• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 30, 2012

DirecTV has an arrangement with Viggle that will provide rewards to viewers of the satellite provider. Viggle, a sort of loyalty program for TV viewing, gives viewers a chance to accumulate points through checking in while watching.

Viggle was founded by Robert F.X. Sillerman, the media entrepreneur who has had interests in “American Idol” and the Elvis estate.

DirecTV viewers will be able to earn movie tickets, gift cards and other prizes or make donations to charities. Viggle, which runs on iOS and Android platforms, has an advertising component. Points can be accumulated for interacting with an ad.

Launched in January, the publicly traded Viggle was known as Function(x) until changing its name. Part of the deal has DirecTV and Viggle each giving the other marketing opportunities on their platforms.

Alex Kaplan, a vice president in marketing at DirecTV, stated the arrangement is a “first step of our agreement with Viggle and we expect more enhancements for our customers will follow."

Viggle recently gave third parties access to its platform to help networks build second-screen opportunities such as polls and games.