TiVo today released the findings from a recent churn reduction analysis pulled from its Personalised Content Discovery Platform (PCD). Among some of the key findings uncovered were that churn is directly related to long-term audience retention. Video service providers that implemented technology solutions that helped them personalise their search and recommendations saw a 140 percent increase in audience retention over six months, respectively. Additionally, presenting certain content recommendations to consumers supported a notable reduction in churn. For example, if users are presented with personalised video-on-demand (VOD) titles that align with their most engaged consumption patterns, they are less likely to churn over time.

“In this media and device-fragmented world, identifying which viewers are watching your content – and then driving new viewers to those valuable assets – is more important than ever before,” said Walt Horstman, senior vice president and general manager, advanced media and advertising, TiVo. “This analysis supports the importance of creating an impactful and data-driven entertainment experience for the consumer, while creating pathways to discovering content more easily.”

“Content must be merged with technology to produce a truly effective consumer experience. This analysis supports the idea that video service providers can better predict when their subscribers or customers will leave their service or content and help them to understand how to better capture their attention. This is also important for marketers when determining where to put their promotional spend and who to target in order to retain key customers,” said Chris Ambrozic, vice president of product management, TiVo.

Among some additional key findings were:

• Providers that use personalisation technology like the Personalised Content Discovery platform, churn up to three times less than providers who manually merchandise their content.
• Based on an analysis of ROI, churn reduction also has a direct impact on the bottom line of content merchandising spend.
• Users who spend an above-average fraction of time watching on a weekday tend to be more likely to churn, as compared to those who spend an above-average fraction of time watching during the weekend.

The reduction of churn leads to increased new user retention and increased viewership, which can be attributed to a commitment to personalise the user experience. This implies great opportunity for increased monetisation for the provider, and a better consumer experience, due to reduced content search time.

While great content is crucial, great content alone is insufficient. TiVo’s churn analysis has revealed that engagement and viewership are the two most important elements to examine when determining how and why a user is or isn’t churning.

Through robust analytics tools that live within TiVo’s content merchandising tech stack, TiVo can optimise better predictions to showcase how users might behave when presented with valuable content and also help determine what actions can be taken to support lower churn rates.

The company also announced today the extension of a multi-year agreement with Verizon. Under this extension, Verizon will have access to the latest version of TiVo’s Personalised Content Discovery Platform. Verizon has utilised TiVo’s content discovery solutions since 2013.