By Simon Ogus
SportTechie
In this era of being connected 24/7, it is often very hard to not find out about your favorite television shows or sporting events if you are unable to watch them live. Everyone knows the feeling: You're busy on a Sunday night and cannot watch Breaking Bad or you want to watch your favorite NFL team on DVR, but you get a text message from a friend or accidentally check a social media site, and you learn the outcome before you even start watching.
If you have had this problem, then Spoiler Shield thinks it has the answer: You can continue checking your favorite social media websites and still not hear about important information in your favorite sporting events and television shows.
As we come into fall television and the NFL season, Spoiler Shield app, which is available for free in the iTunes App Store, is offering the ultimate spoiler protection. Many frustrated television viewers, sports fans, and social media fans will now have a way to watch broadcasts at their convenience, and still check Facebook and Twitter without accidentally seeing spoilers. Lastly, iOS users juggling time-shifted broadcasts can enjoy the freedom to watch, read, DVR and stream without worrying about learning all the important details.
The app is very simple and easy to use. It offers shields for over 30 popular TV shows, such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Survivor, The Bachelor, and The Voice, as well as every NFL and MLB team. When Spoiler Shield is activated for a specific television program or sports franchise, a gold shield covers any spoiling post. App users also see the event title and name of the person posting, so they can decide whether to reveal the post or not. They can simply double-tap to remove any shield and read the full post.
Spoiler Shield has a proprietary algorithm designed to block any post that could potentially spoil a show or game. With a single touch, any user can select a television series or team to shield, and the technology does the rest. The shields ensure all spoilers are covered while everything else on a user’s feed remains visible.
Josh Solt and Matthew Loew, co-founders of Spoiler Shield, are avid sports fans and television enthusiasts.
"We were tired of our friends spoiling sports scores and TV show plot twists through social media,” says Solt. "One of our main motivators was The Game of Thrones Red Wedding episode backlash. That was the tipping point when we decided to create Spoiler Shield."
Shields are updated in real time to stay current with popular TV shows, ongoing sports developments, and the latest hashtags. Spoiler Shield's demo video provides additional examples of the app’s user-friendly experience.
Loew adds, "Like many sports fans, I record games to watch later. I was sick of hiding from my Facebook and Twitter until I watched the game. Spoiler Shield lets users stay connected, yet remain in control."
Solt and Loew note that social television has grown three-fold in the last year. They also note that 80 percent of social network users between the ages of 13 and 49 visit their social media while watching television. In this day and age, spoiler alert protection has become a cultural necessity. Additionally, with DVR penetration and online streaming growing, more people are watching time-shifted programs than ever before.
Spoiler Shield plays to unveil an Android version of the app.
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