LocateTV
is a site that despite being Web 2.0, makes simplicity its
main aim.
It is currently in it’s beta incarnation, which offers no
forums, no social
networking aspect, no profiles, no comment section or reviews by other
television junkies.
Normally, the lack of these features would turn me
off completely, but the one thing it does do, find television shows
based on your location, it does very, very well.
LocateTV
will tell you where
your favourite shows and reruns are playing, no matter where you are or
what provider is used there.
Area Coverage
It currently offers this service in three
areas: the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Once you
select your region, you can narrow it down by your postal
code.
Then
you can view programming listed by “all” providers in that area, or you
can narrow down to whatever provider you use in your home or that feeds
the hotel room.
Great When Your DVR Messes Up
So far I have found this service most helpful when I miss a
show.
Sure, I am a confessed television junkie, and most of my shows are set
to record on my DVR.
There is always that one documentary you wanted to
catch and forgot to set the DVR for, or that rerun of M*A*S*H that is
coming on later but you can’t remember where.
LocateTV
is here to help. You can plug in the name of the program, and it will
find the times and channels it is to air on in your area.
A Comprehensive Service
LocateTV even offers a brief synopsis of each show, as well as
listing if it has an associated DVD, if it has a web site or other
online presence, and a full episode list. It is quite
comprehensive.
My
favorite tab is the episode list, which includes a locater for where
they are playing, and embed links for each synopsis so that you can put
your favorite shows right in your blog for other people to
find.
Each week, LocateTV’s
blog
offers a “theme page” in which they showcase certain shows. This is a
great idea if you are someone who never knows what to watch.
If you are
like me, someone who watches way too much television, laptop in tow,
then theme pages offer a chance to revisit some old favorites, like
this week’s Retro
TV Classics page.
The founders of LocateTV are benefiting from a clear, concise
vision.
Site Concept
The idea behind LocateTV is simple – to let you find
TV shows
available where you live in the world, be they on broadcast TV, online
or on recorded media (DVD, HD-DVD etc).In addition we provide tools to assist you where you
contribute
on the web, so that your readers can find where they can watch the TV
content that you are talking about or recommend.
Conclusions
I have put LocateTV on my permanent bookmarks list, and I
think you
will too. It’s fun, it’s easy to use, it allows you to post your
favorite shows to your blog and entertain your readers.
It works to
help me remember shows for later, and find shows I’ve forgotten. It’s
in beta testing right now, and you can follow the blog and the change log
to see if or when the folks at LocateTV add more social features.
Leslie Poston is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
