Show HN: Comment on on-demand TV as if everyone is watching at the same time

http://beta.spoilr.tv/

by stefanwild • 12 years ago

53 44 12 years ago

beta.spoilr.tv

This seems pretty cool! Curious to try it out. One problem which doesn't seem to be addressed is the varying length of commercials (or no commercials) depending on what platform the show is viewed on.

fragmede• 12 years ago

or variable quality of the fast-forward button operator.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Yes, we're focussing on Netflix and HBO shows at the moment to circumvent that. Working on several approaches for automatic syncing. Thanks for trying it out!

tiger0915• 12 years ago

That sounds awesome!

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Thank you. We appreciate the feedback!

jrockway• 12 years ago

This is niconico's main feature. I've wondered why it hasn't caught on elsewhere.

hofstee• 12 years ago

Came here to say this. It's entertaining to watch everyone commenting burst into laughter as the screen fills with w's.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

That's great input. We were not aware of that site and feature. We have come across a few similar concepts, which were either split-screen for online video (as I understand niconico works) or not conversations (if they were 2nd screen).

mukyu• 12 years ago

In addition to their overlaid streaming comments on videos (think youtube) and live streams (justin.tv/twitch, etc) they actually have a section for live tv[1].

[1] http://jk.nicovideo.jp/

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Thanks for the link. Now I have to brush up on my non-existant Japanese skills.

angryasian• 12 years ago

I know there are a lot of shows that don't require full attention, but I usually don't waste my time with those kinds of shows. I don't know how people can twitter, or chat on their phone and still pay attention to good shows that require a level of attention like Game of Thrones.

edgarvaldes• 12 years ago

Agreed. It make a lot more sense for sports.

uptown• 12 years ago

Which is one of the least time-shifted forms of content.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

We've thought about that but felt that the interest in non-live sports is probably a little less. Will experiment with it (and reality and casting shows), though.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

With the users we have in the beta we have noticed that it isn't for everyone and not everyone uses it the same (some are just reading, others comment a lot, and some wait for the perfect moment and then post the best joke) for every show. With the speed of Silicon Valley, for example, my wife isn't actively posting while she watches.

BoppreH• 12 years ago

I've watched terrible horror movies with live chat and it was a unique experience.

Maybe it's just a targeting problem.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Eventually it's going to be up to the users to figure out what they like to use it with. We're just restricting the number of shows during the beta to keep things manageable.

pjc50• 12 years ago

It works very well for light entertainment; we'll be doing it for the upcoming Eurovision song contest.

(One of the UK minor channels has just launched a programme "Goggle box", which is basically a reality show of people watching television and chatting over it. This may be taking the whole thing too far)

jbigelow76• 12 years ago

Very cool concept, great domain too :)

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Thank you. I have a funny little anecdote how that came to be. Will save that for a stage appearance, though ;)

dave84• 12 years ago

This combined with Shazam style listening to sync up the position would be killer.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Working on this and several other approaches to sync up. It's a challenge and won't happen in this phase of the beta, but it's doable.

petercooper• 12 years ago

Twitter has actually encouraged me to only watch certain shows "live" because the backchannel snark and commentary is more entertaining than the actual show (The Apprentice is a particular standout in this regard).

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

And they're really good at that, agreed. But they're not catering to the (at least) two thirds of people that don't watch live.

This number from some relatively recent Game of Thrones ratings that admitted on not counting a lot of on-demand (as well as pirating, of course)

crystaln• 12 years ago

Seems like replaying the twitter chatter in time would be more interesting than creating a new content silo.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

We thought about importing (and timecoding) twitter chatter during the first airing of the shows. And then we realized just how scattered and off-topic that chatter really is for the most part.

mattryanharris• 12 years ago

This is something I've actually wanted for awhile! Watching movies and TV is nice but whenever I watch it with an IRC chat it suddenly gets SO MUCH better.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Great to hear. Thanks for the tweet, too.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

By the way, one of the shows that we already feature in the beta, is of course Silicon Valley. Be sure to check it out.

joshvm• 12 years ago

How will you deal with users who spoil shows on purpose? Could I watch the first episode of Game of Thrones, sync with the app and post "OMG ----- dies!" right at the start?

I assume if you can watch time shifted comments they're moderated in some way (or perhaps flagged by the community)?

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Yes, there's upvoting and downvoting implemented in the beta, already and that will filter out spoilers pretty quickly. If we see anybody doing it on purpose, we'd block and eventually ban the user.

addedlovely• 12 years ago

So the name makes sense?

I'm definitely not your target market here, if i'm devoting time to TV i'm focussed on enjoying that, alone or with the people in the room.

650REDHAIR• 12 years ago

I love everything about this!

Looking forward to having conversations with my family and friends spread around the US.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

We love you, too. Thank you.

politician• 12 years ago

I loved watching the Republican and Democrat National Conventions while tuned into Twitter. Maybe I'll use spoilr next time around.

woopdy• 12 years ago

It reminds me of Soundcloud, where comments pop in at the moment where they're inserted.

stefanwild17• 12 years ago

Right to the point. Soundcloud's way of doing the comments was of our inspirations.

Show HN: Comment on on-demand TV as if everyone is watching at the same time

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