Twitter and Comcast tie-up to change the way you watch TV

Twitter is taking television seriously and there is no denying it. In a move that will solidify Twitter’s position in the TV arena...

Nishtha Kanal|Oct 10, 2013, 09:12:52 IST

Twitter is taking television seriously and there is no denying it. In a move that will solidify Twitter’s position in the TV arena, the company has partnered with Comcast and NBCUniversal that will let you tune in to a TV show right from Twitter.

This new partnership could well set the tone for social networking in the years to come. Twitter announced that Comcast will give Xfinity TV customers in the US the ability to do things like change the channel, set the DVR and play a show 'On Demand' right from the expanded tweet drawer.

Replacing the remote control

Essentially, if you see a tweet from the NBCUniversal channel or any partner account, you will notice that the tweet contains a “See It” button within it. Using this button, you will be able to perform a lot of actions around the TV show on Comcast. The feature is set to debut with a bunch of NBCUniversal shows in the US called The Voice and Sunday Night Football.

“Each day, Twitter plays host to the real-time conversation about television and a large portion of that conversation occurs while a program is live on the air. Millions of people are exposed to Tweets about a program, so much so that they’re often motivated by the Twitter buzz to tune in,” writes Twitter in order to explain this partnership. “By partnering with Comcast, we’ll be able to make it easier than ever to turn on the show everyone is talking about and jump into the conversation.”

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This could well be called a path-breaking move to bring together social networking and one of the most important topics on it – television. This move could essentially see Twitter replace the remote control, at least in countries like the US. Potentially, every tweet sent out by the cable channel can be turned not just into a tool for encouraging conversation but even convert it into action to see how many people are actually watching the show.

Twitter has built this tool keeping in mind expansion to other cable services as well but we hope this feature can be expanded into other international countries too. Facebook has already realised the potential of television in countries like India and is already going to start providing analytics to Indian television networks. Twitter would do well if it starts planning expansion into other countries with its TV product too.

By Nishtha Kanal

Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs.