CoTV was ahead of its time in 2002... Now the stars may really be aligning for TV "companion" apps.
When I talked about CoTV to people at major TV and Web companies in 2002-5, they thought it was a good idea and assured me "Yes, I get it." Some did, and some just thought they did. Like all forms of "interactive TV" it has been "just around the corner" for many years "waiting for the stars to align." But now the stars really do seem to be aligning.
At the recent TV of the Future "TVOT NYC Intensive" from iTVT and Canoe, it was evident that important things are happening:
- iPad has awakened he giants: Comcast, Time Warner, TV networks, TiVo, and many others are jumping into coactive "companion" apps for tablets (and phones). iPad and other tablets are nearly ideal companion devices, and already in millions of laps.
- Platforms for interaction (CableLabs/Canoe, ETV, EBIF, ...) are enabling real innovation and increasing openness from within the distribution establishment. EBIF is in over 20 million homes, and growing rapidly, not only in cable systems. ETV is getting real. The PayPal Buy Button is a nice example.
- Over-the-top alternatives are real -- the incumbent system operators know they need to get into the 21st century or watch their content distribution business get bypassed.
- External plays based on TiVo, Blu Ray (Pocket BLU), and sound recognition (Spot411 Entertainment Tonight) show how this can be done outside the cable plant, even for shows distributed on cable.
- Social TV apps (about what you are watching now) are making the viewer value proposition even more powerful.
- In the early 2000's ABC ETV and Goldpocket did second-screen companion apps for major network shows (Millionaire, Sunday/Monday Night Football, Academy Awards, etc.) but only if you navigated to an ABC or program-specific Web site. Up-take was rarely even 1% of viewership, hardly a basis for a business.
- Now iPad and iPhone apps are creating similar experiences, but for the most part it is still a different app for each show or network.
So who will it be that realizes this is a critical race, does it right, and wins it? TV is ready to be reborn for the 21st Century. Once someone makes it easy to use across the board (and does not cripple it), it will happen very fast.






