Today, Virgin Media O2 has launched its latest innovative platform What Should I Watch? in partnership with the Official Charts Company.
The interactive TV and film recommendation tool has been curated to help speed up decision making when choosing what to put on the telly. It comes following a 60% rise in Google searches for ‘what to watch’ since the start of lockdown (April 2020) compared to pre-covid, prompting Virgin Media O2 to create the platform.
Based on genre, TV programme or film preferences, the recommendation tool also includes a top 10 list of movies, provided by The Official Film Chart, refreshed each week based on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and Digital Download sales. In addition to the top 10 list, the algorithm delves into a database of 711,084 movies and 122,159 TV shows, offering 189,168 TV seasons and 2,919,074 TV episodes.
The launch comes as seasonal channel surfing is set to hit its peak, with research commissioned by Virgin Media O2 revealing the average household spends over an hour deciding what to watch on the telly, which equates to an eye watering total of 47.4 million hours across the festive period. The research shows that over a quarter (27%) of families admit to arguing over what to watch too.
Simon Groves, Director of Brand and Marketing at Virgin Media O2, said: “Our new ‘What Should I Watch?’ platform has been designed to help save on time spent surfing TV channels by bringing the nation’s most popular films and TV shows together in one place, helping TV fans find the right genre, for the right mood, in minutes.
“We’re always looking at ways to offer our customers the latest tools and technology so they can enjoy the best in entertainment. Partnering with the Official Charts Company provides real time insight into the most popular films of the moment, ensuring we’re bringing customers the latest trends. Combining this with existing customer preferences means we can offer bespoke recommendations to make deciding what to watch that little bit easier.”
Liz Bales, CEO, British Association for Screen Entertainment said: “After a huge increase in consumers engaging with the Official Film Chart this year, it is incredibly exciting to announce this new integration with Virgin Media O2. Providing consumers with inspiration on what to watch and helping avoid endless scrolling will ensure families enjoy quality content instantly, a great benefit of renting or owning films and TV shows digitally. It’s been a pleasure to work with the OCC and Virgin Media O2 teams on developing and launching this new tool before Christmas, just in time for some quality festive family movie nights.”
To check out Virgin Media O2’s new What Should I Watch? interactive tool, head here: https://www.virginmedia.com/blog/tv/what-should-i-watch
