Gracenote Bows Tool to Lift Streaming Services' Discovery Results

Nielsen’s Gracenote is using video descriptors for mood, theme and scenario, plus cast information, to improve content discovery and third-party recommendation results, said the service Wednesday. Gracenote's Personalized Imagery can help video services boost engagement by presenting “the most appealing program images to viewers” in their user interfaces, content carousels and program guides, it said. The feature allows linear and streaming TV providers and connected device makers to dynamically display program images showing different aspects of a TV show or movie based on viewer preferences and previous consumption, it said. A recent pilot by a top-five U.S. streaming service that used targeted Gracenote program images instead of standard images had an 11.2% increase in time spent watching titles and a 7.7% lift in the number of titles watched, said the company.