Will Your Favorite TV Show Be Canceled? The Upcoming Renewed App Will Tell You
August 6, 2012
In the coming weeks, Hollywood will debut new and returning series for the fall television season. Unfortunately, many of those shows will face cancelation due to low ratings. Thankfully, a new iOS app is coming to the App Store later this month that will make it easier to track whether your favorite or new shows have, or could soon be canceled.
Rnewde becomes Renewed
A year ago a promising new app, Rnewde, arrived for iOS. In the coming weeks, Rnewde will become Renewed, and along with it, a number of new features will arrive. We’ve recently had the opportunity to use the Renewed beta and here are our initial thoughts.
Created by Ironsoft Studios, the rebranded Renewed app will arrive for the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. Rnewde, by contrast, only works on the iPhone.
At its core, Renewed is one part TV guide, another part social network. In this case, the guide is customized based on your interests.
To get started, you add your favorite shows. This is done by using Renewed’s search function, or by checking the list of upcoming shows. Once this is complete, you’ll receive alerts each time a new episode is scheduled to air, including information on that episode. Renewed also includes information on each episode of a series that has ever aired, which is another terrific tool.
For example, “True Blood” is one of my favorite shows. The app shows that the HBO series is currently in its fifth season, with a new episode, “Gone, Gone, Gone,” expected to air on Aug. 12. And yes, Sookie and the rest of the gang in Bon Temps will return in 2013. Thanks for the news, Renewed.
Renewed also enables fans to tell others about their favorite shows. This is done through Getglue, Miso, Twitter, and Facebook integration.
Additionally, if an episode is available through HBO, Hulu Plus, Netflix, or iTunes, you’ll see a link. These links automatically open the third-party app to the correct episode, assuming the app is installed on your iOS device.
According to developer Andrew Fernandez, Renewed uses a number of tools to determine whether a show could soon be canceled. He states:
The renewal percentages are calculated by taking as much historical and present ratings data that's available and calculating indexes for each currently airing show similar to valuations in the stock market. I also track the web for press releases and blog posts with official info from the networks.During my tests, I found Renewed worked as expected. Specifically, I was impressed with its migration to the iPad. Best of all, I’ll never again start watching a show that has already been canceled. We’ll let you know when Renewed arrives in the App Store. You can also visit the Renewed website for more information on the upcoming release. Until then, iPhone customers may want to check out Rnewde before it goes away. Once Rnewde becomes Renewed, those users will receive an app update.
