Kevin Bostic
Apple bought video programming recommendation site Matcha earlier this week not because of the talent the company had, but because the site had developed a service that apparently stood head and shoulders above its competition.
When Apple acquired Matcha, the transaction was not simply an "acqui-hire," according to TechCrunch. Instead, the Cupertino company bought Matcha's product, which is centered on an algorithm that Matcha has been honing for some time. According to sources familiar with the company's operations, Matcha had experienced rapid user growth in the months before the acquisition, and it had already achieved a top-15 spot in the App Store's Entertainment charts.
Apple was particularly impressed with Matcha's user acquisition and user engagement strategy, according to one source. The company reportedly had "found the answer" to rapid user growth and time spent in app.
This latest report also dispels some assertions that had surrounded the acquisition. Contrary to reports that emerged when word of the buy went public, Apple made the acquisition back in May when Matcha originally shut down, not post-closure. Additionally, the price for Matcha is thought to have been between $10 and $15 million, not the $1 to $1.5 million that was previously reported.
Matcha's technology could very well go into future versions of the Apple TV set-top box, but it may also see use across Apple's entertainment and media offerings. The firm is the latest in a number of smaller acquisitions Apple has made over time. Previously, Apple bought Chomp, an app search and recommendation engine, shutting down the service shortly thereafter just as has been done with Matcha.
Apple has bought nine or ten companies since October, picking up the pace from the year previous. CEO Tim Cook pointed out that most of these buys are of private companies with a corporate structure that will mesh well with Apple's. The company only discloses those buys "when we have to," according to Cook.
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16 Comments
I never used this service, but can't wait to try Apple's version. The Apple TV movie listings suck. Every damn category ends up showing 75% the same movies as many other categories. It is worthless. We get tired of trying to find something to rent or buy before we can even find anything.
Really hoping this is the key to implementing a universal search function in Apple TV. Only TiVo has it- but it doesn't benefit them at all, whereas having an iTunes purchase option would benefit Apple. I really like this acquisition. And for a minimal cost.
The key to the future of TV lies in how content is handled. We will desperately need a way of finding content we want to watch (popular and our niche interests), with a system that can present likely candidates, hide what we don't like, remember and use what we've watched before (to provide the next episode, and similar shows), and provide neat interfaces into all the above (not just a search list!).
Hope Apple steps up.
(edit: I was looking for a movie recommendation engine recently. Didn't notice Matcha, but signed up for Jinni which is pretty good. Still, like most technology firms, they seem to miss some obvious easy features.)
This type of service would really help with shows from foreign sources. There are many excellent British, Canadian, Swedish, ... series available on Netflix and other sources that we here in the US have never heard of. My dream (Apple TV) system would help me go directly to shows I am interested in without ever again having to surf through televangelists, product hawkers, etc.
[quote name="Andysol" url="/t/159069/matchas-status-as-best-among-video-content-aggregators-led-apple-to-buy#post_2381039"]Really hoping this is the key to implementing a universal search function in Apple TV. Only TiVo has it- but it doesn't benefit them at all, whereas having an iTunes purchase option would benefit Apple. I really like this acquisition. And for a minimal cost. [/quote] Whatever happened with Steve's comment that they had "cracked it"?