US broadcasters team up to make Facebook for TV Something big is cooking in portable TV in the US. It's possibly the equivalent of a Hulu (in that it is owned by content owners), but from a group of broadcasters who have already identified themselves as being behind the ATSC M/H Mobile DTV services: but this time the subject is both social TV and over the top (OTT) content …
"how does a group of friends get to watch the same programming at the same time [...] In different parts of the US different shows are on at different times"
90% of my closest friends live within 50 miles of me. I suspect that's true for most people. So I don't think the time zones will be a problem.
A far greater concern is that many of my friends already watch TV on catch-up services, rather than watching it live.
This sounds all very nice, until you remember that the broadcasters (except the Beeb) are interested in one thing: advertising cash. The number of invasive commercials in US TV is out of control now - imagine what it will be like with Google/Facebook-style ads while you're watching your favourite show? Awful. What we need is someone with the balls to come out with a subscription-based method of selecting and watching TV content WITHOUT commercials. Apple, your time has come?
"How does a group of friends get to watch the same programming at the same time?"
Is it just me that reads that as "How fsking sad are we getting that we feel we must watch some random shite synchronously, so that we can discuss on Facebook (or similar) the instant said shite has finished?" I mean, really, has socialising become that enervative?
@AudiGuy: Unfortunately Facebook is already on many internet enabled sets.
"The vehicle they have chosen to collaborate around is from ConnecTV, described as a social TV system designed entirely for watching TV, or at least for watching, voting, talking about and looking up stuff about TV. "
Fuck that. I hardly watch TV these days, but even if I did, I don't think I'd want to hear comments from some half-wit I don't know overlaid on what I'm watching.
So it's like iMDB combined with Facebook? I believe we already have iMDB (which, incidentally, includes "current TV programmes") and Facebook. And while I'll cop to occasionally using the former while watching TV - in a spirit of "where have I seen that actor before?" - I've never felt the urge to use Facebook and TV at the same time.
Though I admit I've never really felt the urge to use Facebook under any other conditions either.
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