AI-driven content personalisation and interactivity for OTT are among the trends to be occupying the attention of Oleg Gubin, R&D director of software development company Oxagile.

Oleg Gubin Oxagile

Oleg Gubin

In your opinion, what are the most pressing challenges facing the media and entertainment industry?
The industry is moving from a household view of media consumption to a hyper-personal view, putting a bigger emphasis on reaching the individual viewer with a [message that resonates]. Given the volume and versatility of content that has to be delivered, modern requirements on media analysis are becoming very complicated and resource-consuming.

In these conditions, I would peg efficient personalisation and scalability as the most pressing issues that will attract attention and investment.

What do you think are the main challenges to the OTT sector?
The core element of any content platform is monetisation so any problems in this area need to be taken very seriously. Judging from our experience, viewer churn is the main monetisation issue today, with many OTT platforms struggling to hold on to their subscribers.

Content fraud and content piracy can also be major roadblocks that call for new strategies and new technologies, such as machine learning and computer vision.

What trends or themes did you observe at this year’s IBC?
Content personalisation is on everyone’s minds, so I wasn’t surprised to see more discussions on how to implement it and what it should actually entail to deliver the optimal ROI.

As expected, we also saw more coverage of machine learning and artificial intelligence in media and entertainment – for example, in terms of tackling emotional journey management or audience response anticipation.

What were the main areas of focus for your company at IBC?
We [focused on] three topics that we find crucial for staying competitive in the business in 2019 and beyond.

The first one was AI-driven content analysis for OTT — what we call decoding content DNA. Next was computer vision-based security solutions that leverage advanced face and object recognition. And last but not least, interactive front-end apps for OTT capable of delivering engaging user experiences on any screen or platform.

Oleg Gubin is R&D director at Oxagile.