TiVo in sports bars
So over lunch, Gene and I were chatting and I brought up the idea of TiVo in sports bars. It’s probably already happing some places – though it’s enough to scare media companies silly. The benefits of watching the game without commercials for a large audience is interesting – right now most of the rhetoric around revenue losses due to PVRs are about individual households. Will media companies start looking for content licenses from places that show TV in public? Probably, knowing broadcasters track record with PVR technology, if a lawsuit doesn’t come first.
So, here’s a thought to head off the licensing issue: proactively license content. But not just for live games – a sports bar could have a video server with a terabyte or two of clips from great moments in sports and the last couple months worth of highlight reel from ESPN. Then let bar patrons order a highlight from a menu for free with a drink or meal, and charge them for more clips (like a video jukebox).
What does that have to do with user experience? Well – it makes the experience in the bar more participatory. Right now, the participation comes from being with a crowd of fans. Letting individuals express that individuality by having input into specific programming would make the experience more a dialog than a monolog, and more social at the same time (the people around you are also shaping the experience).