Gracenote global on-demand OTT guide
January 2, 2020
In a move designed to help global and regional streaming services create next generation user experiences and bridge OTT and broadcast content for seamless viewing, Gracenote, a Nielsen company, is leveraging its expertise powering linear broadcast Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) to help on-demand video streaming services, Smart TV makers and traditional cable and satellite operators deliver next-gen content navigation, search and discovery capabilities.
Its latest expansion into Europe positions Gracenote as the leading OTT guide provider in the world with coverage of more than 200 catalogues in 13 markets across North America, Europe, Latin America and APAC.
According to Statista, the concentration of US viewers that subscribe to three or more streaming services more than doubled from 21 per cent in 2017 to 45 per cent in 2019. These new services seek to integrate into traditional broadcast EPGs while cable and satellite providers aim to deliver seamless experiences across linear TV and native OTT apps.
Critical to the user experience is ensuring the content displayed shares the same parental controls, universal search and similar discovery features. Meanwhile, Smart TV manufacturers are having to navigate the multitude of streaming services and managing endless proprietary feeds and ID systems.
“While much of the focus in the ‘Streaming Wars’ conversation has been on the largest catalogues and original content, the winners will also understand how to successfully integrate with a diverse set of video platforms,” said Simon Adams, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “As this new generation of Video providers emerges, Gracenote is playing to its long-standing role providing the critical metadata, unique IDs and rich imagery that power killer user experiences and drive tune-in and engagement.”
Gracenote’s OTT guide offering serves as the connective tissue that helps make video content searchable across multiple services, platforms and devices. Leveraging the offering, OTT services are better able to elevate content visibility while enabling Smart TV makers and cable and satellite operators to increase ease of use. Gracenote IDs and metadata provide common links between TV series, seasons and episodes, as well as related TV and movie genres, celebrities, and other descriptive information. This ensures that Hollywood blockbusters, independent films and short-form videos alike are linked together to create next-generation viewer experiences in pay-TV and OTT services.
To help today’s OTT services gain competitive advantages and increase viewer loyalty, Gracenote is making available:
- Unique Gracenote IDs: Provide connectivity between related content assets to power universal search capabilities which surface TV show and movie availability across different services and make possible easy one-click viewing
- Deep Descriptive Metadata: Enables intuitive content navigation and nuanced recommendations that connect viewers to the shows and movies they love – and discover new ones to enjoy – based on Advanced Video Descriptors criteria such as mood, theme, setting and character attributes
- Custom Content Imagery: Populates OTT Guide interfaces and carousels with iconic movie and TV series, season and episode-level images as well as cast/celebrity photos that capture the essence of content – enabling visual navigation and enhancing binge-viewing sessions
- Streaming Service Feeds: Provides deep linking, audio/video quality, content availability and a critical data structure required to integrate a streaming service into mobile, set-top boxes and Smart TVs