M+E Daily

Gracenote introduced a new Mobile Video Analytics solution Aug. 16 that “offers deep insights into how mobile streaming video performance impacts subscriber engagement and retention,” according to the company.

The performance analytics solution is available now and the Nielsen division has already “been in discussions with a range of companies which have expressed interest” in it, including “major wireless providers,” multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and networks, Mike Greenawald, SVP of Gracenote Connectivity, told the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA).

The solution was designed to provide visibility into the quality and performance of the most popular mobile video streaming applications, the company said in a news release. It will offer mobile operators, MVPDs, video streaming services and hardware manufacturers a method to “better understand how mobile app performance impacts user behavior and attitudes as well as engagement with their platforms and those of their competitors,” Gracenote said.

Gracenote’s Mobile Video Analytics offers complex insights into how users interact and engage with mobile video streaming services, according to the company. “By reporting key performance metrics by wireless/internet service provider, content type and more, Gracenote assists with everything from product development and marketing to user performance and pricing,” it said.

The new Mobile Video Analytics solution focuses on three main performance categories: Experience, engagement and “attitudes,” according to Gracenote.

When it comes to experience, the new solution provides “deep insights into the performance quality of mobile video services that have the biggest effect on a subscriber’s experience and satisfaction, such as video resolution, start-up times and buffering,” the company said in its announcement. Engagement metrics, meanwhile, enable users to “understand how, when and where viewers tune-in, average viewing time, as well as payload, stickiness, network access and speed,” it said. By attitudes, Gracenote is referring to the“reasons mobile users choose to subscribe to or disengage from specific streaming services, including their intention to switch and feedback on pricing,” it said.

The new Gracenote solution “does not use” artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning, Greenaway told MESA. But, he added: “That said, we do leverage those technologies in other areas of our business, specifically to create descriptive entertainment metadata at massive scale.”

Mobile Video Analytics “uses three key elements to provide a holistic view of video service success,” he said. First, “proprietary meters measure viewing engagement and experience on subscribers’ mobile phones and survey them on their attitudes towards video services,” he explained.

Second, an independent panel of 100,000 wireless subscribers in any given quarter report on mobile video attitudes and behaviors to assist service providers in understanding consumer engagement, he said. Last, Analytic Dashboards “provide competitive performance intelligence across the key video metrics that impact experience, engagement and attitudes” of mobile video subscribers, he told MESA.

“Armed with these insights, streaming video services can learn how performance impacts engagement on their platforms compared to those of their competitors, allowing them to take appropriate actions if necessary to ensure high usage rates,” Gracenote said in its announcement.

It added: “In the case of low engagement, Gracenote Mobile Video Analytics can leverage passive video tests and survey responses to map user behavior and identify the cause of disengagement and churn. Gracenote can help wireless providers detect areas of network congestion and determine whether they need to add capacity to improve the user experience.”

While Nielsen has “been at the forefront of measuring television and digital video content for decades,” the new Gracenote Mobile Video Analytics solution “extends our market-leadership position in the mobile streaming space,” Greenawald said in the news release. He added: “In a hotly-contested marketplace for subscribers, it is critical to understand the factors that drive engagement and retention. Gracenote Mobile Video Analytics identifies the key video performance factors that enable our customers to gain a competitive edge and make more informed business decisions.”