David Farnor | On 15, Jan 2019

UKTV is investing in AI to improve its on-demand service, UKTV Play.

Britain’s biggest multichannel broadcaster is launching a new version of its steaming app, which uses machine learning to personalise each user’s experience. The enhanced app lets users browse and discover content by genre and the app will learn viewing preferences and interests to serve a personalised selection of shows, box sets and collections from across UKTV’s selection of free-to-air channels (Dave, Yesterday, Really, Drama and Home). It will also addition the broadcaster’s Home channel and synchronised viewing history and favourites across devices, allowing viewers to pause on one device and resume on another. In addition, iOS and Android apps now fully support Chromecast.
 
Tom Davidson, UKTV’s General Manager for UKTV Play says: “UKTV Play is focusing on delivering the most personalised viewing experience in the marketplace. Our investment in machine learning, coupled with constant algorithm adjustments, allows our viewers to surface an enormous variety of content that suits not only their interests, but their mood too.”
 
Oliver Davies, Director of Product, says: “It’s incredibly satisfying to see how the new app experience adapts to your tastes and habits. It’s extremely responsive so it knows exactly what I like to watch, and when.”
  
In 2018, UKTV Play saw a 36% year-on-year increase of views across all platforms to over 140 million. In less than 12 months since mandatory registration was introduced, over 1.8 million users have signed up to the service, a third of whom are aged 16-34.
 
UKTV Originals were the most popular shows on UKTV Play last year. Taskmaster, Judge Romesh and Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier took the top three spots and all three are still available on the service with the addition of a brand-new series of Yianni: Supercar Customiser, which started on Dave last week.
 
The new generation app launches today on iOS, Android and Amazon FireOS and will soon roll out on the following TV platforms; NOW, Roku, YouView, Freeview, Freesat, Fire TV and Samsung.

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