Year old startup WatchParty wants to make TV-watching fun again by tapping into three activities we love to do, usually at the same time: watching TV, being online, and sharing.
Co-founders Richard Fawal and Jake Kouns hit on a simple and clever solution: virtual living rooms that allow people separated by a few blocks, zip codes, or time zones to discuss, react to, and comment on programs in real time. By allowing TV viewers to form an interactive community around shows and programs, WatchParty feeds a collective desire to share on social networks. While writing this, I counted 30 WatchParties taking place, ranging from Jerry Maguire on Bravo to Closing Bell on CNBC.
Their service also provides a social platform for the emerging market of devices like GoogleTV and AppleTV.
WatchParty beta testing has shown that people interact differently depending on the kind of content they are watching, so WatchParty will soon offer segmented environments, each with audience-specific features, to meet the needs of specific audiences (such as football.watchparty.tv, soaps.watchparty.tv, and reality.watchparty.tv).
Just imagine what this means for Super Bowl and Oscar parties!
The WatchParty team will be on hand as a showcased startup at the upcoming Washington, D.C. Tech Cocktail mixer event on Wednesday, February 2nd. Come by to check out WatchParty and other local tech startups who will be sharing their latest innovations.
