Better Guides for Online Video Needed

December 10th, 2007

Gemstar-TV Guide released a study on the use of their interactive programming guide that shows how widely used these guides are. From my own experience, if I resort to the old behavior of channel flipping WITHOUT using the guide, my wife gets frustrated and takes the remote. She even says, “Use the GUIDE!”

Some interesting points from the report:

- At least eight out of ten i-Guide (Gemstar-TV Guide programming guide) users agree that they always use their IPG to find what to watch and their IPG is a necessity for their viewing experience.
- I-Guide users agree that their IPG makes them aware of programs they didn’t know about, is the best information source about TV programs and episodes, and enhances their overall TV viewing experience.
- The vast majority of i-Guide users agree that they use their IPG when they first sit down to watch TV, when a new program begins, during commercial breaks and when they’re bored with what they’re watching.
- Two-thirds of TV viewers decide what to watch after they sit down, switching on their TV sets with no specific destination in mind.

This report is good to understand in conjunction with the Choice Stream report (highlighted here by NewTeeVee), which shows how consumers find video to watch on computers, media players, or mobile devices. The report found that 56% of survey respondents browse sites to find videos to watch, but that the amount of time required to find what they want is frustrating (respondents were similarly frustrated with the methods available to find programming on their televisions).

The video search engines such as Blinkx, Dabble, and StumbleUpon typically bill themselves as more than just search - they are a means of discovery. This implies you may not have a particular video or set of videos in mind when you tune in, but you’re hoping to find what you want. You can set up your own playlists to give these engines a way of telling them what you like, or simply choose other peoples playlists to convey this information. But this is still alot of sifting!

Do we have too much choice in a world of millions of on-demand, 2 minute videos? By having all the inventory available at all times, maybe it’s too overwhelming when the goal is to just catch a few interesting videos. Surfing 50-100 channels in a programming guide is simpler but still frustrating to consumers (according to the Choice Stream report). Will the video search engines eventually know enough about us to tailor recommendations for us? Will we get to a point where “simple” and “relevant” are brought together in guiding us to our video content? Let’s hope!

Entry Filed under: New Media/Old Media