This week, Clippit launched in the Google Play and Apple store. The app lets you clip up to thirty seconds of around thirty television shows included in their roster.
You can’t use the app to watch the shows in real time, but you can go “back in time,” as founder Jim Long puts it, find the bit you like, and then post it. The app also includes attribution for the network and show, so everyone wins. There’s no retransmission issues Long assured me. “We’re just the plumbers,” he says.
The app only includes scenes and users can only clip while a show is being broadcast and up to an hour afterwards. Long envisions the networks being able to monetize this kind of sharing. Having fans post their clips to their social networks is a more authentic way to spread the word about a show. Says Long:
Viewers are already sharing fun and memorable clips during their favorite programs, football games, award shows, TV premieres, and more through low resolution methods like recording their TV with their phone’s camera…There is a tremendous value for media companies in the ‘tune in’ potential and free impressions when viewers are posting sharable clips during football games, award shows, TV premieres, and more. Our goal is to maximize consumer engagement with content by providing this simple user generated clipping experience.
It’s a better option than holding your phone up to the television every time Charlie Hunnam looks good and you need to tell your friends. You can download the app here.