Viggle Acquires GetGlue For $25M Plus 48.3M In Shares To Expand Social TV Presence

GetGlue, social TV app maker with 3 million+ users under its belt, has just entered into an agreement to be acquired by Viggle, a TV loyalty service. The cash and stock deal states that Viggle will pay $25 million in cash and 48.3 million shares of stock for GetGlue.

All 34 GetGlue employees, including founder and CEO Alex Iskold, will migrate over to Viggle, with Iskold taking a senior executive position and a spot on the board of directors.

To be clear, GetGlue has raised a total of $24 million in the past. The $25 million in cash from the acquisition gets a significant bump, however, from all those Viggle shares. In any case, the real play here is the merger of these products. The sum is much greater than the parts.

In case you’re unfamiliar with these companies, they’re quite the match made in heaven. GetGlue has an app that lets users check-in and socialize while watching TV, and their 3 million users prove just how much demand there is for a well-executed product in this space.

On the other hand, Viggle (which launched just a year ago) uses audio verification technology to reward users for loyally returning to their favorite TV shows, whether they’re live or on DVR. Users can then redeem points for real-world prizes from Hulu Plus, Fandango, Best Buy, Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s what Viggle CEO and executive chairman Robert Sillerman had to say about it:

With this deal, we are combining very experienced and creative product, engineering and management teams that will continue to build great user experiences and provide industry leading platforms for consumers, networks and advertisers. We will also be vastly increasing the Viggle user base and quadrupling our network partnerships. Viggle and GetGlue users can look forward to using the apps they have come to love as we add new and appealing features made possible by the combined resources of this clear industry leader.

Combining GetGlue’s expertise in social TV with Viggle’s huge loyalty platform should put the new Viggle in a prime position for TV domination as the living room becomes more and more cluttered with second and third screens.