One of the biggest challenges in TV today is finding the content you want to watch. With the addition of Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon to the already 500-channel universe — and your DVR — discovery is most difficult than ever. Not to mention, content appears in different windows on different platforms.
Last year we wrote about Matcha.tv, a TV discovery site that enables users to discover content across Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon and Xfinity. By linking your Facebook, Netflix and Hulu accounts, Matcha can serve up intelligent cross-platform recommendations. And now, Matcha has debuted an iPad app, carrying over discovery features with the ability to watch streaming video through your member services.
Social media is bringing some viewers back to live TV, but the overwhelming trend is in the direction of on-demand playback. At my house, the vast majority of viewing — other than live sports — originates from Hulu Plus, Netflix and HBO Go. For example, my wife and I enjoy the show New Girl on Hulu Plus. By connecting my Matcha account with Hulu, the app knows the last episode we’ve watched, and it recommends the next episode when it’s available for playback. Slick.
Over on Netflix, iTunes and Amazon Prime, TV shows come in seasonal waves. A “newly available” channel on Matcha displays the new seasons as they become available. A “hottest” channel displays popular shows, thanks in part to data from IMBD and Rotten Tomatoes. And Matcha’s recommendations engine “combines traditional collaborative filtering algorithms with a user’s own social graph.” The end result is a discovery app that goes beyond a list of shows my friends have “liked” and what we’ve already watched — it introduces a refreshing amount of serendipity to the equation.
“The explosion of the streaming video industry – along with the increased popularity of tablet devices – has dramatically changed how users are finding and watching movies and TV shows, and the idea of a single programming guide must be re-imagined,” said Guy Piekarz, Matcha.tv co-founder and CEO. “Matcha.tv’s personalized aggregation technology quickly filters through 200,000+ streaming video titles to provide accurate and intelligent recommendations so users can start watching their favorite videos faster.”
When you find a show you like — assuming it isn’t restricted to “web only” on Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime (how annoying) — Matcha will link you into the respective app so the show begins playing automatically. So in the case of New Girl, it spawned the Hulu Plus app and began playing the episode within a few seconds.
Here’s my wish list of Matcha features that would make it even better: add HBO Go, connect and control my DVR, and preview upcoming live sports events that fit my interests. Of course, some of these are easier than others, and it underlines the difficult challenge of TV discovery in such a fragmented world. But Matcha has a great head start.