We can well dominate the second screen market in India: iCouchApp's Rabi Gupta

With a rise in the number of popular shows on television and a parallel rise in viewership along with the growth in the digital space, there has been a certain pattern of increasing interactions amongst people who watch the same shows. Thus the want for a community of sorts, where people with similar interests (in this case TV shows) could exchange their views and stay updated was inevitable.

Stemming from this basic thought is one of the latest applications on the Android platform iCouchApp, which helps TV viewers engage with the programs they are watching, get TVprogram alerts and have loads of fun while they are at it.  This app provides an exclusive and seamless platform to engage around TV shows.

iCouchApp is India's first application that enables Social Networking for Television. It was developed by the Founders ofiDubba - Rabi Gupta & Ashish Kumar in May 2013. A must for all TV show fanatics, iCouch while bridging the gap between the channels and the audience, also adds a layer of complete engagement in real time while the show is on air. It thereby plans to change the way television is consumed in India.

With already a strong user-base of 25,000+ downloads and 18000 official registered users only on the Android platform,iCouchApp is looking at an iOS release in a month. Angel Funded by group of investors including Rajan Anandan, Head, Google India; Srikant Sastri, Abhishek Rungta/Pallav Nadhani,iCouchApp let's you play alongside shows like Comedy Nights with Kapil, Bigg Boss and KBC via your mobile phones.

While in conversation with Adgully, Rabi Gupta, CEO,iCouchApp shared some in-depth insights about the app with respect to its need and growth.

Speaking about the rationale and need behind launching an applike this, Gupta said, "We realized that lot of people engage around TV shows while watching it. Most of such engagement happens around social networks, chatting apps or TV channel apps or even privately. There are few problems in this- one, its scattered and two there is no real connect. No connect among viewers of similar taste and no "real" connect with TV channels too and that is how we came up with the iCouchApp idea."

Initially it was all about live TV chat while watching your favorite TV shows (initially with only partner shows). But now they have extended this to a complete TV interaction app with polls, contests, leaderboard, TV buddies, stickers etc. The icing on the cake is that live TV chats can be moderated and shown on TV too. They have done this with Zee Cafe, Zee ETC and HistoryTV18. Hence the basic idea is to make one engaging platform which brings all the crazy fans and viewers of the show as well as TV channels on the same platform.

iCouchApp completely changes the way television is consumed, as now there is a 3rd party engagement, an interaction which helps build further curiosity and interest towards a particular show.

Elaborating on the above stated point, Gupta said, "Till today most of the TV viewing has been passive, although the kind of buzz which is generated around TV has always been huge ,itbeing the biggest media consumption medium. Smart phones are another fast growing device for media consumption and best part about them is that they are connected to internet. Usage of smart devices while watching a program on TV has been increasing by leaps and bounds, people mostly use it to- search more about a program, watch videos/images of the program and discuss about the program with friends or communities.”

The question that arises now is   how supportive are the channels/broadcasters towards an application like this, as it most definitely helps their cause. Answering that, Gupta said, "It depends but the good news is that TV channels understand the need of being present both over social networks and now on smart phones. The only challenge is to convince them to talk about a third party brand. Some channels understand this and appreciate the product by showing a live ticker. Some don't."
However very recently they have changed their strategy slightlyand the existing TV channel Apps are being empowered by theiCouchApp platform. The latest Dance India Dance App too is powered by iCouchApp and has seen amazing traction till now.

Well not only the broadcasters but the audience too has been adaptive to the new concept and the secret sauce has been thelive chat ticker. As audiences see their chats live on TV within seconds of responding on the app, it helps in building the trust and then more users come in via word of mouth."One importantthing to understand here is that we are not trying to create a newbehaviour, we are just tapping into the existing behaviour ofmodern users. The response has been really great," he adds.

There is no doubt about the fact that in the era that we are living in news about the launch of any app spreads like fire. Bypartnering with TV channels and asking them to put their ticker on Television (as a barter for using the App and getting the user analytics) has also added value for iCouchApp in terms ofpromoting itself.  Explaining further about their promotional strategies Gupta said, "In some cases we also do targeted App installation ads. In App features like- Add buddy to unlock a sticker and 10 free SMS invites also drive registrations and engagement.”

Some shows that have given fantastic results till date have been: Grey's Anatomy (partnered with Zee Cafe), Splitsvilla(partnered with MTV), Ancient Aliens (partnered with History TV), India Vs Pak ICC Champions trophy match (non partnered), KBC- Watch and play (non partnered), Bigg Boss- Enact as contestants (non partnered) and Dance India Dance (White labelled app for Zee TV powered by iCouchAppplatform).

Concluding an informative and interesting conversation Gupta said, "We have a long long way to go, both in terms of getting TV channels on board as well as getting the engagement going. But if we can continue with the pace at which we are growing we can very well dominate the second screen market in India."