Nielsen released its latest report titled Streaming Is The Future of TV, But Abundance of Platform Choice is Overwhelming. While the video streaming industry presents more choices of streaming content, 46% of viewers say it’s harder to find the content they want to watch, because there are too many services available. There are currently over 200 streaming platforms available, which can leave consumers feeling overwhelmed. In Nielsen’s State of Play report, audiences have more than 817,000 unique program titles to choose from across traditional television and streaming platforms, which an 18% increase from just over 646,000 in 2019.
According to the Nielsen report, in an average week, U.S. viewers watch almost 170 billion minutes of video content, which up from 143 billion a year ago. And while only one in 20 respondents expressed negative feelings about their streaming experiences, audiences are looking for ways to make it easier it find content they love. Applying detailed video descriptors to content catalogs can help, in addition to recommendations and suggestions.
Nielsen also found that the streaming experience for viewers is visual: the video carousel serves as its storefront. Personalized images can enhance a platform’s visual merchandising. By using different images to appeal to different viewers, the video carousel becomes a personalized storefront for consumers.