'People have more complex show tastes than they realize'

People have far more complex tastes and preferences in shows and movies than they realize, reveals data from Netflix, a US-based on-demand streaming website.

"Time after time, our data has shown us that people have far more complex tastes and preferences than they realize -- and that a person's age, gender and other traditional demographical data actually is not all that meaningful in understanding what movies and TV shows he or she will enjoy.

"The best indicator of what you may like comes from the variety of shows you've watched previously," Todd Yellin, Vice President of Product Innovation at Netflix, told IANS in an email interaction.

There are over 104 million members around the world and over 1,000 hours of content coming to Netflix this year alone. So, it is critical to surface the right content to the right member at the right time.

"Our algorithms enable us to do that. Providing members personalized suggestions enhances their viewing experience and makes it quicker and easier for them to discover new content," he said.

How different are the viewing habits of Indians as compared to other parts of the world?

"There is no 'average' Netflix member: every single one is unique. There are many diverse tastes on the platform and we need to offer a completely different experience to everyone to satisfy their needs. This is why we continue to redefine the art of personalization," he said.

They refer to genres as wrappers because they are a good descriptor of a movie or TV show, but they aren't "necessarily" complete.

"Take something like comedy for instance, it can range from dark to slapstick to observational with a lot of variation in between. This is why we analyze series and movies not just by genre, but with thousands of additional qualifiers, like mood (goofy), aesthetic (visually striking), pace (slow pace), etc.

"This 'tagging process' is the first stage of the Netflix personalization process and works in tandem with advanced algorithms that analyze your previous viewing patterns to provide unique experiences for each of our members," said Yellin.

--IANS

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