Tivo Data API’s
Why doesn’t Tivo offer a set of data API’s that web developers could use to create television widgets and mashups in exchange for promoting Tivo subscriptions? Today, developers can build apps that live inside the Tivo service using their SDK, but there’s no way to get data out of Tivo. Entertainment is one of the most popular forms of distributed content on the web. People proudly display the music they listen to, the books they read, and the videos they watch on blogs, Facebook / MySpace profiles, and other sites across the web. I imagine there would be similar demand for Tivo data. Tivo should offer access to everything from their TV guide catalog (ie. what’s on tonight) to anonymous popularity data (ie. what’s the most popular show on Sunday night) to personal, opt-in subscriber info (eg. a widget I can put on my blog that displays my favorite TV shows or what I’m watching tonight).
If I were Tivo, I would offer these API’s as an entirely free service, but include terms that require links back to permalink pages for each show on Tivo.com and some subtle “powered by Tivo” branding. This seems like a no brainer. They could completely own television data on the web and inspire thousands of developers around the world to create innovative services that drive new subscriptions and keep existing customers more engaged with the brand.
That’s my armchair business strategy advice for the day. You can thank me later, Tivo.
