Screenz will collaborate with Google to increase interactivity on television

The first program to use Screenz's real-time platform will be 'Rising Star', Keshet International's television hit that will be launched in more than 25 countries, including the United States on the North American network ABC on June 22.

Israel's Screenz will collaborate with Google to host its live interactive platform for TV shows, which will allow TV networks and format owners to transform shows into live events.

The first program that will use the Screenz real-time platform is Rising Star, Keshet International's television hit, which first aired in Israel in September 2013 and will launch in more than 25 countries, including the United States on ABC on June 22.

Rising Star is a pioneering interactive television format that marks a new era of home entertainment. The program allows viewers to vote in real time from their sofas at home using an innovative mobile application, fully integrated into the program. It is the first talent show in which the viewer can judge from start to finish.

The show features artists making their solo debut on stage, from behind a giant wall of television screens. They can only advance to the studio presence phase if they get more than 70% of the votes from viewers, the jury and the live audience. Viewers can see the result of their vote in real time and, if their vote is positive, they have the chance to have their photo appear on the giant wall. If a contestant reaches 70% of the votes, the wall rises dramatically to reveal the studio audience and panel of experts.

Rising-Star The collaboration between Screenz and Google offers the infrastructure to process an enormous number of interactions per second and, so far, has been successfully used to boost the program in Brazil, Portugal and Israel, processing more than 100 million interactions per minute.

Screenz is collaborating with broadcasters and television production companies around the world to leverage its unique real-time platform to create and support innovative new formats. The proven advantage of the platform for broadcasters is how it manages to increase the level of viewer involvement with the program, at the exact moment it is being broadcast. The system also enables sophisticated audience segmentation, allowing broadcasters and marketers to effectively identify viewers' interests and demographics.

Eli Uzan, CEO of Screenz, maintains that "broadcasters and producers are constantly looking for new formats that allow them to directly engage with television audiences. Using Google Cloud Platform, Screenz will offer them the ability to break the rules and combine engaging live content with real-time audience interaction."

Daniel Powers, Director of Google Cloud Platform comments that "Screenz is at the forefront of a revolution that is changing the way we watch television. We are delighted that they have chosen to build their groundbreaking products on Google Cloud Platform. Our mission is to ensure that the technology underlying the real-time platform works seamlessly so that the only worry viewers have is deciding who they are going to vote for."

Screenz's real-time platform uses Google Compute Engine, Google Cloud Storage, and Google BigQuery, all of which are included in Google Cloud Platform. The application is deployed entirely on Google's cloud infrastructure to provide scalability and robustness. The needs of the local station and the audience will always be satisfied, even if several countries are broadcasting the same program live at the same time. With BigQuery, Screenz can provide broadcasters with the ability to analyze the large amounts of data collected.