Kannuu today announced a partnership with the French company Wyplay, creator of software solutions for leading Pay TV operators – and joined the Frog by Wyplay initiative. The announcement comes during TV Connect, the World’s key event for the connected TV industry, which is currently taking place in London.
Frog by Wyplay is the first independent open source software solution for pay-TV operators. The initiative brings together a growing ecosystem of more than 85 companies across the entire digital TV technology value chain including chipset vendors, device manufacturers, independent software vendors, software development and integration services providers and operators. This comprehensive solution includes access to the complete source code and all the components to build TV operator’s products.
This partnership will see the integration of Kannuu system into the Frog by Wyplay platform, which will allow its members and customers to easily and quickly pick and choose which services and capabilities they want from Wyplay for their set-top-boxes, deploy and deliver personalized TV and video services to consumers. The Kannuu system will be offered alongside other services. However it has already proved its value with leading providers.
Eric Kearley, Director of IPTV and pay-TV at Telstra recently commented; “We’ve experienced a noticeable improvement in customer interaction and satisfaction with the Kannuu technology on our OTT platform. Prior to the Kannuu discovery experience launch, an average of 10 percent of consumers used the search function. After incorporating Kannuu’s technology, over 30 percent of consumers began using the search function, with peak times seeing over 70 percent usage.”
Further analysis shows that nearly 20 percent of those engaged customers purchased media content and 17 percent of all title purchases overall resulted from Kannuu’s discovery platform. The data also showed that for some of the “top 30” movies, over 25 percent of the purchases resulted from discoveries on the Kannuu platform.
In the US, Kannuu has been recognised as an emerging significant player. They recently set up an office in London from which they will partner with UK and European multiple system operators (MSO) and OTT service providers to drive the implementation of next-generation, personalised content discovery experiences.
Dominique Féral, Wyplay’s CMO and Co-Founder commented on the announcement; “The Kannuu system, deployed with our Frog By Wyplay open source middleware, offers a truly next-generation discovery experience. It connects consumers to find the content they want and that delivers financial value to TV operators, which is why we’re so excited to offer this technology on our platform.”
Kannuu VP for UK & Europe, Tom Laidlaw, said; “We’re delighted to be working with Wyplay and we look forward to working with their customers.”
Come out and hear a terrific panel at Digital Hollywood:
Over the Top TV – Gateway to the New Hollywood of Streaming Content to TV, Tablets and PC
Some great discussion with great speakers – Monday April 27th
Albhy Galuten, VP of Media Technology Strategy, Sony Network Entertainment
Michael Alexander, Strategy & Growth Initiatives, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry
Garson Foos, President, General Manager & Co-Founder, Shout Factory
Todd Viegut, CEO, Kannuu
Rob Gill, VP of Media, Entertainment and Publishing, Acquia
Bruce Eisen, founder and president, Digital Advisors, Moderator
Kannuu aims to unify content discovery across all outlets.
“The consumer surfs through all of the content choices now available with a click or scroll, managed by no more than a few rudimentary on-screen graphical interfaces. Despite the evolution of video content and television technology, the industry hasn’t addressed how to help search and discovery functionality keep up with the advancements. A new approach is needed.”
Kannuu Pty Ltd today released usage data from a major telecommunications and media content provider that shows the impact an enhanced discovery experience can have on increasing revenues.
Today, Video-on-Demand (VoD) and paid content purchases account for a significant share of profit for video and cable providers globally. However, experience shows that users become frustrated or lose interest and quit searching if it’s too difficult to find what they’re looking for. Providers that invest in improving the search, discovery and recommendation functions can expect to see a clear ROI from the resulting increase in paid content purchases.
Kannuu was launched over a year ago on Telstra’s over-the-top (OTT) platform. Telstra Corporation Limited is Australia’s largest telecommunications and media company. Analyzing consumption behavior has led to some significant findings.
“We’ve experienced a noticeable improvement in customer interaction and satisfaction with the Kannuu technology on our OTT platform,” said Eric Kearley, Director of IPTV and PayTV at Telstra. “Prior to the Kannuu discovery experience launch, an average of 10 percent of consumers used the search function. After incorporating Kannuu’s technology, over 30 percent of consumers began using the search function, with peak times seeing over 70 percent usage.”
Further analysis shows that nearly 20 percent of those engaged customers purchased media content and 17 percent of all title purchases overall resulted from Kannuu’s discovery platform. The data also showed that for some of the “top 30” movies, over 25 percent of the purchases resulted from discoveries on the Kannuu platform.
Kannuu’s discovery experience changes the paradigm for discovering personalized, relevant content. Enhancing recommendations and the user interface (UI) leads consumers to interact and engage more in the discovery process. Further usage analysis on Kannuu’s interactive UI on Telstra’s service showed consumers engaging up to eight times more in search and discovery relative to traditional interfaces. The increased user engagement produced a 3.8 percent increase in VOD purchases.
Content and VOD providers currently see low customer engagement with their search and discovery functionality, meaning users are only browsing through content instead of seeking out what they actually want to watch based on a particular subject matter, title, genre or actor. This leads to poor purchase conversion rates for browsed content.
Content providers globally have an enormous opportunity to increase revenue from purchased media content.
To compare efficiency and ease of use, a head-to-head comparison against four leading search platforms was conducted to determine the average time needed to search for a VOD movie by title. With Kannuu, users found what they were looking for in a fraction of the time.
Average time needed to select a VOD movie:
- YouTube (letter grid) – 45 seconds
- Samsung (on-screen keyboard) – 41 seconds
- LG (on-screen keyboard) – 29 seconds
- Netflix (6×6 letter grid) – 27.5 seconds
- Kannuu (navigation) – 11 seconds
“As consumer demand for movies, TV shows and media content continues to grow exponentially, the discovery experience of finding relevant, personalized content of interest is paramount,” said Kannuu CEO Todd Viegut. “Content providers globally have an enormous opportunity to increase revenue from purchased media content as data shows a direct correlation between the time it takes consumers to find what they’re looking for and their purchase rates.”
Kannuu has hired senior digital media executive Tom Laidlaw as the vice president for the UK and Europe as a part of the company’s market expansion in the region. As an emerging significant player in the space, Kannuu will aggressively pursue and partner with UK and European multiple system operator (MSO) and OTT service providers to drive the implementation of next-generation, personalized content discovery experiences for their customers.
“As the amount of media content available to consumers continues to grow exponentially, the discovery experience of finding relevant personalized content of interest to the consumer is paramount,” said CEO of Kannuu Todd Viegut. “Our new London office, led by Tom Laidlaw, will capitalize on this trend and develop new and existing relationships with MSO and OTT providers serving the European market, bringing our innovation and leading technologies to the region.”
As the new VP for the European market, Laidlaw brings a wealth of experience across digital media. Most recently he was the CEO of innovative online video company, Videojug. Laidlaw will leverage his experience of building business relationships and engaging executives of leading providers in the European connected TV industry as Kannuu continues to expand in this market.
As the amount of media content available to consumers continues to grow exponentially, the discovery experience of finding relevant personalized content of interest to the consumer is paramountKannuu is pleased to announce that it has engaged the consulting services of Bruce Anderson, a seasoned executive with deep experience in digital media, as the company ramps up for a new wave of growth.
Bruce currently serves as president of ABR Digital, where he leads consultant engagements for numerous digital media companies — including both early-stage companies and well-established enterprises.
Bruce brings to Kannuu 25+ years of experience delivering effective technology solutions to business challenges, including 16 years in multi-platform video content distribution and monetization.
He formerly served as VP Engineering for Rovi Entertainment Store; SVP and General Manager for Blockbuster on Demand; and SVP Engineering and Operations for Movielink; among other senior management positions at digital media companies.
Bruce will provide Kannuu seasoned, expert counsel and guidance in the areas of corporate development, product development and strategic partner development.
Kannuu is delighted to tap Bruce Anderson’s industry experience and multi-media technology expertise as the company enters a new phase of growth.
CBS & HBO rattled the industry recently by announcing streaming media services.
Are we looking at the beginning of the great unbundling?
Does this portent a new era of cord-cutting and à la carte channel selection by consumers?
Is this the end of cable TV as we know it?
Will dogs be sleeping with cats in a world of utter anarchy?
Who can say for sure?
One thing we do know with 100% certainty is that finding that desired movie or program in a world of ubiquitous IPTV and exploding video content will become increasingly difficult and frustrating for consumers.
Thank God for Kannuu.