Sillerman strikes again!

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AD AGE has an article about a new TV loyalty program called “Viggle.”

It’s the latest brainchild of Robert F.X. Sillerman whose record of making money for investors in his various media companies — and for himself — is legendary.

*(Full disclosure: I once served as the Chief Programming Officer for Mr. Sillerman’s first radio company, Legacy Broadcasting.)

I have no idea whether Viggle will be the game-changer some think it will be.

My interest is in the “…audio recognition technology that can tell what you’re watching…”

The program is an app, initially for Apple mobile devices, but soon to expand to Android as well, based on the well-researched fact that most people are engaged in other activities, usually on a mobile device, whether an iPhone or an iPad, while watching TV programs.

If this technology can tell what TV program you’re watching based on audio recognition, why can’t it be adapted to tell what radio station you’re hearing — not on your phone, but on your car radio, or your stream at work?

And if it can do that, can’t it — potentially — eventually compete with Aribtron as an audience measurement tool?

We all know mobile phones are ubiquitous, the one device virtually everyone under the age of 60, has with them at all times.

Yes, we could also devise special loyalty programs, as TV will do — but my main interest is in better, more statistically reliable, more accurate radio ratings.

You can read the article HERE. Let me know what you think.