Bravo Foursquare badges for engagement

Foursquare has announced a partnership with Bravo TV. According to a report in the NYTimes, the deal will:

“…integrate Bravo TV shows with the game aspects of Foursquare, a social networking site that encourages people to interact in the real world. The partnership hopes to engage viewers long after they turn off the television, close their laptops and stop watching Bravo’s TV shows.”

I applaud FourSquare in inking a deal with Bravo as it furthers the reach of the geo-location service into collecting location information surrounding viewership of television programs. So loyal Bravo TV viewers will now be able to watch the Bravo TV and get points and badges for checking in to do so. It is great for the Foursquare brand as it will put them in front of a mainstream audience. Love it.

This deal is great for Bravo as it shows they are staying on top of the hippest tech trends. It could also position Foursquare as a social measure of engagement. It’s not as “game proof” as Tivo or Nielsen quite yet in terms of television engagement metrics, but I definitely think it is could be an interesting fan loyalty program.