LocateTV recommends video content to consumers

When it comes to online video, whether user generated or professionally produced, everyone has an opinion. What's great about these opinions is that other people are now actively seeking out content opinions and recommendations, which is where LocateTV's new recommendation service comes in.

by Kristina Knight

The recommendation engine for LocateTV allows consumers to search through entire genres (action series, drama, comedy, etc.) to find the type of professionally produced video content they want. Why does wanted content matter? Because viewers are hungry for content, but not just any content. Action fans want to see the latest from NCIS, for instance, not the latest Martha Stewart cooking segment. By giving consumers what they want, the platform can then partner with advertisers to deliver these engaged viewers the type of advertising that is most likely to resonate with them.

"The television anywhere initiatives are growing and there is a lot of appetite from consumers for more and more content," said Stephen Tallamy, Technical Lead for LocateTV. "[User generated content] is still popular, but now that people see they can access professionally produced content, they want it."

Tallamy says the majority of consumers are looking for hour-long or slightly shorter episodes, but that they don't care if the content is first run, online only or repeat content from the major networks.

"[They may want] a specific episode from a particular season of a drama, for example," said Tallamy. "We're seeing a peak as the episodes approach and then a few days after the original [television] viewing we see more consumers coming in to watch it online either for the first time because they missed that airing or to watch it again in a slightly different format."

And these viewers are open to pre- or post-roll advertising because they want the content to be free. Which is where the platform circles around to recommendations. Advertisers can feature their ads with specific, targeted content to reach a more engaged audience.

"We can target ads around content that specific viewers want to see or are interested in. For example, looking at the movie pages, viewers who are interested in sci-fi movies will look there for the information, and marketers can then target ads accordingly," said Tallamy.

Tags: LocateTV, online video, Stephen Tallamy, video clips, video content, video recommendations