plans to integrate the software with its offering. This stake was reportedly worth upwards of $15M, valuing the company at over $150M. In September 2012, Zeebox announced expansion into the US with a commercial partnership with

Cable,

, Viacom and

. Viacom took a stake in October 2012, as well as Comcast and

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

in September 2012.

Later History

COTY acquisition

In October 2015, Beamly was acquired by COTY for an undisclosed amount. Through this acquisition, Beamly – now headed by Jason Forbes, evolved into a

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

and technology business with gross revenues exceeding $120M and a global team of over 180. In October 2016, Coty, Inc. acquired $12.5B of Procter & Gamble's beauty brands, making it the largest fragrance manufacturer in the world. Coty used Beamly's technology to accelerate growth of its eCommerce business, while emerging as a digital beauty brand. In December 2019 it was announced that Coty was overhauling Beamly, with the possibility of dissolving the company.

Awards

The company has won the following awards: * "App of the year" at the T3 Gadget Awards, 2012 * "The companion screen prize" at the Connected TV Awards, 2012 * "Overall Winner" at the Connected TV Awards, 2012 * Netexplo award winner 2012 * "Most Innovative Design Or User Interface" 1TVT Awards 2012 * "Best iPad app of 2012" Mashable, 2012 * Number 5 in the top 50 best iPhone apps, Time, 2013 * "Best Social Mobile or Apps startup" The Europas, 2013 * "Lovie Award Winner / Entertainment: Tablet" The Lovie Awards, 2013 * "Award for Technical Innovation" The DADI Awards, 2019 In 2012, Zeebox was named amongst the Startups 100.

References

Additional source *{{cite web, url=http://www.appmarket.tv/opinion/1229-so-shall-tv-be-disrupted-or-democratised.html, title=So Shall TV Be Disrupted? Or Democratised? Or is That the Same Thing? , author=Richard Kastelein

External links

Website

Web Archive
Semantic Web Software companies of the United Kingdom Social media companies Internet properties established in 2011 2011 establishments in England Coty Inc. 2015 mergers and acquisitions Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Software companies established in 2011 British companies established in 2011 Digital marketing companies of the United Kingdom