This week my team here at Comcast Silicon Valley put out a new iOS app aimed at solving the age-old problem of finding something on TV but in a fresh new way.
What’s On by Comcast Labs shows XFINITY TV customers, in a visual way, what’s on right now sorted by a proprietary algorithm that puts what we think will be most popular programs for a given time slot and then tune/record directly from the app.
The app enables you to personalize the experience with your favorite shows, channels, and even what shows you and your friend’s like on Facebook. For your favorite shows we’ll push an alert the day a new episode will air so you won’t miss it.
By default the app will bias toward HD versions of shows but you can also filter to see just what movies are on (or starting soon), kids shows, sports, or just what “new” episodes are airing.
Since we’re big fans of the Lean Startup methodology, here’s some of the hypotheses we’re looking to validate that customers want to:
- Browse Live TV listings in a visual way sorted by popularity
- Receive push alerts for new episodes of their favorite shows.
- Connect their social graph to see what shows their friends “Like”
We’ve got lots more ideas of things we want to try but also will be listening to you and watching the metrics closely to see where we should focus. In positioning it as “by Comcast Labs” we hope to learn a lot from this app and there’s a strong possibility any successful features could make there way into other XFINITY offerings.
Let me or the team (whatson@sv.comcast.com) know what you think!