Automated clips and trailers powering content recommendation on a streaming service? Stranger things have happened.
Netflix has received a patent for technology that automatically extracts “compelling portions” of shows and movies and collates clips designed to encourage viewers to check out more programming, according to a patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office last month.
The application notes something that is probably obvious to most TV and movie fans, which is that clips can be a useful way to entice viewers to check out additional programming. Typically, a member of an editorial team at a streamer works on compiling clips that showcase the most eye-catching scenes, according to the application, but it notes that such work can be laborious and time-consuming, especially as a platform’s content library grows.
Beyond that, the humans tasked with identifying clips could bring their subjective viewpoints to the task, a “drawback” that could muddle the selection process, the application reads.
“If the editorial assistant watching the media content item has an aversion to the main actor in the media content item, then the editorial assistant may subconsciously avoid selecting compelling sequences of events that feature the main actor,” the patent notes. “As a result, the resulting clips can have sub-optimal effectiveness.”
Netflix’s patented tech is designed to automate that work. The tool is a “clip application” that seeks to identify “compelling” content based on certain criteria (like when specific characters appear onscreen) and cluster shot sequences from that content to build clips, according to the patent.
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Basically, Netflix “is trying to automate it so they can plug more stuff…so they can get more people to watch, so they can make more money,” Shane Hunter, a patent attorney, partner, and post grant co-chair at Sunstein LLP who reviewed the filing for Marketing Brew, said.
It’s worth noting that patenting a technology does not mean that a company has plans to use it. A spokesperson for Netflix declined to comment.
Go big or go home: The new patent comes as Netflix has put a lot of firepower into making its shows and movies more discoverable on its platform. Last month, it held an inaugural virtual product event, unveiling plans for a new home-screen interface designed to offer improved programming suggestions, as well as features like a flexible canvas that better showcases limited-time programming like live sports or Netflix games updates. It’s also adding more descriptive blurbs that include information like when a show is an Emmy award-winner. It’s also testing a vertical video feed on its mobile app that viewers can swipe through, TikTok-style, to discover content.
“We’ve always been about constant improvement,” Netflix’s president of advertising, Amy Reinhard, said last month at the streamer’s upfront pitch to advertisers. “It’s why we keep improving our products, including our TV homepage, launching in a couple days, that is making it even easier for people to find the right title at the right moment.”
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