Despite the TV producers and the renewed interest in representation and progressive content, television seems to be fighting a losing battle with the rise of digital media. And the new HQ trivia app might just be the final blow to people already referring to it as the “Future of Television”.

The app which is as of yet, exclusive to iOS users was created by Yusupov and partner Colin Kroll, both co-founders of short-video sharing app, Vine. After Vine shutdown last year, they launched a series of apps including a live video broadcast app called Hype. But while Hype never took off, the popularity of game show-type contents that Hype users were creating inspired the creation of HQ, a quiz-show app that launched in August and already boasts of over a hundred thousand users.

They have steadily built a strong following of mobile users who tune in to the app’s twice daily (except on weekends), 15-minute long game show. Users stand a chance to win real cash prizes by answering a series of multiple-choice general trivia questions posed by the show’s host, Scott Rogowsky. The questions start out easy enough and cover pretty much anything under the sun (ranging from sport, tech and pop culture). But as the game progresses, the rapid-fire questions get tougher and participants get disqualified if they miss any question. The game ends after 12 questions, leaving only those who picked correct answers to all 12 questions to split the prize pool HQ specifies before the game begins. Interestingly enough though, you can actually earn extra life—to keep playing even after missing a question—by inviting friends to join the app with a referral code.

Asides the fun host and the convenience of the app, the prospect of earning real money for fun is an obvious incentive. And while the prize pools tend to vary, it has climbed to thousands of dollars and could possibly grow to be as much as a million dollars in the near future. This would mean significantly richer payouts to players and in essence, more users for the app.

In the world of clues, buzzers, and preplanned small talk, HQ’s trivia app is undoubtedly the future of broadcast media.

Watch this video of one of the game shows below.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube/Mendelson3

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