Viggle, a company that has developed a second-screen platform that offers rewards for watching TV shows, has appointed Christopher Traynor to chief technology officer amid a broader expansion of Viggle’s engineering team.
In addition to overseeing Viggle’s technology strategy and managing the company’s relationships with vendors, Traynor is also tasked with heading up Viggle LABS, a second-screen initiative that is responsible for the company’s AppJam Challenge, a competition aimed at creating TV companion apps for the Viggle platform.
Traynor most recently served as chief architect/ CTO for IPC Inc. He’s also late of CNET, Vignette and what was once known as NBCi.
Viggle said Traynor is one of multiple hires made recently in the area of engineering as the company looks to expand the reach and capabilities of its platform.
“As Viggle approaches the three-million registered user mark, we are scaling our engineering talent to continue our growth,” Greg Consiglio, Viggle president and COO, said, in a statement. “We expect to dramatically enhance the consumer value proposition and what the Viggle brand stands for over the coming months. The addition of Chris and others is exactly what we needed to help achieve our vision.”
Viggle, which awards items such as Starbucks and Foot Locker gift cards, tried to expand through acquisition last fall via a $59 million cash and stock offer for competing firm GetGlu. That proposed deal fell through in January after Viggle failed to raise convertible debt financing to fund the acquisition.
But it's seen revenues and usage rise since then. In February, Viggle posted a fiscal second quarter adjusted EBITDA loss of $6.45 million on revenues of $3.87 million, up 88% from the previous quarter. The company said it had 1.85 million registered users through the end of January 2013. It also had 548,529 “active users” (those who have earned or redeemed points in the month) by January, up from 233,607 in October 2012.
Among its recent social media/TV loyalty campaigns, Viggle is giving members chances to check in and win bonus points and product discounts during the 2013 NBA playoffs.
