philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Comcast Hopes to Promote TV Shows in Twitter Deal

[Philip Lelyveld comment: What does it mean to cable companies, local monopolies, bandwidth allocation, etc. when a cable company encourages the use of Twitter to tag and forward pieces of subscription content over the web?]

Comcast customers will soon be able to reach some television shows from Twitter messages about those shows, the two companies announced on Wednesday, in what they hope will become an industrywide practice.

The feature — called See It — will initially be turned on only for Twitter posts published by Comcast-owned channels, like NBC, about their shows, like “The Voice.” But the companies said they were talking with other distributors and channel owners about extending the feature to other shows. Eventually Comcast wants See It to show up on other Web sites and apps as well, so that online conversation and news coverage about TV series and movies can directly lead users to those series and movies.

The technology will test the interconnectedness of television and the social Web, two media platforms that enhance each other while also competing for advertising dollars and attention. It was announced as part of a broader partnership between Twitter and Comcast, the nation’s largest cable television provider. It comes as the privately held Twitter prepares to sell stock to the public.

See the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/business/media/through-twitter-partnership-comcast-hopes-to-encourage-tv-viewing.html?_r=0