We wrote last week about how TV news is trying to be more like the Internet. Google and Apple have also been in the news lately with their respective attempts to bring television online. So what’s wrong with television?
The fact that you have to be in front of your TV at a specific time in order to watch a show unless you buy a special box is very annoying. But that’s just an obvious example of what the Internet offers that TV still can’t: interaction.
The Internet generation doesn’t want to be talked at by a TV screen. We want to talk back to the TV with a mouse or a touch screen, and we want to talk to our friends about what’s on.
People Love to Talk About TV
Right now, that conversation is happening on Twitter and Facebook. But perhaps TV is popular enough that people might need a dedicated venue just to talk about American Idol and Lost.
As I type this on Sunday night, five of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter are related to the Professional Golf Association Championship, which people are watching on TV. The movie Scott Pilgrim is also trending.
The Rise of Apps That Make TV Social
A screenshot from Miso for Android.
This is why I think the makers of Miso – the social network for talking about TV – are onto something (Miso: A Foursquare-Like App for Homebodies). Miso users “check in” to what they’re watching the way Foursquare users check into cafes. They can connect with their TV-watching friens on Miso and comment on the shows they are watching via apps on the Web, iPhone and iPad. Today Miso released the Android version of the app.
Miso for Android lets users browse to see what their friends are watching, check out friends’ profiles, and see what TV shows are currently trending among all Miso users and discover new shows. Miso also hooks into Foursquare’s sticky life-as-a-game gimmick by offering badges and points when users check in. It even offers voice search.
Miso’s got some heavy competition from other startups such as Philo as well as Comcast’s Tunerfish. And CBS announced a social TV service called TV.com Relay that the network plans to promote on air.
One of these companies may dominate over the others. But the future of TV is social.
