Learn how a premier distributor of short films optimized their digital experience through a personalized recommendation engine.
ShortsTV is the biggest license holder and distributor of short films. With movies acquired from filmmakers around the globe, their collection of movies and short films are available on multiple platforms across TV, online, and in theaters. ShortsTV is the sole theatrical distributor of Oscar nominated short films and also produces original short films for other broadcasters.
With the media landscape witnessing a shift in viewer preferences towards online platforms, ShortsTV aimed to create a cross-platform streaming service for their customers. Learn how ShortsTV teamed up with Icreon to build apps using a custom recommendation engine that suggests films based on a 360-degree digital profile of the customer.
Given changing viewer habits, with a clear preference for online movie streaming, ShortsTV aimed to enhance their digital footprint and expand their audience reach. As the digital era saw a surge in consumers turning to online streaming for its convenience and flexibility, ShortsTV decided to adapt. Their strategy involved creating a cross-platform streaming service. Not only did they want to tap into the online space, but they also planned to integrate directly with Horizon Set-top boxes to deliver content Over The Top (OTT) to their subscribers.
Furthermore, in catering to the ubiquity of online platforms, ShortsTV intended to go beyond just accessibility and ensure its offerings matched the diverse preferences of viewers worldwide. This would mean not only providing a vast catalogue of movies but also making the viewing experience more personalized and convenient, thereby establishing a stronger connection with their audience and reinforcing their position in the online entertainment space.
Before embarking on the development of the suite of applications, Icreon engaged in a thorough strategic planning phase, which played a crucial role in shaping the eventual solution. This involved detailed analysis of ShortsTV's target audience, viewing habits, preferences, and existing digital footprint. Understanding the trends in the market and anticipating future shifts were also integral to this planning process.
The team at Icreon developed several applications for ShortsTV, including a Set Top Box application, a Recommendation Engine, and various mobile apps for platforms like iOS, providing an intuitive and user-friendly experience for ShortsTV viewers. The integration of ShortsTV's extensive movie catalogue into these apps facilitates instant access to a plethora of films. Furthermore, these apps incorporate functionality allowing users to curate personalized playlists, enabling them to save and revisit their favorite movies at their convenience.
With a deep strategic understanding of ShortsTV's viewers, the team at Icreon implemented a comprehensive tracking system. This feature records user activity and feeds this data into a sophisticated recommendation engine. To strengthen ShortsTV's control over content distribution, Icreon developed a robust rights and license management system as part of the solution. This feature provides ShortsTV with the ability to implement geographical restrictions on film viewership, enabling the precise targeting of content to specific regions, countries, or cities globally. This meticulous strategic planning and subsequent execution have resulted in a versatile solution that has substantially amplified ShortsTV's digital presence. With the ShortsTV iOS application, users can enjoy most of the features existing in STB app along with additional features such as Continue Watching, Library, Recommendations, etc.
Icreon played a pivotal role in developing a suite of mobile applications for ShortsTV that worked across iOS, Android, and Chromecast. These applications gave viewers instant access to ShortsTV's extensive catalogue, allowing them to save movies for later and get personalized recommendations. The apps also integrated with Ooyala and other leading video platforms, to ensure high-quality streaming and metadata extraction.
By constructing a robust web-based admin console, Icreon bolstered ShortsTV's enterprise capabilities. The admin console enabled the ShortsTV team to manage film metadata, licensing information, and generate insightful reports. This strengthened their online presence and significantly improved their ability to manage and distribute their extensive catalogue.
In software development, Icreon implemented a comprehensive rights and license management system for ShortsTV, enabling them to control film viewership in specific geographical locations. Scripts were written to integrate and extract metadata, along with analytics data from other video platforms, further enhancing their software's capabilities.
Icreon created a detailed tracking system and recommendation engine. This system collects viewer activity data for analysis and helps ShortsTV predict viewing trends. The recommendation engine, using various parameters, offers personalized movie suggestions to viewers, thus creating an enhanced and more engaging user experience.
With ready access to the ShortsTV catalogue from apps, users can watch movies at their own convenience with the option to choose subtitle language. Icreon provided a platform for filmmakers to promote their movies and has enabled granular tracking of activity on movies. This feature helps ShortsTV in predicting potential trends. The option of adding multiple users under a single account has simplified the process of managing accounts for family members. Parental controls have also been integrated into the system, allowing users to restrict access to specific movies or categories of movies. The solution also includes a web-based admin console that makes it easy for ShortsTV to manage film meta information and licensing information. Lastly, a sophisticated reporting engine has been added to analyze and present data related to user activity on movies.
