Viggle Live: Watch American Idol This Week & Earn Up to 500 Points (+ Reader’s Experience)

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If you’re planning on watching American Idol tonight, don’t forget to earn points through Viggle!  I’ve posted a few times now about Viggle, a FREE app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad that rewards you for watching TV regularly, and I’m still amazed at all the positive comments and emails that I continue to receive regarding this cool app! 🙂 In fact, check out the email and photo I recently received from reader Kelli:

My husband and I downloaded the Viggle app after seeing it posted on Hip2Save. Right away we were hooked. We decided to have a common goal and started saving our points for Best Buy gift cards. One month after installing the app, we had $175 in Best Buy Gift Cards! We could have kept going and paid nothing out of pocket, but the Tv was on sale for $279 (reg $399!). We were so proud of ourselves for saving so much money, all thanks to Viggle & Hip2Save!

Remember, with Viggle, you will earn points just for watching your favorite TV shows and can then redeem your points for rewards – and your points can really add up!  Some of the rewards include FREE music downloads, Fandango movie tickets, gift cards to stores/restaurants like CVS, Target, Chili’s, Starbucks’, Best Buy, Old Navy, Burger King, Sephora, and lots more!

With that being said, be sure to download this FREE app and use it while watching TV this week!  If you’re a regular Viggle user, what rewards have you scored?

(Thanks, Kel!)

Join The Discussion

Comments 194

  1. emily

    I absolutely love this app it is so easy to use and requires no effort to get all the points!

  2. chris

    Got 4 pairs of jeans and a tshirt from JCP yesterday for 10 bucks!

  3. sarah

    Have gotten $75 in Amazon gift cards (can you say free diapers shipped straight to my door!! 🙂 Also gotten about another $75 in CVS (more free diapers, paper towels, shampoo, ect) movie tickets, starbucks, and $25 for Lowes home improvement project this past weekend 🙂 Loooooving Viggle

  4. mary g.

    viggle is soooo awesome!!!

  5. Cindy

    Viggle is easy to use and pays better than surveys (with a lot less effort). I started using the app six weeks ago. I’ve cashed out $75 in Amazon gift cards, $100 in Best Buy gift cards, and have enough points in my account to redeem another $50. After going to Best Buy and using the e-gift cards to purchase $100 of Amazon cards, I was able to combine all of my earnings with some survey money and purchase a Canon Powershot SX40 camera that Amazon put on sale for a few hours. I’m very happy!

    I don’t know if it’s been mentioned before, but people need to keep in mind that if you redeem $600 or more in one calendar year, Viggle will send you a 1099 and you’ll have to claim the money on your taxes.

    • Lara

      Hi Cindy,

      Do you know if you can use multiple gift cards at one place in one purchase? For example, Say I redeem 5 x $10 to Gap. So I have a total of $50 to Gap. Could I take all five of those printed out gift cards and use them to purchase $50 of merchandise at one time?

      Thanks!

      • Cindy

        I don’t shop at the Gap, so I don’t know if there’s a limit to the number of gift cards you can use in one purchase. The safest thing would be to call your local store and ask how many e-gift certificates you can use. From what I read on Slickdeals, JCPenney will let you use as many as you want in the store, but has a limit of two for online orders. Best Buy and Target don’t seem to have a limit in store (don’t know about online). The only gift card I’d stay away from is the Burger King card. A lot of people have reported that their local BKs won’t allow them to use the printed e-gift certificate.

        • Lara

          Thanks for your response Cindy! I will check with a local Gap store :).

        • Lara

          Cindy,
          Also, do you know if you can use multiple gift cards on Sephora.com? I see someone commented they used 4 gift cards at once online but I don’t know if you can really do this or not.

          Thanks!

  6. Mike

    How is everyone getting Amazon gift cards? I have never seen that as an option for a reward on this app.

    • Cindy

      Amazon gift cards have been offered only a few times. I happened to be lucky and redeemed for the $25 cards a few weeks ago. The last time they had Amazon cards was February 26 and they sold out within a couple of hours. A lot of people have posted on Facebook and Twitter that they want this reward to come back, but Viggle has been ignoring the requests. The next best thing is to get Best Buy gift cards. You can take them to the store and purchase Amazon Kindle gift cards (which can be used for anything on Amazon, not just Kindle books). I did this on Saturday and it was an easy transaction. Most Best Buy stores have the Amazon cards near the display with Kindles and other tablets.

      • Mike

        Thanks for the tip. I will try that out. I hope that Viggle will listen to the people and bring Amazon as a permanent option.

  7. Katie

    OK, I do not mean to sound like an IDIOT – and I did just install this,… but what if I check in and then only watch half of the show? WOuld I just have to leave the TV on and leave the room to get all the points? And what if I watch Survivor (checked in) but my hubs flips back and forth to American Idol? Which happens every.single.week. Is it possible to check in both places?? (We are a one TV family and really don’t watch alot – but if this works, I’ll leave the TV on while I am in other rooms and my kiddos are napping – hello free $!) Please help advise me! 😉
    Thank you!
    Katie

    • Robin Olson

      U can just check in and flip channel and u still get points right now im checked jnto the revolution but my son is watching little einsteins. You can flip all u wany sometimes i check into one of the shows with more point value and then watch something that i really want to watch. U cant check into 2 shows at the same time though enjoy free money!

      • Katie

        Robin – thank you so so much! That’s what I was HOPING you’d say! 😉

      • Jana

        To get the points, do you have to watch it on live TV, or can it be watched at a later time on DVR?

        • Amanda

          Yeah, I want to know that too, because I don’t watch any live TV.

          • Stacy

            I only get points on some of my dvr shows. I watch a lot of recorded shows but still have got $30 in rewards in a month. I just check in and see.

            • Melony

              I only watch stuff on the Dvr. I tape the shows with the most points. The only issue that I have found is you want to check your check in, a lot of the time it will put in the wrong episode, so you have to recheck in until it gives you the right one to get the most points.

        • Key

          It’s mostly just live tv…I know it doesn’t work with the On Demand feature…

          • kidnoeight

            they told me you can watch & get the bonus points from shows on the dvr up to a week after they air, but you don’t get the live air points, which are now 1 points per minute

            • Rip

              Hey kidnoeiht, just be careful about the info that you share with Viggle because they say in one part that they don’t share your personal info. Then in the next few lines in they tell you that they do share you personal info!

  8. Katie

    Also, how are you guys getting SO many points SO fast??! Fabulous! Are you just watching TV all day long or are you watching multiple TVs or are you mostly just watching the shows they want you to see with the most points??

    • Cindy

      You can only check in to 12 hours of TV per day and earn up to 12,000 points per day. You receive extra points for watching select shows that have bonus points (you can see these on the Featured Shows pages) and by watching ads.

    • Matthew David

      There are two ways two ways to get points fast. First take advantage of the bonus points they offer for watching featured shows. You only need to check in for 10 minutes per show to get the 200-300 extra points usually offered. Tonight alone you could earn close to 3000 points. Second, watch the sponsored ads over and over.

    • mmyers81

      can you watch any tv shows or just the ones they tell you to watch?

  9. Raquella

    I am so excited! My Grandmother just gave us her old iPad because she got the new iPad. Being a stay at home mom, this is the perfect way for me to earn money for Birthdays/Christmas. Collin, Thank you so much for the post and to everyone for all their helpful comments! I’m getting started now!

  10. Toni

    Does anyone know of an app similar to this one for Android?

    • Cindy

      there isn’t one for Android. Viggle is working on an Android version, but hasn’t released it yet. I’m hoping it will work with Kindle Fire.

  11. Wendy

    I’ve redeemed Papa Johns gift cards, but cannot figure out how to get an email copy of the reward like it says you will. I’m afraid if I get something like CVS, etc, that I won’t be able to use it. Anyone get email copies?

    • Cindy

      Before you redeem another gift card, you need to go into your Viggle account and click on the “resend email confirmation” button. When you get the email, click on the link in it and then you’ll receive reward email from Viggle. This will help you for future rewards. As for the Papa Johns card, you should contact Viggle and let them know you didn’t get that email, but need it to print out the e-gift card.

      • Wendy

        The thing is, I receive other emails from Viggle. And I was able to use the Papa Johns ones online.

        • Cindy

          The same was true for my husband and me. But, we both had to resend the confirmation email in order to receive the reward emails. I think it’s a glitch in Viggle’s system.

    • Stacy

      I’ve never received an email. I cut and paste them to an email. Send it to myself and print it out. I put all like codes together highlight each one and redeem that way. Haven’t had a problem.

  12. Samantha

    $90 in Sephora e-gift certificates (you can enter up to 4 codes at once online even though it only says 1!), $15 at Chili’s, and $15 at Starbucks.

    • conor

      Hello are you sure you can use more than one 10$ sephora gift card? It says in multiple spots on the web page you can only use one at a time.

      Also can you combine the Old Navy/Gap $10 cards in the stores? they are gift cards so it seems like you would be able to

  13. donna dufour

    ijust added this app to my itouch and i only have one show – american idol for today. i can’t find anyother shows to sign up for or watch – where are the others?

    • Stacy

      Just hit the middle check in button. If it doesn’t read they give you a spot where you can type it in

  14. Tab

    Does this count against your data usage? Could I then be billed for going over my data usage I think it is 200MB? Like when you stream music??

    • Cindy

      Yes, it will count against your data usage, especially if you watch the ads. You’re best off using the app over wifi.

    • Christina

      Tab, If you have wifi in your home, just connect your device through the wifi and it will NOT use your data plan, HTH

  15. Lesley

    Is there a way to see which theaters you can use the movie ticket at? Thanks

  16. meghan

    I downloaded viggle to my ipod and itunes. How do I check in? This probably sounds silly, but I can’t figure it out. Thanks!

    • Cindy

      Once you open the app, look at the bottom of your iPod/iPhone screen. You’ll see three icons: What’s On, Check In, and Rewards. Click on Check In, then tap the Viggle logo in the center of the screen. You might want to aim the device at your TV. It’ll give you two tries at checking in with audio. If that doesn’t work, another screen comes up that allows you to type in the name of the show and check in manually.

      • Mtle

        Hi Cindy, i was at the tap to check in screen. I tapped it, it took me to another screen with no wording just a logo and nothing happen. Would you please help. Thank you.

        • Cindy

          You have to tap the screen with the big logo in order to start audio check in.

    • laura s.

      i have no idea -im stuck the same spot.
      i press check in -i tap on the screen where it says tap here to check in. but than it just comes to a screen with just a v and nothing else happens.
      what am i doing wrong

      • Cindy

        You first have to top the check-in icon at the bottom of the screen (which you’ve done). That takes you to another screen with the big V logo. You have to tap that one to start the check-in process.

        • Lindsay

          This happened to me when I used my iPod, but when I plugged my earphones in and hit the logo it was able to “listen” and picked up my show right away and I could check in.

          • Yvonne Bagley

            Thanks it worked for me when I used my headphones!!

  17. Emily

    So far, I have received 2 months free of Hulu Plus, $20 for itunes, $5 Starbucks card, and $15 Target card. AWESOME APP!! 🙂

  18. Helen

    Ok silly question #1 can you close the app once you check in and open up Safari or another app,or does it cancel your check in? And #2 how are people checking in to 2 shows at once. When I do it and I look at my check ins it only shows the show I’m currently watching. Confused…..

    • Cindy

      After you close the app, you can do what you want with your phone. The only way to check out of a check-in is to check in to another show. You can’t be checked in to two shows at the same time. You can check in to one show, then check in to a different show 10 minutes later. Sometimes people do this during prime time when some of the shows have bonus points. You can get the bonus points for those shows as long as you stay checked in for at least 10 minutes.

      • Helen

        Thank you for your help 🙂

      • Key

        Cindy, so are you saying you can get points for a whole show just for checking in for 10 minutes?

        • Cindy

          If you check in to a show, Viggle assumes you’re watching it for the length of the show unless you check in to something else. You could check in and turn off your TV, but Viggle doesn’t know that and will still pay you the points for watching the entire show. Should you check in to a show, then check into a different show 15 minutes later, you’ll receive 30 points for watching 15 minutes of the first show, plus any bonus points the first show might have.

          Now, if you’re watching during prime time, some shows have bonus points (you can see them on the Featured Shows pages). Let’s say two of the bonus point shows are on at 8:00, two at 9:00 and two at 10:00, all with 200-point bonuses. You check in to one of the 8:00 shows, wait 10 minutes (although it’s better to wait 11 or 12 minutes just to be sure), then check in to the second 8:00 show. When 9:00 rolls around, you check in to that time slot’s two bonus point shows at least 10 minutes apart. When it’s 10:00, do the same thing with those two shows. During the three hours of prime time, you would earn approximately 360 points for the shows themselves and 1200 points for the bonuses. Just by checking into only the prime time shows with bonuses for seven days give you at least one $5 gift card every week. If you check in to additional shows and do ads, you can rack up a lot of points fairly quickly.

          • Key

            oh ok…yea i knew i didn’t have to actually watch the show to get the points and that i couldn’t check into 2 at a time. thanks for the bonus point thing tho. I thought you only got that when you played viggle live or watched the ads.

          • mmyers81

            where soes it show bonus points? and what are the prime time shows. sorry im new at this and would love gc toward xmas gifts for my 3 kids. also can you watch any tv shows or the ones that they tell u too? thank you

  19. Katy

    Does anyone know if this is a good app for someone without cable?

    • Janie

      Yes! U can check into the news if u want 🙂 plus, I would say a lil more than half the bonus episodes are on reg. TV. Which are the ones u get more points for.

  20. Tina

    wow after reading all the comments I had to sign up. I just got an Iphone and now I’m starting to have fun. Hope i can earn many points. Thanks for the info. 🙂

  21. Crescent City Couponer

    How many points do you ned to get a $25 Best Buy card?

    • Janie

      37,500

      • Crescent City Couponer

        Thanks.

  22. tara

    This is amazing! Installed the App yesterday evening and have over 3,000 points :). Thanks for posting this, Collin!

    taranpratt.blogspot.com

    • mmyers81

      how do you get so many? do you have to watch only the shows they tell you too or any shows you want to? please help

      • Jerrica Womack

        You can watch shows besides the ones they tell you to! Their featured shows just give you extra ‘bonus’ points. Like everyone said make sure you check into those featured shows for at least 10-11 minutes each and that way you’ll get the most points! After that, you can watch whatever you want! I got about 300 points for watching two Steven Siegel (sc) movies yesterday!

  23. aec2003

    I don’t have an Ipod or Ipad, do you think its worth it to buy one for this?

  24. aec2003

    I don’t have an Ipod or Ipad, do you think its worth it to buy one?

  25. tawarren@sbcglobal.net

    My husband just signed up last night and he already has about 4000 points, taking the quizes and checking into shows…..he wants the itunes money!

  26. Darcy

    Thanks so much for posting this! I am so excited to earn freebies!!

  27. nick

    i have 117,883 points, ipod touch 4gen $206 + 4.88 – $200 gift cards = -$10.88 purchase and 16 movies tickets, 30 dollars for cvs

  28. carrie

    I have redeemed $70 in Starbucks cards so far. I rarely get an e-mail when I redeem so I just load the new card to my Starbucks ad on my phone. I buy a pound of coffee every week and am hoping to pay for my coffee for the year with this awesome app! And since I have gold card status I get a free drink with my now free coffee 🙂

  29. tara

    Has anyone had problems with points crediting? It seemed to work perfectly yesterday but today…I’m not seeing all of my points. I wish they had a section that shows you which points credited and which haven’t…

    taranpratt.blogspot.com

    • Cindy

      Viggle posted on Facebook that it’s experiencing a lag with points being credited and that everyone will receive their points.

    • Rip

      I have also been having problems getting the points that I have earned. It seems that Viggle doesn’t allow you to get all that you may have earned

      • Rip

        Cindy,
        Do you work for Viggle? Because that it not the way it is. In fact I have been keeping track for the last two day and I have not received 1260 points as of right now.

        • Rip

          I also have not received point for the programs that I have watched. So I have no inea of how many points I have not received. I also just updated to the new app as was suggested by the support team. Then find that if you don’t allow Viggle to access you info you won’t be able to get any of your points. They want to access your info even if you are not signed in .

        • Cindy

          No, I don’t work for Viggle. I’ve been using the app since early February. There are a few reasons why your points aren’t crediting. The app sometimes has huge delays in awarding points. It’s worse during prime time and big events, but can happen anytime. I’ve had points earned from a 9 p.m. show not credit until after midnight. Other reasons could be that you checked in to more than 12 hours of shows in one day or you hit the 12,000-point daily limit. For Viggle, the day runs from midnight to midnight EST, which would be 9 p.m to 9 p.m. PST. Also, there have been ongoing problems with some ads not crediting at all. I had that happen this morning with the Wiz Khafila ad for Bing. Some of the ads credited at first, but my husband, son and I all noticed that the ad stopped crediting about an hour later.

          • Rip

            Well mine is now going on the second day of not getting points from programs and adds. I just asked Viggle and they told me tnstaafl I needed to get the new app. With the new app I still didn’t get the points. I also asked about the new app wanting to have me allow the app to access my info even when I am not signed in.
            They do not know anything about it and have to check. This might just be a way for someone to get your ID.
            Be careful.

  30. Yvonne Bagley

    I have a ipod touch 3rd generation and cannot get it to work Does anyone know if the 3rd generation has the external microphone. or can anyone give me some sugggestions cause I really want to use this.

    • nick

      just watch the videos

    • laura s.

      i had to get headphones with a mic. for my touch to work

  31. Lee Ann

    I love this app and if you have some kind of ‘i’ device and watch TV it would be crazy not to use it. Very little effort as several users have mentioned. Word of warning though, it talks about in the ‘terms and conditions’ that Viggle can create ‘tiers’ at any time….which I think means for heavy users it could (potentially) cost you more points for the same rewards a not so heavy user user is getting for less points. Or ‘heavy user’s’ might not accumulate points as quickly….not sure exactly but just a word of caution if you’re saving your points for a big reward (like the Kindle) you might want to rethink it! So far I’ve just redeemed for $5 CVS cards, not quite as good of a deal as the BB cards (and certainly not as glamerous!) but I know I’ll use them and with Q’s it’ll equate to a lot of free stuff at CVS. I would also be careful about posting ‘cheats’ like only checking in for 10 minutes or not actually watching the show. i’m no one’s mother and if you’re doing it I really don’t care but I wouldn’t advertise it. Viggle’s terms and conditions clearly states you can be booted from their service for pretty much any reason. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to anyone for something that’s so easy to earn free money on 🙂

  32. mmyers81

    i am still new at this. do you have to watch the shows they tell you to inorder to get the points or any shows? like my kids love to watch cartoons. would i get sme points for them watching the cartoons if i have it sihned in while they are watching it? i would love to start getting some gc for xmas gifts. thanks.

  33. Rip

    Be careful you may be giving away moe than you think. You may be giving away your ID and who know what. The new app ask for access to all your info even if you are not logged in.

    • Cindy

      If you have an older version of the app in your computer’s iTunes folder (or possibly in the trash), you can delete the new version and restore to the older one. I won’t update to the newest version because I don’t want to give them access to my private data.

      • Rip

        How I wish I hadn’t Updated to the new app.
        I was just looking and don’t find the old version in my iTunes. Is there a folder that I don’t see some where?

        • Cindy

          Were you able to find the folder that holds all of your iTunes apps? If it isn’t in there, you could check your trash. I’ve noticed that when I download the update for the app, the program puts the older version in the trash. You could also try a Google search and see if anyone uploaded the older version to a file sharing site.

          • Rip

            Cindy,
            It looks like this didn’t post to you for some reason. I also don’t see the earler posting about the folder here. Must be it’s just not my day.
            I have looked all over the web for a site that I was told that might be out there. That may have the old version of Viggel that could be downloaded.
            I ‘m just not going to take a chance that Viggle will use my perssonal info or that this is an idenity theft scam of some kind. I have asked the VIGGLE suppport staff to let me know what’s going on. I have e-mailed the twice today with no reply. Now I yhink I should just cash in my 200000 points and get out before someone steals my info. With Viggle not getting back to me it just doesn’t MAKE ME ALL WARM AND FUZZY.

  34. Rip

    I just asked Viggle and they told me I needed to get the new app. With the new app I still didn’t get the points. I also asked about the new app wanting to have me allow the app to access my info even when I am not signed in.
    They do not know anything about it and have to check. This might just be a way for someone to get your ID and all your personal info.

    Be careful.

  35. Rip

    Cindy,
    Thanks for all your help. This is my first mac product and I’m still leaning about how it works. I have looked for my trash and don’t find it. Is it hidden someplace that I have not look yet?

    • Rip

      Cindy,
      I have looked all over the web for a site that I was told that might be out there. That may have the old version of Viggel that could be downloaded. I
      I ‘m just not going to take a chance that Viggle will use my perssonal info or that this is an idenity theft scam of some kind. I have asked the VIGGLE suppport staff to let me know what’s going on. I have e-mailed the twice today with no reply. Now I yhink I should just cash in my 200000 points and get out before someone steals my info. With Viggle not getting back to me it just doesn’t MAKE ME ALL ARM AND FUZZY.

  36. Autumn

    If you guys do the math the kindle offer is so NOT worth it… It’s $200 on amazon and ridiculous amount of points on the app… vs. getting amazon gc’s or BB gc’s … I’ll leave the math to you! 😉

  37. Rob

    viggle viggle viggle viggle viggle YEAH!

  38. Liv

    I put my ipod touch up to the tv when I am watching a tv show and click check in on my viggle app and it doesnt do anything, and it doesnt give me any points! plz help!

  39. Helen

    is it possible to use multiple amazon gift cards on the website or do i have to stick with bb cards if i were to save up for a new itouch? or shouldi saveup points and get it directly off of viggle?

  40. Lee

    Won’t let me upload a file to submit the required photo and so I am unable to enter the contest. The button to upload does nothing. Using an android phone. Will be removing this app. Sigh. That’s just too frustrating.

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