Discovery Channel Canada’s flagship science magazine show DAILY PLANET is now available on the App Store.
Working with Toronto-based portable media distribution company mDialog, the DAILY PLANET App for iPhone and iPod touch features daily streamed video clips and a trivia feature that provides users with a new science question with just a shake of the device, developers describe. The app also makes use of location based functionality to offer users a map of the planet showing where they are and where a particular episode of the show was shot.
“Our app for iPhone and iPod touch is an excellent way for us to reach our audience,” said Stephan Argent, CTV’s VP of digital media. “Launching the app with one of the company’s most progressive digital properties, DAILY PLANET, was a great fit, and nicely complements the show’s interactive outreach.”
“DAILY PLANET’s short form content is perfect for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Paul Lewis, president and general manager, Discovery Channel Canada. “We’re really excited about the potential of this app to build an even deeper and more dynamic connection with our audience.”
mDialog is a video platform that provides media publishers and advertisers with a turnkey solution to manage and deliver video content and integrated video advertising that is relevant to the iPhone audience. The technology uses Apple's MPEG4 H.264 video standard, and its mLoader lets users convert and upload high quality and large video files into compressed ones without losing any of their presence. Users may also download their videos to their iPods, iPhones, and even AppleTV.
The mDialog Platform is also capable of dynamically inserting geo-targeted video ads into a VOD or live video stream by taking advantage of the latest capabilities of the iPhone-notably, Apple's new HTTP Adaptive Video Streaming technology-and brings to market previously unavailable features that advertisers, media publishers and the iPhone/iPod touch audience will soon find indispensable.
For media publishers, HTTP adaptive video streaming technology allows video content to load faster and adjust in quality in real time according to network strength, thereby boosting the iPhone user experience-and the mDialog offering is one of the first to exploit the full capabilities of this technology.
For advertisers, the mDialog platform includes geo-targeted dynamic video ad insertion-a unique proposition that no other VaaS provider can currently match. The ability to dynamically insert video ad content based on the actual location of the iPhone, integrated with DoubleClick, allows advertisers and marketers to engage iPhone users like never before.
mDialog has announced two new partnerships with content delivery network Akamai and ad network DoubleClick.
"We are extremely pleased the first CTV app is powered by mDialog,” said Greg Philpott, president and founder, mDialog. “Discovery Channel Canada and mDialog wanted to provide the DAILY PLANET audience with a truly interactive, mobile experience that uses the unique feature set of the revolutionary iPhone and iPod touch."
The @dailyplanetshow twitter feed is integrated directly into the app so users can keep in touch with show producers and tweet updates to a Twitter profile without ever leaving the app.
The DAILY PLANET app is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
DAILY PLANET is the internationally award-winning flagship show of Discovery Channel Canada. Now in its 14th season,
Discovery Channel is one of the first Canadian specialty channels to offer programs in HDTV and its production house, Exploration Production Inc. (EPI), continues to be internationally recognized as a producer of cutting-edge programming with distribution to more than 150 countries. Discovery Channel is a CTV property.
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