Viewers taking critical view of content recommendation

Viewers spend an average of 16 minutes searching for content and when they don’t find anything, the majority will look elsewhere, according to new consumer research commissioned by online video platform provider Piksel.

The study, conducted by Censuswide, found that half of consumers take a critical view of service providers’ ability to furnish recommendations. Some 41% of users surveyed think suggestions made by broadcasters and OTT providers are hit and miss, while only 16% say that are accurate.

A further 49% of viewers said they didn’t know how search and discovery could be improved. However, 69% of do think that being able to search by theme, emotion, character personality or action, could be used to improve the process.

Almost a quarter of respondents – 23% – said their choice of content provider is based on the quality of their search and discovery experiences.

The sample of 2,207 respondents was interviewed online in the UK and US, in November.

“In an increasingly competitive market, broadcasters and content providers are being challenged to attract more viewers, get them engaged and keep them entertained for longer. The foundation for this, aside from having high quality content, is the customer experience. This means making sure viewers can find what they want to watch quickly and easily, and are able to watch it wherever they may be,” said Fabrice Hamaide, president, Piksel.

“What this research is showing is that there is the appetite for improved content search methods, as well as for better, more accurate recommendations from their providers on what to watch. More and more this is where metadata tools come in and can help organisations streamline those processes and ultimately deliver relevant, targeted content that will keep audiences engaged for longer.”