Are You Watching This?!

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]

Are You Watching This?!
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

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. 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. 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. 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. "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.)
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