Case Study: Youth Media Network

Publisher profile

• Global media network with a popular streaming app aimed at a youth demographic.
• The app features hundreds of hours of popular programs available the day after they air live.
• The app also has an extensive back catalogue of programming available on demand.

Challenges

A quality digital experience tailored to younger audiences is core to the network’s content strategy to break through the noise in the crowded streaming marketplace.

A major key performance indicator of the network was to grow time on platform and a massive goal was to deepen content discovery, especially on their back catalogue of shows. The marketing team sought to achieve this by A/B testing, leveraging insights into how viewers surface content, and creating a more personalized content recommendation system, but didn’t yet have the data needed to be successful.

Solution

To address these challenges, the team adopted Conviva’s Viewer Insights (VI) to surface viewer behavior data including content pathing, time on application, location, and device.

The network deployed VI to monitor cross-platform “stunts” where they surfaced themed content around specific events or seasons (e.g., show marathons or a Women’s History Month spotlight). They leveraged VI data to gauge whether these stunts drove engagement with new content and whether this impacted time on platform and retention. They tagged the content in the stunt content carousel, so they could understand if viewers were navigating to the content through the promotion. The team deployed A/B testing on the carousel’s position to determine the best way to surface content to increase time on app.

After gleaning critical insights from the stunts, the network evaluated viewer engagement and could better segment their audiences based on content affinities via Conviva’s industry-leading content pathing and audience segmentation capabilities. The team personalized different playlists for different audience segments to recommend better content after a show was over.

Results

The programming team was now confident in the best places to promote their stunts and would measure their effectiveness. They were also able to identify the optimal number of shows to surface in a carousel to drive viewership. Once the global network launched their segment-based playlists, it enjoyed a 10% increase in average viewer minutes with higher consumption across multiple series targeted to the prized youth demographic.