Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently updated the Netflix “long-term view,” apparently changing the company’s position on the TV remote control.

At the beginning of this seminal document, where once there was four inviolable ‘truths’ by which the company steers by, there now is only three.

It seems that Netflix has given the TV remote a reprieve!

Mr. Hastings cut “remote controls are disappearing” from the list of Netflix truths.

Kannuu has long believed that the TV remote has accrued valuable behavioral equity — particularly the directional pad that is the centerpiece of all modern TV remote controls.

Kannuu is committed to ensuring that TV viewers have the best possible entertainment experience – which begins with finding the content they want quickly and easily.

To this end, we’ve killed off the traditional virtual keyboard by which consumers must ‘hunt and peck’ their way to a movie selection.

Using just a thumb on the remote control’s directional pad, and looking only at the directional arrows and movie suggestions displayed on the TV screen,  consumers find the video content they’re after quickly and easily with Kannuu!

We are thrilled that Netflix has seen the error of their ways and saved the remote!

Give Kannuu a shout, Mr. Hastings, and we’ll show you exactly why the remote is worth saving.

Check out this short video demonstration of the Kannuu findability platform.

Read this great article by Zachary M. Seward: Long Live the TV Remote Control!

At the recent Streaming Media East conference in New York City, Tricia Lynch, director of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, gave props to Netflix for making “huge strides in search.”

Read StreamingMedia article: Verizon: The Two Major Things Netflix Got Right in Online Video

Curious thing, an ISP saying nice things about an SVOD.

Bottom line: Kannuu technology can help both Verizon and Netflix improve the search and discovery experience for their customers.

Industry watchdog (and top-notch analyst) Colin Dixon of nScreenmedia gets it — improving the recommendation experience in today’s multi-device, connected-TV world demands greater attention from service providers, especially Pay TV operators, if the goals are to attract and retain customers and increase revenue:

“There are plenty of companies that can help video businesses begin to offer recommendations to customers. Jinni, Digitalsmiths, ThinkAnalytics, and Kannuu have a variety of approaches to help video businesses quickly add the technology. Spending a few minutes getting educated on their approaches could be a great investment in the future of any video business.”

Thanks for the shout out, Colin!

Read nScreenMedia article: 4 reasons why $150M for content recommendations is cheap

By Todd Viegut, Kannuu CEO

The first television sets appeared circa 1950. In those days, with just a handful of broadcasters and limited video content, the printed, weekly TV Guide was all a consumer needed to quickly and easily find something to watch.

Today, ubiquitous broadband, the advent of IPTV, the proliferation of mobile devices, and the explosion of video content has transformed the video-viewing experience forever.

Consumers are inundated with unprecedented video-viewing choices — from user-generated content to stellar premium channels, OTT blockbusters to sports and staid, linear programming, and everything in between.

As such, it behooves service providers to make the user viewing discovery process as fast, easy and satisfying as possible.

This is no easy feat when one considers the amount of data involved.

In a relatively short period of time, myriad technological advancements have forced a seismic shift in the video-viewing landscape, and at the epicenter of this seismic shift is exponential data growth.

Metadata is gold

Each video viewed contains hundreds of different data attributes. Metadata is the in-depth descriptive information about the content piece  that includes title, storyline, cast, genre, release date, images and more. A solid metadata repository is the key to gather, retain, and disseminate information and knowledge for the greater understanding of the content.

It is absolutely crucial here to understand that what constitutes ‘more’ in the world of metadata should in no way be minimized or taken lightly.

Metadata is indeed the the key to unlocking the value of the content itself. Extracting and inferring information out of that metadata, building content associations, comparisons and contrasts, conducting advanced, real-time analytics, working diligently to ensure metadata is complete, properly stored and always up to date — these processes, among others, give rise to an ever-increasing systematic ‘smartness’ about the video content.

Turning mountains of metadata into “actionable information” about the content itself is at the core of improving the video-viewing experience.

Big data is big business

As reported in Wired, Gartner projects that the volume of information is growing at an annual rate of 59% worldwide, and the number of organizations storing 1 petabyte of data has increased from 16 to 29% in the past three years.

According to WSJ, IDC projects spending on big-data analytics will increase from about $10 billion in 2012 to more than $32 billion in 2017. The 27% compound annual growth rate is far faster than the expected overall spending on corporate software, according to IDC.

Despite the increase in spending on big-data analytics, Gartner reports that through 2015, 85% of Fortune 500 organizations will be unable to exploit big data for competitive advantage.

It appears that too few companies are prepared for the challenges that come with big data, and for too long, big data projects have been more about technology than business outcomes.

Enter ‘context-aware’ discovery

Accurate, accessible, exhaustive, up-to-date,  metadata-based “knowledge,” including social media, is pure gold to service providers new and old, provided they have the expertise, resources, and insight to innovate upon such knowledgeable data.

It stands to reason that the more that is known about the content itself as well as the consumer at the moment of selection, the better a system, especially the user interface, can be tailored to provide a superior discovery experience.

Delving into what constitutes ‘context’ is where the real magic happens.

Is the consumer male or female? Watching by himself/herself? Where (on what device and geo-location) and when (time of day, season ((sports)) is the consumer watching? What is the consumer’s viewing history? What might the consumer be in the mood for watching? What are his/hers special interests? What level of detail (show, actor, director information) does the consumer want? How much time does the consumer have in this viewing session? What are the consumer’s favorite channels (traditional programming, premium channels, OTT services, etc.)

The list of what constitutes ‘context’ goes on and on…

As the circle of ‘context’ expands, the amount of metadata for a context-aware discovery system grows as well, inviting a host of technical, backend challenges, with scalability, hybrid delivery (on premise and cloud), high-speed analytics, zero latency and 100% uptime topping the list.

Only those players with deep talent in metadata management, knowledge extraction, information architecture, user interface (UI), and user experience (UX) who develop solutions purpose built to wrestle big value from big metadata will survive and thrive in the years ahead.

Among the greatest hindrances for achieving context-aware discovery is developing a platform that efficiently and cost-effectively ties together multiple, disparate data sources, provides appropriate data cleansing and metadata schematics, integrates seamlessly with external applications, and automates processes for collecting, storing, reviewing, knowledge building and conducting gap analysis of metadata — all of which when integrated with advanced analytics, metric tracking and real-time reporting  provides for true knowledge based context-aware discovery.

By the way, aren’t we simply talking about the term “findability”?

Much can be predicted about the future of video viewing, but one irrefutable fact is that service providers are competing fiercely and working at break-neck speed to create a more personalized consumer experience.

Metadata is the linchpin for personalizing media, and personalizing media translates directly into attracting and retaining more customers, achieving a sustainable, competitive edge, and realizing the full value of video assets.

Leveraging Premier TV Listings Metadata and Entertainment Content to Deliver Faster, Easier Search & Discovery Tools

DALLAS and GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS ––September 9, 2014––Kannuu Pty Ltd, a leading provider of search and discovery solutions for video content across multiple services and devices including Smart TVs, tablets and smartphones, and FYI Television, Inc. (FYI), the premier television listings metadata and rich media content provider, today announced their strategic relationship. Kannuu will incorporate FYI’s TV listings and electronic program guide (EPG) knowledge into Kannuu’s ‘findability enabled’ search and discovery platform, further empowering Kannuu’s breakthrough ‘letter grid free’ direct search, tablet to TV pair-and-share technology, and advanced, cloud-based personalization and recommendation capabilities.

The combined Kannuu / FYI offering enables multi-systems operators (MSOs) to dramatically elevate their search and discovery capabilities through enhanced recommendations and search technologies tailored to the MSO’s consumer base.  Combining superior recommendations with high-integrity EPG and metadata content establishes the foundation for a superior discovery experience.

Next-generation search and discovery experiences such as those provided by Kannuu and FYI are a must have for service providers striving to drive customer loyalty and increased spend. “We are thrilled to provide Kannuu with first class television content. Together, we will connect consumers with the most relevant, well-rounded television information and rich media, allowing them to make more informed viewing choices,” said Chris Stark, Sr., President and CEO of FYI.

“Kannuu continuously listens to our customers, and we move quickly to add the features and functionality they want for an improved user experience,” said Kannuu CEO Todd Viegut. “We want our customers to have the best possible entertainment experience – which begins with finding the content they want quickly and easily. To do this, comprehensive and accurate TV metadata, including show cards, network logos and celebrity photos, among other rich-media assets, is essential. We anticipate an enthusiastic response to the Kannuu / FYI offering from our service provider customers looking to differentiate their offering, strengthen customer loyalty, grow market share and maximize the value of their video assets.”

About FYI Television:

FYI Television, Inc. (FYI), the TV metadata and entertainment image content expert, accumulates and distributes TV entertainment content and linear scheduling data from more than 12,000 TV networks daily, aggregating the information into customized formats for various television, mobile, Internet and print clients. Through the vast array of applications our data is filtered into, hundreds of millions of consumers engage with FYI’s content.

Clients in both domestic and international markets including AT&T, Microsoft, Ericsson, NBC Universal, Disney, SONY, Discovery, Gannett Newspapers, McClatchy, Triveni Digital, Star Media, Ygnition, BIM, Frontier Communications, Boxfish, GMR, Syncbak, Cannella, comScore, Rentrak, Digital First, Ole, National Geographic and ARRIS turn to FYI for its top-notch tailored TV metadata, data management, image content, media measurement and analytics.

Learn more about our products and services at www.fyitelevision.com and follow our blog at blog.fyitelevision.com

About Kannuu

Kannuu provides cutting-edge search, discovery and findability solutions for quickly finding video content in today’s multi-screen environment. Combining sophisticated delivery infrastructure, advanced search algorithms, proprietary recommendation techniques, flexible business rules and unique and intuitive user interfaces, Kannuu enables device manufacturers, service providers, software companies and application developers to maximize the full value of video content. By providing a fast, easy and vastly superior user experience, Kannuu satisfies consumers and drives revenue for service suppliers.

Kannuu customers include Western Digital, REELZCHANNEL TV, and Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company. The Kannuu technology for video search and discovery across services is also available on the Samsung and LG Smart TV platforms for proprietary implementations.

For more on Kannuu, visit http://www.kannuu.com.