Talking back to the algorithm – why streaming consumers must be given control

“The promised personalization of cord-cutting and algorithms – watching what I want, and only what I want, when I want, for a price that seems appropriate for what I consume – should be paying off big time, right? Then why am I so frustrated?”

“[…] streaming services have seen a massive growth. But growth is creating complexity. As we adopt more services, finding what we’re interested in often requires manually browsing through a glut of platforms, screens and menus until we eventually find what we’re after. […] To find the right personalized experience, audiences must deal with significant complexity. In a world with greater agency, how can I more easily navigate across the rabbit holes?”

[…] Plus, the lean-back reliance on the algorithm to pitch me shows does not provide me with agency to tune the model, except through actual show selection. If only my remote could talk. Imagine the strength of the recommendations if each service’s algorithm knew the real me!  [..] What would it mean to have an algorithm with access to my consolidated viewing history?

Talking back to the algorithm – why streaming consumers must be given control by John Peters (Accenture) on LinkedIN

John Peters is talking about paid media here, so this is not the world of free social media where advertisers are paying for access to customers. A customer who has cut the cord has already expressed a need to regain control over what they watch and what they pay. The power should be in the hands of the customer and the question “What would it mean to have an algorithm with access to my consolidated viewing history?” is a very relevant one given the technology already around.

Imagine what some APIs and data-sharing agreements can enable: a single rabbit hole with a single, fully informed algorithm, able to be personalized for what I want to see and pay for.” Any one of the OTT players or even the connectivity companies (mobile provider or internet services) could initiate this shift. Indeed it would transcend viewing, to audio, gaming and all entertainment – and then it could be used to make targeting more useful to the consumer and more efficient to the advertiser.

I see this as a gateway to consumers sharing more data, safely and with some agency as to how that data is used to make their life better. I want somebody to log what I’m viewing across all my OTT or mobile providers, then give me a consolidated picture of my viewing history and allow me to see that view from any channel that I am watching from, then let me set my preferences from any channel and allow those preferences to be applied across all channels. Just that set of requirements requires standards, data sharing protocols and a shift in business models. But as soon as this happens and we gain a degree of data mobility and agency of the data, the stage will be set for a very difference experience as a consumer and the opening up of new business models for both OTT players and advertisers.

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