LocateTV Blog

So you’ve found a great TV show or movie on LocateTV and it’s next on the Hallmark channel. Hmmm… what number is that channel on? LocateTV has the answer!

If you set your TV service provider (click the flag icon in the search bar) LocateTV will now show you channel numbers for your supplier. It’s as simple as that

1. Click on the flag icon
2. Select your TV service provider
3. See the channel numbers

If you haven’t set your TV service provider you will see a little icon reminding you to set your supplier:

Once you have selected your TV service provider will see the channel numbers across the site. Here is an example on the new “What’s On TV” feature…

Just a small step for LocateTV but hopefully a giant leap of usability for our users!

It is now a few weeks since we introduced our new TV guide - What’s On TV and already it is one of the most used pages on our site.

The aim of What’s On TV is simply to answer the question of what can I watch on TV right now. TV shows are arranged by topic (or genre) letting you hone straight in on the type of show you are in the mood to watch. We have discovered that presenting TV shows by topic means that you are more likely to benefit from discovering something new or unexpected. This serendipity is something that is missing in a conventional TV channel based guide.

The top topics people look for shows on What’s On TV are Comedy, Action and Drama. However it is great to see that all the topics are getting well used - from Westerns to Golf. If you wish to know what you can watch tonight then we have that covered with What’s On TV - Primetime. If you already know the show or actor you want to see then a search on LocateTV will tell you where and when you can watch it.

If you have not tried What’s On TV yet then please give it a go and let us know what you think.

If you have Firefox 2+ or Internet Explorer 7+ you can now add LocateTV to your search bar in the upper-right corner of your browser, allowing you to quickly search LocateTV for your favourite TV shows, movies or actors.

Adding LocateTV to your search bar is simple… just visit any page on LocateTV and then click on the drop-down menu on the search bar in your browser and select LocateTV from the list.

Here’s how it looks in Firefox:

and Internet Explorer:

When you are done you can select LocateTV as one of your search engines whenever you want to find out about anything on TV.

I watch many of the big shows on TV and the more I watch, the more I see links between my favorite shows. You know what it’s like… you’re watching a new episode of one show and you see someone you recognize from somewhere else but just can work out where you have seen them before. LocateTV is a great way to find the answer quickly (before your brain explodes trying to remember!).

Here is a “six degrees” list of connections I’ve made between some of my favorite TV:

Brothers and Sisters has just started again and stars Calista Flockhart who also played the lead role in Ally McBeal.

Ally’s daughter, Maddie Harrington was played by Hayden Panettiere who we now know as Claire Bennet from Heroes.

Claire Bennet’s friend Zack is play by Thomas Dekker who is also John Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The female terminator from this show, Cameron Phillips, is played by Summer Glau who appears in Season 2 of The Unit as Crystal Burns.

Dennis Haysbert plays the team leader of the unit, Jonas Blane, was the President David Palmer in early seasons of 24.

One time chief of CTU, Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler), has made a number of appearances as the hospital chaplain Julia Dupree in recent episodes of ER.

John Mahoney had a cameo part as a patient’s lover on ER but is better known as Martin Crane in Frasier.

Frasier Crane was played by Kelsey Grammer who voices the role of Bart’s nemesis, Sideshow Bob, in The Simpsons.

Bartender, Moe Szyslak, is voiced by Hank Azaria who has made a number of appearances in Friends playing Phoebe’s geeky boyfriend David.

At this point I’m going to stop as there are so many routes out from Friends and hopefully I’ve proved my point. How about seeing if you can use LocateTV to find the links between your favorite shows… maybe you will find something new to watch along the way!

So you’ve put together your list of favorite TV shows, movies and actors on MyPicks and use it to keep up-to-date with when and where they will be next on for you. Why not let others benefit from your choices? At the bottom of your list you will find a link to allow you to do this very thing.

Simply copy this link and use it wherever you want - on your blog, on forums, on your favorite social network site or just to email your friends. In the interest of sharing, you can take a look at the TV I’m watching with my shared picks.

Have you noticed some new icons appearing when you search on LocateTV? These three icons will tell you if the show, movie or person you are looking for is on TV, on DVD and/or online. If you hover over the icons you’ll see a bit more info too, which can be a handy guide for what to expect when you click on the search result…

If you see the DVD icon then you will be able to use our DVD comparison feature to find the cheapest price for you favorite TV.

If you see the online icon you will able to see where you can download full episodes of your favorite shows. So, even if your favorite is not currently on TV you can still get your fix another way!

Don’t forget… even if these icons don’t appear there will still be more information to give you inspiration for something to watch. You might search for your favorite show, find it’s not on but then click on one of the actors starring in the show to find out they are on TV in another show tonight!

From romance in Paris and money in Vegas, to lust in London and sleeping in Seattle. LocateTV would like to take you on a tour of shows set around the world. Why? Well, when else would you be able to eat Breakfast at Tiffany’s in New York and be in Tokyo in time to have lunch with Godzilla?

We all know that directors have their favourite locations; did you know London is the third busiest filming production centre in the world, behind only Los Angeles and New York? But what about the rest of the world? Seattle and Tokyo have played host to a great range of shows (I bet you thought of Sleepless in Seattle and Lost in Translation didn’t you). Take a look at the theme pages, you might be pleasantly surprised…

There’s nothing like Valentine’s to bring out the romantics in (most of) us. Are you one of those people who swoons over love films and would like nothing more than a bunch of roses and a massive box of choccys to arrive at the door this Thursday? Then make LocateTV your love interest and check out our aptly named theme page, say it with me now “Roses are red…”

We can’t all be soppy romantics, some of us would prefer not to celebrate yet another Hallmark holiday saturated with lovey-dovey mush! For this very reason, LocateTV has come prepared…Ignore the lovers hype and catch up on some totally non-love related shows; with Anything but Valentine’s mush!

It is great to hear that people are using the MyPicks feature on LocateTV to keep up to date with when their favorite shows and actors are available to watch. Already we have been asked if the limit of items that can be added to a MyPicks list can be raised - so now we have done just that! You can now add up to 24 people, TV shows or movies to your MyPicks list to keep track of when they will next be shown.

It is important to remember that the MyPicks list uses cookies stored on your computer - your picked items could be lost if you clear private data within your browser’s settings. If you wish to make the list permanent or to share with a friend or on another computer then please follow the instruction on the MyPicks page.

So, for those that asked, 24 is now the magic number. Enjoy.

According to Tiscali’s TV Trends Report 2007 published today:

Strong stuff; but in many ways good news for LocateTV. The report, independent although commissioned by UK broadband and media provider Tiscali, claims that in a competitive and fast-moving entertainment market, ‘choice is key and will have a significant impact on who suceeds’.

Absolutely. We set up the site because our experiences suggested that, with so much content available over so many platforms (TV, DVD, the different online providers), people want to find out exactly where and when they can see their favourite shows and actors, rather than wade through crowded schedules, constantly missing programmes or repeats of old favourites or shows they’ve been recommended.

It’ll be interesting to see how the big commercial broadcasters respond to these new ways of watching TV. What with the LA writers’ strikes and copyright disputes, one thing’s sure: the times, they are a-changin.