TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan. UK and Australia versions of the website are also available, at uk.tv.com and au.tv.com, respectively.

History

CNET Networks had originally acquired the domain name (among other generic domain names like news.com, radio.com, etc.) in the mid-1990s to host a website for the company's technology-related TV shows

CNET TV

CNET TV is a San Francisco, California based Internet television network showing original programming catering to the niche market of technology enthusiasts, operated by CBS Interactive through their CNET.com brand. CNET TV originated as the television program production arm of CNET Networks in the...

. One of these shows was actually titled TV.com. The program, highlighting the best of the Internet for new and casual computer users, aired in U.S. syndication.

CNET then acquired TV Tome

TV Tome

TV Tome was a U.S. based website devoted to informational guides for English-language television shows and the people involved in their production. It was run mainly by volunteer editors, with the assistance of user contributions...

, a popular fan-run television database, and TV.com was launched on June 1, 2005 with many of the features and content of the original TV Tome site.

On May 15, 2008, CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 formally announced its purchase of CNET Networks, and the company changed its name to CBS Interactive.

TV.com has continually looked at innovating the television-viewing experience by incorporating it with technology, as seen with the creation of WatchList. This service offered personalized TV listings influenced by user actions and social media, which eventually carried over to the creation of TV.com Relay.

Features

TV.com provides show descriptions, cast and crew listings, full episodes as well as clip length videos, discussion forums, and detailed episode guides for many TV shows. Episode guides may include synopsis information, a recap, credits, notes, trivia, quotes, and images provided by the networks. All textual information in the guides is user generated. Users earn badges and points for participating. After a user earns above a certain number of points, they become editor for the guide where they get to moderate all user submissions made to the guide. The site also provides actor guides which includes the actors’ bios, credits, trivia and quotes, images, forums, and related news. Like show pages, users can become editors for these guides after earning points by providing sourced content.

In addition to its user-generated database of television information, TV.com creates original editorial content and special features for noteworthy television events, such as Comic-Con, season finales, award shows, upfronts, holiday TV, and more.

Mobile app

The site has created a mobile application for download on the iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

, iPod touch

IPod touch

The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...

 and iPad

IPad

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...

 through the iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

app store, and another application for Android mobile phones and tablets on the Android Market. Both applications allows users to stream video content, including clips and full length episodes directly to their device.

Relay

TV.com Relay is a social television check in application that is available over mobile and web. Users can check in to shows they are watching, see what their friends are watching, participate in discussion, and earn badges.