• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 29, 2014

Consolidation continues in the social TV space as Viggle on Wednesday announced acquiring Dijit Media, which makes the NextGuide app for creating personalized TV viewing guides. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Viggle, which offers rewards for checking into TV shows and listening to music through its own app, plans to integrate Dijit’s NextGuide technology into its own service. That includes the app’s Reminder Button, an embeddable widget that allows users to set reminders via email, text messages or app alerts when a favorite show is about to air.

Once fully incorporated with Viggle, NextGuide users will be able to earn Viggle points toward real-world rewards just by setting reminders. “The addition of Dijit’s exclusive features that can help audiences search for and then be reminded of what is on and when, and even control their DVR from anywhere, means fans never have to miss their favorite shows or movies,” stated Greg Consiglio, president and COO of Viggle, in the release.

He said the company would decide in the coming months whether NextGuide would remain as a stand-alone app. 

The deal comes amid increasing contraction among niche apps designed to capitalize on the rise of second-screen activity on smartphones and tablets while people watch TV. With Twitter emerging as the dominant platform for social chatter around TV shows, it has become more difficult to make the case for a slew of specialized TV companion apps.

Dijit Media itself bought social TV startup Miso last year, while TV check-in service GetGlue was acquired late last year by iTV and rebranded as TVtag. (A Viggle deal for GetGlue in 2012 ended up falling through.) But Viggle last month did buy Wetpaint, an online publisher that focuses on coverage of TV shows and celebrity news.

With its purchase of Dijit and Wetpaint, Viggle appears to be building out its content offerings and features to better compete in the social TV arena with deep-pocketed players, like Twitter and Shazam, which closed a $40 million funding round last July. Earlier this month, Viggle filed for an IPO, but didn’t indicate how many shares it plans to sell. Its stock is currently traded on the Pink Sheets.

Combined with Dijit and Wetpaint, Viggle said it had 17 million active monthly users as of December. The vast majority comes from Wetpaint. Viggle had almost 475,000 monthly active users as of the end of September, according to an AP report, citing its iPO filing. NextGuide had 160,000 active monthly users as of December.

Digit’s eight employees will join Viggle under the deal between the two San Francisco-based companies.