TiVo Launches New Voice-Based Content Discovery Platform for MVPDs

TiVo launched new content discovery features Tuesday for MVPDs, highlighting “conversational voice search” and personalized search and recommendations. Analytics capabilities in the Personalized Content Discovery platform allow MVPDs to do A/B testing and optimize operations in real time, said TiVo. With the new platform, a user can ask, “What’s on TV tonight?” and get “highly relevant” personalized search results of the top 10 TV programs the user is likely to be interested in based on viewing behavior and interests, said the company. TiVo’s platform also supports contextual voice queries, allowing users to narrow results within a specific sub-category, eliminating the need to string together long queries with unnatural phrasing, it said. A user who asked for Tom Hanks movies could follow up by saying, “only the comedies,” for example. Conversational search capability covers the content catalogs available to the consumer, such as linear TV, VOD or over-the-top programming, TiVo said. The platform recognizes what the user is subscribed to and can be set to return only what is available in a user’s specific package. The platform has an integrated backend business console that provides management and real-time tuning of search results, allowing video providers to improve the user experience and generate more engagement from viewer searches, TiVo said. Operators can use rules to drive internal business objectives, such as boosting more VOD titles in voice searches to promote broader category awareness, it said. In the past, it was time- and labor-intensive for MVPDs to update search results, said Pratik Patel, director-product management, advanced search and recommendations. With the new platform, changes can be made “almost instantaneously, generating stronger, more relevant results for viewers,” said Patel.