Televison, The Drug of a Nation

This is one of my favorite songs from a very political artist but that is not what this post is about. This post is about what television networks are trying to do to engage viewers this is MTVs strategy while the NBC/NFL is doing lots of interesting things online like watching the game live online with the ability to allow users to view different camera angles. Ultimately, I think these are nice gimmicks but the thing that is going to save television is great content and the ability for viewers to have social experiences with others around that content.  

Television was the first social network everyone would watch MASH, Mary Tyler Moore Show, or Cheers and talk about their collective experiences in the office or with their friends the next day. I really think the cable companies and now telecoms like verizon and at&t have the ability to create a social experience around television viewing. I can imagine an IM like application or netflix like sharing features layered on the viewing experience to create a social experience. One would be able to see what their friends and contacts have DVRed or are currently watching. You would be able to comment on or rate programs and get recommendations from aggregated information as well as your friends.  You could see when your friends come online and you would be able to have a IM or Video chat with them as you are watching a program again having a shared experience across the country. The cable and telecoms need to do a lot in order to have this kind of stuff to succeed (innovation being the biggest) but I think the lowest hurdle for success are consumers, mostly because they are getting used to embracing this type of technology from amazon, aim, facebook, netflix, xbox, etc.

Update: A couple of weeks ago I saw this and it took a bit to find but Joost is definitely adding social interaction with the launch of their web based platform.  About a year ago I had a good conversation with David Clarke at Joost (not sure if he is still there) but he mentioned that this type of stuff was a priority for them and this is what would differentiate them from Hulu, which was then just launching.