Television as we know it today is outdated. While it was a luxury to be able to consume all this content in a single “box” 30-40 years ago, this is no longer true today. With the advances in computer and streaming technologies (i.e. Netflix), it makes no sense why we should have to go through expensive cable/satellite packages for entertainment that include channels and shows we will never watch.

Television doesn’t work because of two things. First, you can’t pick and choose what shows you want, meaning you watch maybe 20% (made up to prove a point) of the channels you are paying for. Second, you already paid for access to all these channels, yet you are still bombarded with advertising as if you don’t spend enough already.

Enter HitBliss, the solution to this problem and the company that will flip this ancient business model up-side down. HitBliss lets ads work for us, the consumers! It’s actually very simple, yet quite brilliant. I’ve been lucky enough to be a beta tester and let me tell you it works flawlessly. Here’s the breakdown of how it all works.

Instead of paying for shows you don’t want and watching ads you don’t care about, HitBliss lets you pay for shows you want by watching ads tailored to you. That’s right, you earn credits by watching ads, which you can then use to rent an episode or a movie. When you first launch the app (which you have to download and install) you will be greeted by a 5-step explanation of what HitBliss is all about. You will also have the opportunity to set your personalization settings and choose which information you want to share with HitBliss. The more information you share, the more personalized the ads, and essentially the faster you earn credits. Think about it, if HitBliss can guarantee marketers that their target audience is watching the ads, the more money they both make.

I opted to earn credits the “fastest” by providing information regarding my search habits, web surfing habits, gender, income, education level, number of children and more. After the introduction, you are greeted with a familiar screen that lists all content by genre and type. On the top left of the main page is a button titled “earn.” This is where you go to watch a bunch of ads and earn credits. I clicked it and watched multiple ads. During the ads you will be required to either click or hit “enter” to make sure you are actually there and watching it. The more you pass this “test” the higher your “trust level” is. As far as I can tell, higher trust level means less “press Enter to prove you’re there” tests.

I think I watched about 7 minutes worth of ads, hitting the earned credit cap of $5.00. Throughout the process I was presented with the “hit Enter” test multiple times, perhaps one every ad. You level up faster by successfully completing the “hit Enter” test consecutively and quickly (streak bonus and quick response bonus, I think is what they called it).

Searching through the content, I believe everything is $1.99 for a 24 hour rental. I used some of my earned credits (you can opt to pay using your credit card as well) to fire up Good Fellas just to see how the actual streaming was. It looked great and worked well.

HitBliss is a great experience with a business model that makes perfect sense. It’s rare when three parties (consumer, HitBliss, marketers) all win in any one product or service, but I really believe HitBliss proves this can be done. This is why I think it has a tremendous future ahead of it, and why it will be my number one TV/movie streaming application.