MoreTV Eyeing Video Search for Smart TV

While the battle in smart TV and built-in operating system among Chinese companies, ranging from online video services like LeTV to emerging smart device markers like Xiaomi, just started, third-party developers are eyeing search market in the new realm. Although smart TV makers hope users to do way more things than watching videos on a smart TV, online video, at least for now, is the first big reason for consumers to buy smart TVs.

MoreTV is to become a video search app for smart TV. At this stage it has aggregated some 100,000 videos from more than 20 online video sites. It’s the only app of this kind that is pre-installed on smart TVs of six local TV brands, including Skyworth and Hisense. It’s also available in several Android-based set-top boxes. The app claims to has had 2 million users.

It shares revenues with partner sites. The sharing ratios vary on a case by case basis.

Apart from searching within MoreTV, users also can play videos onto TV screen with its WeChat Official Account or through a mobile app called MoreTV Assistant.

What videos to surface and the design of the interface on a smart TV screen, different from on PC or mobile phone, should take two factors into consideration, MoreTV told us; One is the big-screen is for family not personal preference, and the other is those who’d buy smart TVs are increasingly younger than those who consume video content on traditional TVs. The app would also recommend videos based on viewership.

There has been more than few online video aggregation apps in China. MoreTV believes they understand both the Internet and TV industry that can stand out. The founding team behind MoreTV were from BesTV, a IPTV provider.