Live TV streaming
providers tap into viewer's tastes
Send a link to a friend
[December 12, 2016]
By Lisa Richwine and Jessica Toonkel
(Reuters) - Hulu, Dish Network Corp's Sling and other streaming services
battling for customers who are ditching cable are working to make new
live TV services more personalized for each user, an effort to help
viewers navigate a sea of movies, news and television shows.
Butting heads with AT&T and Sony Corp, which also have started to
provide live TV over the internet from channels found on cable
television, the upstarts are culling up-to-the-minute data on viewing
habits, device usage and even current events to show viewers what they
want - maybe before they know themselves.
The company that creates the most user-friendly and personalized service
will have a vital edge in the race to win millions of viewers who are
dropping cable and satellite packages and their often clunky channel
guides, analysts said.
"Given the amount of choice you have today, it is amazing that no one
has built a better recommendation engine for (traditional) TV," said
Michael Nathanson, an analyst with MoffettNathanson.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/12/images/ads/current/graue_preowned_120516.png)
The stakes are high. Over the past six years, the amount of time people
aged 18 to 24, part of advertisers' most coveted demographic, spent
watching traditional TV declined 42 percent, according to a presentation
earlier this month by Business Insider Chief Executive Henry Blodget at
the Ignition 2016 Conference.
On-demand services from companies such as Netflix Inc and Hulu already
mine troves of user data to suggest movies and TV shows based on a
customer's preferences, but the new live streaming options can respond
to real-time viewing habits.
For the live service it will launch next year, Hulu plans to tap into
the general "zeitgeist" around specific topics to provide
recommendations, said Ben Smith, a senior vice president at Hulu, which
is owned by media companies Walt Disney Co, Comcast Corp, 21st Century
Fox, and Time Warner Inc.
A viewer who has watched a steady flow of news about politics, for
example, may see recommendations for related yet escapist content like
political action movie "Air Force One," Smith said.
"We think there is something really interesting about capturing viewers'
moods," Smith told Reuters.
There is evidence that recommendations play a large role in audiences'
decision-making. Seventy-five percent of all viewing on Hulu's on-demand
service is driven by recommended programming, Barclays analysts said in
a research note.
Dish's Sling TV will focus next year on making sure what a viewer sees
is contextually relevant to the device they use, said Ben Weinberger,
Sling's chief product officer.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/121216pics/busine37.jpg)
A Dish Network logo is seen on a satellite dish on a Brooklyn
apartment building roof in New York June 4, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan
McDermid
![](../images/ads/current/demay_inv-lda081412.png)
For example, a viewer who watches news in the mornings on a tablet would
see news content recommendations at that time on that device. But that
same viewer may catch up on the previous night’s episode of a favorite
series on their mobile phone in the afternoon, where Sling will direct
them.
"It means giving you the right content at the right time of day on the
right device," Weinberger said.
AT&T, which launched its DirectTV Now service in November, is also using
data to customize content recommendations for each user as well as the
advertisements they see, executives told Reuters.
Next year, DirecTV Now will have the technology to insert targeted ads
into TV networks' streams that are designed to be more relevant to
viewers, said Rick Welday, president of AT&T’s AdWorks.
Traditional pay TV providers also have revamped channel guides. Comcast
Cable's X1 operating system, for example, responds to voice commands
such as "what should I watch?," which provides personalized
recommendations.
A smooth viewing experience is especially key for streaming providers
because viewers can cancel and switch to competitors in a few minutes
online.
One advantage for online services is they can tweak their features
remotely. Sony is working to add a voice command to reach its
PlayStation Vue live TV package from the gaming console and on further
personalizing search capabilities, executives said.
"There are several updates for consumers every year for every device,"
said PlayStation Vue product head Dan Myers said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Dec/12/images/ads/current/zion_lda_WORSHIP_2016.png)
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Jessica Toonkel in New
York, additional reporting by Tim Baysinger in New York; Editing by
Bernard Orr)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |