PwC: Consumers Struggling to Discover New Content

According to PwC, 62 percent of consumers have a hard time finding something to watch, and 55 percent are looking for a new TV show or movie at least once a week.

The report on how technology will transform content discovery was released as part of PwC’s Consumer Intelligence Series, surveying 1,000 people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 to 64 with home internet access.

“Entertainment and media companies have long competed on two dimensions: content and distribution,” the report states. “To thrive in today’s increasingly competitive, crowded, slow-growth marketplace, however, they must focus on a third dimension: user experience. This industry shift favors the consumer, forcing content providers, media distributors, and tech companies to improve the discovery, personalization and ‘stickiness’ of their content. Flooded by options from an ever-growing library of video content, consumers are struggling to find what they want. Add in a rapidly growing, fragmented marketplace of distribution platforms, and we’re left with a consumer that’s overwhelmed, and ‘A’ content that’s left undiscovered and unwatched.”

PwC identifies three goals for companies operating in this environment: attract as many audiences as possible and keep them “satisfied and engaged,” justify increasing content production and acquisition costs, and deliver a return on investment for advertisers.

The respondents overwhelmingly indicated that they are consuming more video content than they were a year ago (72 percent), and just under half (46 percent) are paying more than they were last year.

“Often, consumers don’t know what they want to watch before sitting down, and they frequently discover content freely without any previous knowledge or recommendations from people they know,” the report continues. Consumers spend almost as much time watching newly discovered content as they do shows or movies they’ve already heard about. The survey also found that 42 percent of viewing time is on content found by chance by browsing versus 58 percent on something they already knew they wanted to watch.

“For the majority of consumers, trying to find that special something to watch has proven challenging—and annoying. Nearly two-thirds of consumers agree that they often struggle to find something to watch, despite there being many choices available to them.”

Finding something to watch is significantly more frustrating than something to read or listen to, respondents indicated. Moreover, “If after only a few minutes a consumer can’t figure out what to put on, one in every five will resort to rewatching something they’ve already seen.”

PwC also found that pay-TV subs are less frustrated over content discovery than streaming-only users; 38 percent of pay-TV customers enjoy searching for new video content, as compared with 31 percent for cord-cutters and 23 percent for cord-nevers.

“Today’s world of instant streaming and on-demand viewing can be disjointed, confusing, and cumbersome. Thus, it’s possible pay-TV subscribers are less frustrated because they are presented with less choices from the start. Consumers also told us that the traditional channel guide is inherently effortless, making the search experience more relaxing—especially when someone is unsure of what to watch.”

Programming appears to have a longer shelf life among streaming-only viewers, while pay-TV subs prefer recently released shows. “The pool of content from which to choose diminishes for pay-TV subscribers if they’re focused only on recent releases, which could help lessen frustration and raise enjoyment around content discovery.”

A whopping 90 percent of those surveyed under the age of 30 said that streaming services played a huge role in new content discovery; across all demos that number was 79 percent. This compared with 50 percent who cited social media as key for discovering new programming.

While consumers are discussing video on social networks, they are not necessarily using them to choose what to watch. “Less than half (48 percent) of respondents said they are influenced by what their friends and family watch, while only 25 percent said their viewing habits are largely driven by FOMO (fear of missing out or being left out of the conversation).”

PwC goes on to note that personalized recommendation is the holy grail of content discovery, but “‘Top picks for me’ falls short.”

Among pay-TV subs, the biggest influence on what to watch is previous knowledge—such as viewing a series based on a book you’re familiar with—followed by channel surfing, advertising, a recommendation from someone you know, the “popular” list on a streaming service and lastly the “Top picks for me” on a streaming service. Among non-pay TV streamers, topping the list is the “Popular” category on an OTT platform, followed by the “Recently released” tab, a recommendation from someone you know, “Top picks for me,” previous knowledge and then channel surfing.

“It’s evident that browsing has become a primary means of content discovery,” PwC says. “For years, ensuring a smooth, easy search function was paramount. And while that is still important, search assumes the consumer knows exactly what they’re looking for. The reality is they often don’t know.”

“Aimless browsing” has become a primary mode of content discovery. Asked about a new show viewed recently, 47 percent said they came across it while browsing, 44 percent cited promos, 32 percent a review, 27 percent a recommendation based on a previously viewed show and 23 percent watched it because other people they know were talking about it.

When it comes to the effectiveness of recommendation algorithms, 73 percent of respondents said their friends and family know them better than their streaming service, 60 percent view personalized recommendations as a way for the platform to plug the shows they want to promote, 56 percent feel it’s hard to tell if they’ll like the show and 37 percent don’t want to invest in the suggested title as they “find these recommendations too risky.”

The majority of respondents (83 percent) said that platforms should provide criteria for the personalized recommendation and 75 percent want to access reviews directly from the platform.

“We’ve moved beyond search and recommendation to the need for personalized content that can help attract, retain, and satisfy the consumer,” PwC says. “Hence, the ability to adapt AI and utilize data has become a driving concern for any company working with video. The best solutions will pair man with machine to help content publishers and providers stay competitive and audiences dialed into the content they care about most.”

PwC suggests a “crawl, walk, run model” for curation and personalization on platforms.

“Crawl: Include editorial context around what shows they recommend; for example, if there is a nationwide eclipse one day, show space-related movies. Use an editorial team to make the content relevant on a mass social scale. Also, apply time-based logic and other social cues that work well on a general basis for the population. If it’s 8 p.m. on Friday, push movies, but not if it’s 9 a.m. on a weekday, as they are less likely to be viewed.

Walk: Create profiles about their users. Each viewer should have a separate profile they log into. Profiles should be tracking what people watch during each time of day. Pull in other details about the user, for example, by tying into other big data sources. Develop a recommendation engine that can offer suggestions not just based on what the person viewed, but on everything the providers know about that person and similar profiles.

Run: Bake in full AI to get to full personalization. To do this right, the providers will need to understand the DNA of each piece of content. Just because the person watched a comedy yesterday does not mean they will want another comedy recommended. Instead, do trending analysis across all items they are watching to see commonalities (for example, a certain director, favorite actor, style in how the show is shot, type of comedy, sub-sub-sub-genre, etc.) Only then will recommendations be truly personalized and spot on.”