Beyond Standard Search: Why TV Platforms Need Advanced Discovery to Retain Subscribers
The traditional approach to content discovery on TV platforms is quickly becoming obsolete. As streaming services multiply and content libraries expand exponentially, standard search functionality and basic recommendation systems are no longer sufficient to keep subscribers engaged. The 2024 Gracenote State of Play report stated that consumers are facing overwhelming content choices, forcing them to spend over 10 minutes on average deciding what to watch, with as many as 20% deciding to watch nothing. This contributes to the frustration of users and even though the churn rate did fall last year, this is still having an impact on service providers. Most turn to recommendations and search to help engage users. However, if not executed effectively, users will still not be able to find something they would enjoy watching and adds to the frustration they feel. In this blog, we are taking a look at why standard search and recommendations are no longer enough to keep your users engaged and help fight against your competitors.
What are recommendations and search?
When people think of recommendations, they mainly think of suggestions made by services like “Because you watched X” or “You might like”. These tend to fail to capture the attention of users, which is a contributing factor to subscribers wasting time searching and getting frustrated with platforms. Even when there seem to be more personalized recommendations, 60% of viewers believe personal recommendations reflect shows that the OTT service is trying to promote rather than a choice tailored to their viewing habits. Recommendations should be a combination based on the users’ behaviours and watching profiles with a mix of editorial choices. If it’s more the latter, users are more likely to leave as they don’t think the platform has what they want to view.
A new survey of 2,000 American streaming service subscribers revealed that the average person spends 110 hours per year scrolling through streaming platforms while struggling to find something worth watching. Even when people know what they want to watch, the search experience is not always helpful. The conventional search usually consists of a search bar to find specific titles, actors, directors, or genres with the help of auto-complete, the option to filter options such as content type (movies, TV shows), genre, release year, or rating and the ability for alphabetical browsing is available to search through content libraries. When content is added to platforms it’s default ‘New’, however for the user it’s not and can be frustrating to find new releases rather than just new to the platform. As more devices are now compatible with voice search, it’s expected that users can just describe what they want to see via voice search, but this can be met with more disappointment. These are the expected behaviors for a search experience in 2025, but viewers are still struggling to discover content.
Why is standard search no longer cutting it?
Not only is the experience causing dissatisfaction, but standard search requires viewers to know exactly what they’re looking for, a significant limitation when libraries contain thousands of titles. Subscribers face an overwhelming paradox of choice. According to Nielsen’s 2023 U.S. Streaming Consumer survey, 74% of streaming consumers either don’t know what they want to watch or only have a vague idea of what they want to watch when they start a streaming session. When consumers are struggling to find the content they enjoy, they start to question if the service is right for them, contributing to the levels of churn.
Viewers are increasingly experiencing “decision fatigue” – spending precious leisure time scrolling through endless content options with headlines, lacking any link to why the user should be interested which drives fatigue and to turn off. When they do know what they want to watch, they want to be able to find it. This is where personalized search can come into play, search results delivered based on the viewer’s preferences, auto-complete your users’ search based on trending or their preferences. With the increase in the popularity of voice search, there is a definite need for platforms to be able to understand natural language and deliver the right results for their users.
The modern viewer expects platforms to truly understand their preferences, moods, and viewing habits – serving up perfect content suggestions that feel tailored specifically to them, not generic algorithm suggestions. As subscribers become more selective about which services to keep during economic uncertainty, advanced discovery has transformed from a nice-to-have feature into a critical retention tool.
Less time searching, more time watching
Recommendation and search experiences need to become smarter. Advanced recommendation engines don’t just suggest similar content- they create personalized content journeys that evolve with the viewer, introducing them to new genres and creators they might not otherwise discover. By leveraging AI solutions like ours, services can anticipate what subscribers want to watch and predict viewing patterns across different devices and times, creating personalized content journeys by understanding not only their choices but also the shifts in behavior and preferences. With a dynamic UI filled with real-time recommendations, service providers can build a totally tailored experience for each user.
Improving content discovery with advanced search that combines genre, emotion and thematic elements. Rather than just searching for titles or actors, advanced systems allow viewers to search based on mood, themes, or situations. A subscriber might search for “feel-good movies with strong female leads” or “tense thrillers set in small towns”. Even with bad metadata, XroadMedia is able to make these connections between content to be able to deliver results even from queries with natural language rather than information in the metadata.
Results that deliver
Investing in advanced discovery functionality isn’t just about improving user experience, it directly impacts key business metrics:
- Reduced churn: When subscribers can consistently find content they enjoy, they’re less likely to cancel
- Increased engagement: Better discovery leads to more viewing time and deeper platform engagement
- Content ROI: Advanced discovery ensures expensive content investments don’t go unwatched
- Competitive differentiation: As content libraries become increasingly similar across platforms, discovery becomes a key differentiator
If this is a focus for you, get in touch with our team of personalization experts and understand how we enhance search experiences for A1 Telekom Austria Group, Three, NLZIET and more.
