Online viewing parties. They’ve been around for a while, but they never really took off. Why? Mostly because they put a serious damper on the user experience. Video content has advanced so quickly over the past 2 years, it seems very retro (and frustrating) to force people to watch their favorite shows in an online chatroom.
While on the surface the idea seems intriguing, there are many issues with group video views. I’ll elaborate. Currently ABCFamily has a policy that for the first 2 days after the airing of their semi-popular teen targeted show Greek, the only way to watch the latest episode online is in a viewing party. So, why you ask, do they suck?
1) Viewing parties are timed. You can’t just start watching instantly. Typically upon joining a room, you’ll have to wait 3-4 minutes for the show to start. That is far from the instant content gratification web 2.0 users demand.
2) You cannot watch the show in full screen. You might as well watch a pirated version with asian subtitles and stretched faces.
3) You cannot PAUSE THE VIDEO. This is probably the worst part. Unless you are the creator of the group, there won’t be any pausing for bathroom breaks, food refills, or unexpected phone calls. You’re slave to the video. If you are the moderator and pause the video–well then everyone hates you.
4) It’s a chat room. Welcome back to AOL.
5) Everyone agrees they suck. Rarely does anyone actually converse. EXCEPT in the case I’ll describe next.
So what is the benefit of these viewing parties for the broadcast companies? Market Research. I know it’s hard to read the conversation in the image above, so I’ll help you out. One “viewer” starts the conversation with “So, what does everyone think of this episode?” In other words, he said “Welcome to our online focus group on Greek!” ABCFamily is looking for feedback. Unfortunately they are going about it the wrong way. It would be one thing if these viewing parties took off and they could really see what people are saying. Perhaps they should listen better. The only thing I’ve seen people type in these chatrooms is “how can I watch this NOT in a viewing party?”
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