Scripps Networks Interactive Selects Echo to Create Online Fan Communities Across All Properties

SAN FRANCISCO - June 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Echo, the first and largest real-time web platform, announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive to create an online community and interactive second screen experience designed to engage viewers across all Scripps’ brands, including HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, and Travel Channel.

Scripps, one of the largest creators of original lifestyle content experiences on the web, has selected the Echo App Management platform to deliver interactive experiences. For example, the Travel Channel is currently using Echo for real-time commenting . All told, the Echo platform will be handling 60 billion live streams per year across all Scripps’ properties.

Eighty-eight percent of tablet owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners use their second screen device while watching TV, according to Nielsen . With the Echo platform, Scripps is tapping into this market by providing its fans with new interactive experiences, including: interactions with talent, programs, and the network as a whole; user-generated content programs; as well as integrations with social TV and on-air experiences. Users can engage across all platforms: web, mobile web, and native iOS and Android apps.

“At Scripps Networks Interactive, we aim to empower and inspire our fans, which is why it was essential for us to identify a platform capable of handling real-time conversations and interactions at such a large scale,” said Phil Usatine, vice president, software engineering. “Echo enables us to create immersive community and social experiences that let us entertain, engage, and inform our users.”

Echo provides a platform and ecosystem of apps that enable the rapid deployment of real-time apps. The platform consists of a stream server to support real-time activity at scale, a backplane server that enables multiple apps on a website to communicate with each other, as well as a key value storage server.

“Our partnership with Scripps represents a significant platform investment by a major media brand. When it comes to deploying a successful user-packed second screen experience, brands are moving away from point solutions and are looking for a full platform suite, like Echo, that can deliver a seamless, holistic experience across multiple platforms and at scale,” said Khris Loux, CEO and co-founder of Echo.

About Echo
Echo provides the industry’s first and largest real-time web platform, enabling the rapid implementation and scale of applications for social TV, social music, social news, social sports, social commerce and social finance. Brands can leverage the Echo platform to transform their static websites and mobile apps into real-time experiences that significantly boost traffic, increase user engagement, and drive more revenue. A leader in the space, Echo currently serves over 1 billion streams per month for brands including ABC, AMC Networks, ESPN, NASDAQ, NBC News, The Washington Post, Universal Music Group, USA Network and WWE. To learn more, visit www.aboutecho.com.

About Scripps Networks Interactive
Scripps Networks Interactive  is a leading developer of lifestyle-oriented content for television, the Internet and emerging platforms, where on-air programming complements online video, social media areas and e-commerce components on companion Web sites and broadband vertical channels. The company's lifestyle media portfolio comprises popular lifestyle television and Internet brands HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. Scripps Networks Interactive is based in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Nashville, Tenn. and Chevy Chase, Md.