Content discoverability serves as “retention tool”, says A+E Networks exec

Content discoverability serves as a “retention tool” for operators in order to earn long-term user engagement, according to Julie Mitchelmore, VP of digital at A+E Networks.

During a panel session at the DTG Summit in London yesterday, Mitchelmore highlighted content discoverability as a fundamental capability in the UX design “to make sure people stay with us for a long period of time.”

A+E Networks which is home to factual entertainment, is behind the factual TV brands The History Channel, Crime + investigation, Blaze and Cosmo.

“When people come to us they’re not expecting sports, they’re not expecting drama, they’re expecting true crime,” she said. “So, it’s about finding ways to make that interesting to customers on a daily or weekly basis, and looking at fresh ways to engage people with content and understanding the repertoire of what people are watching.”

Mitchelmore said, “the quickest way to get people watching something is to continue watching something they already like, whether that’s either the next episode or the next season. And then it’s about introducing something else, which we think they might like, based on genre, talents, among more”

She explained operators can improve discoverability by leveraging the metadata, which can be implemented across editorial such as the synopsis or imagery to engage viewers.

She said it requires driving engagement at  “every possible opportunity that you have and that you have all the different touch points.”

Oliver Davies, European head of product at Samsung TV Plus, added content discoverability involves the combination of curation and personalisation.

“We don’t have personas on the TV. So it’s the personalisation is a device level,” he said. “We have to understand the time of day and the likely type of person watching. A weekday can be very different to a Saturday morning”.