LocateTV Blog

So the private beta feedback is flooding in - much of it extremely positive, thank goodness! - but also, as we suspected, one of the main issues concerns the range of our data: the listings and DVD/online download info on TV shows, films and actors which is currently covered by our database. It took us a while to feel that our data was good enough to launch with, and we’ve warned our private beta users that there will be gaps. It’s great to have them using it now however, as we can prioritise what we include depending on how they are using the site.

In some ways our great strength is also our challenge: the sheer volume of quality content we have to wrestle under control. At this stage we have two main issues. The first is our international scope, as we have data suppliers for different world regions and media types that we have to correctly match together. We need to be sure that the show on TV is the same as the show on TV in another country, but also the same as the show on DVD or online. This is a major challenge which we tackle in two ways: with clever software scripts, and with a team of media savvy people. However, with the vast amount of information that we have, the job will not be complete before launch, so we are targeting the ‘popular’ stuff first. Identifying the ‘popular’ stuff is harder than you would think. There are lots of lists of the “top 100″ out there but not many on the “top 10,000″. So prioritising the work on several million items is hard. Once we are fully launched it will be the usage of LocateTV that will direct our efforts to make sure that the content that gets most viewed gets our attention.

Secondly, we have to ensure adequate coverage, and the online world is changing very quickly. Many online providers are themselves only just getting their service and offerings sorted and have never thought about how people will find their content, which makes our task a lot harder.

It is quite strange offering our project to the public ‘imperfect’, but with this kind of site it will become truly great once we see how people use it, tailor it to their needs, and constantly update it in a very fluid environment.

It’s the way of the web, my son.

Colin