Are You Watching This?!

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Are You Watching This?!
Ruwt-logo.png
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Technology
FoundedAustin, Texas United States (2006 (2006))
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Founder(s)
  • Mark Phillip
IndustrySports
Employees1
URLareyouwatchingthis.com
RegistrationRequired to receive alerts
Current statusActive

Are You Watching This?! (RUWT?![1]) is an Austin, Texas-based Sports Excitement Analytics company that uses algorithms to identify sporting events that viewers would find exciting or compelling. It was founded by Mark Phillip, an African-American MIT Computer Science Major.[2]

Overview[]

RUWT?! was founded in 2006,[3] launched publicly in 2007,[4] and was bootstrapped[5] by Phillip, its sole employee.[6]

The service uses algorithms to analyze live game data to determine if games are exciting,[7] identifying events like rivalries[8] or upsets.[9] The opinions of the service's 25,000 "Super Fans" add a subjective influence to the overall excitement rating of each game.[10] The ratings for each game range from zero to infinity, bucketed into OK, GOOD, HOT, and EPIC ranges.[11] When a game hits an excitement "crescendo", the website sends email and text alerts to subscribers.[12] Their sole competitor is Thuuz.[6]

Despite having a consumer-facing website, the company focuses on licensing excitement data via its API to larger companies.[9][6] Comcast is one such customer, and the company's data is used by millions of Xfinity X1 subscribers.[5] The API also includes DVR Extender, Natural Language, and Video Highlight functionality.[13] Other customers include Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Telstra Communications, and Turner Sports.[5]

A patent for a Rating system for identifying exciting sporting events and notifying users was filed by RUWT?! in 2007 and was granted on August 23, 2016.[14] The patent expires on July 17, 2033.[14] As of July 2017, Are You Watching This?! was in patent licensing discussions with Thuuz.[15]

References[]

  1. ^ Daw, David (October 23, 2011). "10 Twitter Bot Services to Simplify Your Life". PCWorld. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  2. ^ "Mark Phillip LinkedIn". Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. ^ Naone, Erica (January 28, 2011). "Catching Classic Sports Moments as They're Happening". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  4. ^ Porges, Seth (February 5, 2007). "Sports + TVGuide + Digg = RUWT?". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Fisher, Eric (February 27, 2017). "Tech entrepreneur builds data business around sports fans' fear of missing out, especially that epic game". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Harris, Derrick (March 1, 2012). "How one sports geek wants to save cable TV with data". Gigaom. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  7. ^ Naone, Erica (March 15, 2010). "Startups Focus on AI at South by Southwest". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  8. ^ Corazza, Ryan (July 22, 2010). "Service sniffs out timely must-see TV". ESPN. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b McHugh, Molly (March 15, 2012). "Are you watching RUWT?!: The sports app that wants to power better content consumption". Digital Trends. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Heussner, Ki Mae (March 17, 2011). "March Madness: 10 Top Apps for Following the Matchups". ABC News. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  11. ^ Sklarin, Jeff (March 12, 2013). "Are You Watching This Helps Users Never Miss a Moment of Exciting Sports Action". Chat Sports. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  12. ^ Wistrom, Brent (March 18, 2011). "Tech Inclusion: Diverse Entrepreneurs to Watch in Austin". Austin Inno. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  13. ^ "Are You Watching This?! Services". Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rating system for identifying exciting sporting events and notifying users". Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  15. ^ Fisher, Eric (July 10, 2017). "Excitement up for Sportradar partner". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2017.(Subscription required.)

External links[]

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