Producer Mark Burnett invests in Youtoo

Some technology and entertainment companies expect "social TV" to be the next wave in digital entertainment.

That means money has been flowing to start-up ventures that investors hope will become the next Facebook, Twitter or Zynga. On Thursday, Dallas technology company Youtoo (not related to YouTube) announced that Mark Burnett, the television producer behind "Survivor" and "Celebrity Apprentice," has made an undisclosed equity investment in the venture, which launched in September 2011.

Youtoo makes interactive TV and games for the television industry. Last year it launched its social network, Youtoo.com, and Youtoo TV, a cable channel available in about 15 million homes. Users can record 15-second videos of themselves on Youtoo.com and submit them to run on the television channel.  

Chris Wyatt, chief executive of Youtoo, said Burnett hopes to incorporate Youtoo's interactive features into some of his TV productions. Youtoo plans to license its technology to TV networks and producers so they can augment their shows with interactive elements. The additional platform is designed to serve as a vehicle for advertising.

Burnett has been getting increasingly interested in the digital entertainment space. He also invested in Vimby -- short for Video in My Backyard -- a network of producers who create original short form video for the Web, segments for television and sponsored programming for major advertisers.

"In the next few months, you are going to see an entire pipeline of producers who will be using our technology," Youtoo's Wyatt predicted.

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Photos: Top: Producer Mark Burnett, center, is flanked by Vimby CEO Dean Waters and Vimby Chief Creative Officer David Goffin at Sony Studios in Culver City in 2011. Credit:  Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Lower right: Youtoo CEO Chris Wyatt. Credit: Youtoo

Oscars 2012: A hit in social media

 

Although the 84th Annual Academy Awards came across decidedly old school in its television broadcast, the event delivered high marks in new media. 

Sunday's Oscar ceremony generated 3.8 million comments on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, according to data generated by Cambridge, Mass.-based Bluefin Labs. That made this year's awards show the second most talked-about entertainment event on TV since the company began measuring and analyzing social media traffic several years ago.

CBS' telecast of the Grammy Awards this month was the undisputed champ with 13 million social media comments. The third most popular awards event was last year's MTV Video Music Awards with 3.1 million comments, according to Bluefin Labs.

The ABC television network, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and advertisers stepped up their social media campaigns promoting the Oscars this year, in large part, to keep the TV ratings high. Their efforts appeared to have paid off with Nielsen's estimates that more than 39 million viewers tuned in -- an increase of 1.4 million people compared with last year's show. 

Comments on social media sites surrounding Sunday's ceremony and red carpet arrivals surged nearly 300% over last year's gala. In 2011, there were fewer than 1 million comments. The trend suggests that more people are turning to social media outlets while watching TV by using a "second screen" -- a tablet, smartphone or laptop computer -- to stay connected to their friends and followers who are also watching TV.

Bluefin Labs' analysis found that the gender breakdown for the social media pundits was roughly in line with the composition of the TV audience. An estimated 57% of those who commented were women; men made up 43%.

It was more difficult to ascertain the mood of commenters. Bluefin found that 22% of the comments about the Oscars were positive, 16% negative and 62% neutral.

Peaks in the social media traffic came at somewhat predictable intervals.  The most talked-about moment came at the end of the evening when the nearly silent film, "The Artist," won for best picture. The second most popular portion was the presentation of three awards by Tina Fey and Bradley Cooper -- two crowd-pleasing comedians particularly popular with the social media demographic. 

The pair was on screen several minutes, presenting honors for film editing, won by "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," and sound editing and sound mixing, both won by Martin Scorsese's 3-D family film "Hugo."

Octavia Spencer's emotional acceptance speech for supporting actress for her performance in "The Help" was the third most popular highlight in social media. Remarks about Spencer ranked highest in terms of "most positive." 

And even though, at age 82, Christopher Plummer would seem to be well beyond the Facebook demographic, his win for supporting actor in "Beginners" registered as the fourth most buzzed-about Oscar moment. 

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Photo: Octavia Spencer, escorted by Christian Bale, after Spencer's win for supporting actress for her performance in "The Help." Credit:  Al Seib / Los Angeles Times