Shazam and Syfy Partner to Make ‘Being Human’ First Taggable TV Series

NEW YORK - January 20, 2011 – Shazam, the world’s leading mobile discovery provider, has partnered with Syfy to launch the first, series-long ‘TV Tagging’ initiative with the cable channel’s new, original scripted series, Being Human.

An on-screen promotional campaign encourages viewers to download the Shazam application onto their mobile device and to watch Being Human every Monday night at 9PM ET/PT on Syfy.

The Shazam logo is embedded into the program so that users can tag the show. Viewers simply ‘touch to Shazam’ and hold their phone up to the TV to tag the specific episode.  Shazam recognizes the episode and delivers a customized Tag result to the viewers’ mobile device with links to exclusive video and previews of upcoming episodes, access to exclusive playlists from the series, downloads and the chance to enter the ‘Being Human Shazam Sweepstakes’ at Syfy.com.

“Giving Syfy viewers the chance to ‘Tag the TV’ with Shazam taps into the fact that the majority of viewers are watching their favorite shows with a second screen at their fingertips.  Shazam is bridging the gap between mobile devices and the TV, engaging and retaining the attention of TV audiences beyond the live broadcast,” said Jonathan Symons, Executive Vice-President, Business Development, Shazam.

Shazam and Syfy partnered in September last year to pilot the ‘TV Tagging’ concept with season finales of Warehouse 13 and Eureka. Shazam has also extended the concept to work with TV advertising, partnering with companies such as Levis’ Dockers, during the SuperBowl.  This new initiative is the first series-long commitment by a broadcaster.

“The audience reaction to ‘TV Tagging’ on Syfy with Shazam was immediate and impressive, providing new opportunities for our advertising partners,” said Blake Callaway, Senior Vice President, Brand and Strategic Marketing, Syfy.  “After researching the viewers’ reaction and their willingness to engage with this new technology and embrace a whole new behavior – tagging the TV - we knew we had to extend the concept to a whole series.”

Shazam and Syfy will also connect music fans to the new artists and bands being showcased on Being Human, such as Sea Wolf, Wintersleep, Royal Wood, Hannah Georges and We Are the City. The songs will be available to identify through Shazam, then download and stream or purchase through partner sites.

The first of Syfy’s one-hour Being Human episodes premiered Monday, January 17, at 9PM (ET/PT) and the series runs for 13 weeks. 3.8 million viewers overall tuned in to watch the show on its premiere night.

In Being Human, vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer), ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath) and werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington) share their secrets and a Boston brownstone. Together they try their best to be human while navigating the complexities of living double lives. Mark Pellegrino (Lost) co-stars as Bishop, Aidan's charismatic but menacing vampire mentor. View the on-air promo here.

Being Human is a Muse Entertainment production in association with ZODIAK USA and is based on the acclaimed UK series, Being Human, created by Toby Whithouse and produced by Touchpaper.

Shazam has more than 100 million users worldwide, with over 25 million of these on the iPhone and iPod touch and more than 5 million on Android.  Shazam is adding more than one million new users every week.

For consumers who don't yet have the Shazam application on their smartphone, it can be found on iTunes App Store, Android Market, the Ovi Store by Nokia, Windows Phone Marketplace, BlackBerry App World,  Verizon VCast app store,  AT&T’s MEdia Mall, and GetJar.