Thursday, September 27, 2012

Why Is Pinterest Poking Around In TV Land?


The battle for the living room is on, with tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft, and social kings Facebook and Twitter all jockeying for your attention on the TV screen. But the war for the first-screen (Xbox, Apple TV) and second-screen experiences (on your smartphone or tablet) is only beginning in earnest, with upstarts such as GetGlue and Shazam entering the space everyday. Could Pinterest soon be throwing its hat in the ring too?

Austin Carr at Fast Company has learned that the interest-sharing and soon-to-be e-commerce platform, which enables users to "pin" and share photo-tagged items online, has recently met with various TV networks. So far we've been able to confirm that MTV, VH1, and Bravo are in the mix, though more are likely involved. While it's too early to say what such meetings could yield, they serve as a sign of the two-year-old startup's increasing interest in brands and media. But what would Pinterest TV look like, should such a thing exist?

"We met with Pinterest, and they were asking us where we thought the connection between Pinterest and TV could be," says Lisa Hsia, Bravo’s EVP of digital. "It was interesting. I was like, 'Wow, I never really thought of Pinterest [with TV].' I was just happy to get a meeting with Pinterest."

Of course, before getting too excited about the potential for such a partnership, it's important to note that it's not uncommon for a startup, especially one that's growing at as fast a clip as Pinterest, to take all kinds of meetings, as a spokesperson for Pinterest was quick to point out.

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