UPDATE:Unfortunately, this great concept video has been taken offline. A shame, as we loved it. Still, read the description – we’d love to see an app like this come to fruition.
UK broadcasterChannel 4has an online catchup and archive TV service called4oD, which launched aniPad appearlier this year. While the app that was released is usable and functional, it’s nowhere near as interesting as whatcouldhave been.
London-based developerThe Noble Unionpitched for the job of building the app together withMobile IQbut didn’t get the gig. Now it’s released the concept video it produced, and it has some really interesting ideas that TV catchup apps from other broadcasters could benefit from.
Features in the concept include hooks into iTunes to buy music from shows directly in the app; social commenting features for programmes; push notifications for when new episodes of your favourite shows are available, and a ‘download to own’ that lets to buy programmes to keep.
To be fair, the practicalities of the concept may have put Channel 4 off commissioning it. In-app purchases of music and full shows would require handing a 30% cut to Apple, not to mention the additional deals probably needed with the production companies involved. Also, this concept emphasises exploration of deep catalogue shows. While Channel 4 offers this via YouTube in the UK, its iPad app only covers a selection of recently transmitted shows at present.
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Still, it’s easy to see how TV apps of the future could probably take some of their cues from the ideas presented here.
Story byMartin SFP Bryant
Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletter PreSeed Now and technology and media consultancy Big Revolution. He was previously(show all)Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletterPreSeed Nowand technology and media consultancyBig Revolution. He was previously Editor-in-Chief at TNW.
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