One of the key elements that can make the difference regarding users’ loyalty to SVOD and AVOD is how easy is to find and discover content on the platform, according to the panelists participating in the talk “Survival for the fittest – The importance of combating churn in D2C streaming” at the Stream TV Growth Summit virtual event, hosted by Fierce Video.
The panel included Mike Gamboa, director and Growth Partner, Roku; Gene Pao, EVP of Strategy and Digital, Shout Factory, and Kirstin Seitz, VP of Marketing and Strategic Operations, Philo; It was moderated by Justin Fromm, Head of Insights, Samsung Ads.
Gamboa said streaming has become mainstream. “Now we see more subscriptions than ever, both for SVOD and AVOD. The key is to make this content easy to discover and build tools for this purpose. There is a huge opportunity,” he said.
Pao mentioned that for Shout Factory the channels that perform best are those based on specific shows. “The audience is still strong. I think that where the industry has suffered the most is in open TV and cable.” To improve the level of content discovery on the platform, they include updated segments with celebrities from classic shows such as The Carol Burnett Show to make them stand out.
For Seitz, the Yellowstone series and holiday-related programming have been great drivers of Philo’s service. “We make it easy for the users to discover the content they want to see,” he said.
Pao warned that it’s important to segment subscribers into those who are loyal and those difficult to recruit, but are seasonal. “I’ve seen that some subscription platforms are taking the risk of focusing on both, and I don’t think this is the right thing to do.”