CBS Labs, which has been testing new HD streaming products, has also rolled out a labs version of a new product called Social Viewing Room. The idea is that you show up to the site, pick a show that’s on right now, and watch it with your friends or whoever is there. You can comment, LOL or take quizzes for points.
The link is live, but I’m not able to see any actual shows going on right now.
Given how awesome on demand TV is, I don’t see this kind of thing being very popular. With one big exception: live broadcasts, which are by definition shown at a certain time and watched by everyone then. Apart from live content, it seems like asynchronous comments are a great way to go, as YouTube, Hulu and Joost have done.
This could be incredibly cool, if done right and of course if you can view world wide.. fingers crossed.
ABCFamily has been doing this for years with Lycos.
iminlikewithyou.com did comments embedded in the videos and it got really messy really fast … I guess the question is what controls they offer to modulate how many people are chatting over your viewing experience simultaneously.
Great concept, would love this for sports watching! We always go out to watch games with friends, don’t we?
- Shalin Jain
http://www.shalinjain.com
They should testing this product with http://www.utest.com so we could all be a part of this test and get pay for it! why big companies always assume that their new product should be tested by their users for free? it’s about time big consumer application vendor will stop take their users for granted and do a proper testing for their new products.
Good luck,
Josh
Tried it and it’s totally out of sync (a few seconds delay kills the experience)
My friends and I usually use http://www.seetoo.com that allows you to watch videos with friends completely in sync! and moreover, allows you to watch videos from your own local-drive, without uploading it for hours before hand. Real cool.
Seetoo requires a download of a browser addon. Better than previous client-only, but any addon install is a barrier.
SeeToo doesn’t require anything but Flash on the viewers’ side. The broadcaster is also web-based now and requires a browser add-on like many web sites.
I love the concept but its success will come down to how CBS promotes and integrates the service.
Looks like ClipSync. Anyone know if it is that, or if they directly copied it?
ClipSync: http://www.mtv....eningroom.jhtml
this must be cool, but i dont see any show in their site, maybe its only available for selected country.
I use Hulu for watching professional content (by myself) and Seetoo for watching mostly home movies together with friends. The latter is very easy and fun to use.
There was a company in the valley that used to do that (abazap, I think they changed the name to clipsync) but their problem was that just adding an interactive layer on top of video does not provide real value to the users and especially to the media companies. The opportunity resides in the user generated videos that gain more value from the co-watching the interactivity.
this reminds me a lot of video rooms on justin.tv.
That is EXACTLY what I thought. Michael totally missed the boat on this post. We love love love watching shows like Big Brother with friends all over the country and until justin.tv no way to do it. Social tv watching is WAY better than water cooler talking after the fact.
this wont help cbs get a foot hold on the internet. they would be better off using some of the good domain names they got with the cnet purchase and build a portal for everything. they need to focus on offering some meat and potatoes for the online community. this social viewer is a waste of time.
Auctions.com
Browser.com
Builder.com
Buying.com
Chat.com
Com.com
Community.com
Computers.com
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Freeware.com
Gaming.com
Help.com
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Labs.com
Marketplace.com
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Online.com
Radio.com
Search.com
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Shopper.com
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TV.com
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Welcome.com
-OpinionLocator.com
I just figured out that what LocatorDude calls “natural language” is actually generic names without any brand equity whatsoever. They have zero personality.
@ ed
My+Space=NewsCorp 1 channel zero limited custom offerings
My+Location=Google 1channel zero custom offerings
My+Locator=Me 1200 channel custom offerings
know how to sing and you need to study more.
ClassLocator.com- Learn Something
Very cool – so many times I want to make a comment and wonder if it’s just me or is Elmo really that red, or Big Bird really that Big. Oh wait, it’s on CBS, ok I can still comment on whether CSI is really that bad.
Check out AirPlay.com — They do the same thing while you play games that correspond to the programming…
I honestly think this will work with certain shows. There is no doubt if I were watching Lost I would like to talk to some other people about it. I know Lost is ABC, but I am sure they have the same ideas!!
http://jwojdylo.wordpress.com
I was thinking the same thing – I would love to get together with a group of Lost fans, watch it live, and chat during the commercials. Agree that with on-demand it has limited use, but there are specific use cases that make a lot of sense (live sporting events, presidential debates, etc..)
I definitely like the concept. I don’t like the interface. It should look more like twitter/thwirl. I don’t want to constantly look to the bottom of the page to see if what somebody says is worth my time or not. They should have scrolling commentary on the side.
You can already do this with 200+ channels of live news programming on http://www.livenewscameras.com – interesting idea to take it to on-demand long-tail programming too.
Is everyone who’s leaving a comment working for a startup that does the exact same thing as this? Good lord people, turn down the self-promotion for a second – the comments range from obvious spam all the way to innocuous spam.
The concept is crappy, and obviously unoriginal. The interface is well-designed.
I agree, stop with the promoting. The idea looks great, leave it be, if it fails it fails. They have the money.
Great for TV shows, which behave like live content at first showing because a large group of followers will watch at the same time.
What a great idea; I would definitely use this for my friends that are currently not near me! I miss the college days of watching the shows, especially sports, with my buddies.
The Church of Cowherd
Join the Church of Cowherd!
HD is really catching on.
Sunita
So what that this?
skype is not enough?
I think this is a a great idea. And, people are already doing this via a variety of tools be they twitter or on fan forums for specific shows.
Very smart.
Don’t talk during my shows!!!
Very cool, I like the concept behind it
Sounds like a very good idea, even if it’s not new!
Don’t tell me CBS Tv is getting into social media now…lol
It is great for sports. cbs started a chatroom in their fantasy football engine this year also. This seems much like the same thing and it is awesome on Sunday. Most people in my league are watching the games with their laptops open anyway.
Hey Mike,
What’s up there chief? I’m looking for an update on your netpad/netbook idea. You can’t think a bad economy is an excuse to not put it out. I need something to use when I’m not in front of my triple screens and am too lazy to read the small print on my blackberry.
C’mon Mike, give up the good news. I got $350 if you can make it work.
isn’t this what current tv hacked together with twitter for the debates?? al gore may not have invented the interwebs but he certainly scooped cbs on this one on a national scale
Was just thinking the same thing. Where’s the TC story about the current/twitter experience anyway? Current’s comcast/dish/direct channels bring the tweets to your television rather than bringing television to a computer. Fun stuff for sure.
Folks,
It’s definitely about the partnership of EVENTS and GROUPS. In this case: the event being a TV show and the group being fans of the TV show.
I and a few others have just created the solution to this with great success: G-SNAP! (WEB: http://www.gsnap.com, MOBILE: http://m.gsnap.com) and we are currently in alpha. G-SNAP! is an on demand social networking product where people gather together to share in a common passion (an event).
Tonight a G-SNAP! viewer will be covering tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate:
WEB: http://www.gsnap.com/222
MOBILE: http://m.gsnap.com/222
‘Audience members’ are free to interact with the ’snapcaster’ and other members of the audience. Once the event is over, the social network too is over. There’s no pressure to become friends or to “connect”. Here are some of the features we’re excited to announce today:
- individuals ‘Snapcast’ LIVE events via a computer or mobile phone. A Snapcast is a stream that updates a public audience (group) on the latest updates of an event via text, pics, video, audio…”play by play” action if you will.
- the ‘Snapcast’ can be viewed LIVE via a computer or mobile web browser. The Snapcast remains archived when finished.
- the audience can interact with the Snapcaster and the audience during the event
- a central access point is provided and searchable by keyword to find events/groups that interest you
- G-SNAP! can be used as both a consumer or enterprise application
- private, password protected snapcasts are possible
In short, if you are passionate about any event or TV show, Snapcast it to the world! And if you can’t be there, check with G-SNAP to see if there’s a Snapcast available!
Michael, “Social” is also about doing thing with other people!
That includes watching TV, together.
Watching TV with other people is a nice experience with some programs. Sport, live events, quiz, games, news… OTOH series, movie… require silence and concentration.
TVs will get connected to the Internet, that’s a given. For some interconnected living rooms to become chat rooms, two devices will help: a web cam on top of the TV sets and a microphone in the TV remote controls. http://virteal....emoteController
It might be nice to be able to chat about Sarah Palin tonight during the debate.
Tune in tonight to Current TV for Hack the Debate – a unique partnership between Current and Twitter. Include “#current” in any tweet and it could pop up on screen during the debate allong with your user name and avatar!
More info here:
http://www.curent.com/debate
Sorry, bad url… HERE it is:
http://www.current.com/debate
Less space. We can interact each other more effectively. Soon we will be keep in touch more closely
You can also do this on Facebook with the tvClickr app. It has shows across multiple networks and football
it has lots of potential. this is what forums messages board do currently.
Lycos Cinema has had viewing parties for more than two years. The site was revamped this past spring, enhancing the video modes and improving the ‘watch & chat’ features for friends and fans to interact in real-time while watching. Content ranges from indie and mainstream movies in all genres to ABC Family shows such as “Greek” and “Secret Life of the American Teenager” to Mixed Martial Arts to classic TV episodes from The Beverly Hillbillies, Lassie, Andy Griffith and others. The site is currently hosting viewing parties for Michael Moore’s newly released documentary, “Slacker Uprising.” No registration or download is required. http://cinema.lycos.com
good concept,I think it will be popular.
http://gatesand...s.blogspot.com/
Interesting – but restricting it to just CBS kind of loses the idea of an open community – needs to be ALL SHOWS – and maybe then i’d hop on.
I did this exact same thing for Hulu vids on TV Fanatic ( http://apps.fac....com/tvfanatic/ ). Chatting while watching a video is really great, even if is it on demand.
I think this would be a good idea if they’d make it possible to embed on other sites. The people who visit my site would like to be able to watch certain things together and chat. But not if it were only limited to US.
This post is talking about an old site I guess. I hope I am right but the service is live with all of CBS shows. I saw it and had fun with like 20 people in a viewing room. go to http://www.cbs....=true&cc=83
It’s really cool stuff, it made the show better for me. I can’t wait for it to be in sports.
I won’t pretend I’m someone else and plug our site as I suspect some people do. But we have a similar product that I of course think is much better…
I’d like to tell you about View2gether (www.view2gether.com). It’s very cool and does something the same but just a lot better. We let you search for videos right within our app on YouTube, Dailymotion, MySpace etc.
There is a built in search and results are consolidated into a single response where you can “Pick” videos from to add to the playlist which is consumed by our player and synched live across everyone viewing within that “Lounge” and we support full-screen, embedding, adding videos by URL, user skipping (by vote) and a full IRC/IM style chat so you can talk comfortably instead of in little bubbles.
Anyway. Like I’d like those of you that think this is great concept to try it out if you want to see the potential of this and how it can be done better than ClipSync.
Cheers,
Jordan
http://www.view2gether.com
I believe ClipSync had this kind of app more than two years ago and realized it’s a much better experience with the right content and the right passion for it.