Canadian technology firm Quickplay is working with two major providers of Spanish-language content to enhance their online and connected TV apps.
Last month, the company announced it was working with Canela Media to drive a higher level of personalized curation on its ad-supported video on-demand apps through the inclusion of Curator Assistant, an artificial intelligence-driven product that improves both content recommendations and relatable advertising for users.
“Within our vast content library, we have a broad range of content genres and titles across news, sports, kids, music, telenovelas and much more. To put that content right where it is easily accessible, we needed a platform with advanced capabilities that could provide personalization for our user experience and advertisers alike,” Peter Gonzalez, the Chief Technology Officer for Canela Media, said in a statement. “Curator Assistant unlocks the generative AI capabilities across our content that will give our team the latest tools to enhance the viewer experience and ad unit innovation. Increasing our ability to use Quickplay’s fast, flexible platform is a key advantage to create unique positioning for Canela.TV for both our audience and advertisers.”
Curator Assistant is embedded in Quickplay’s content management system, allowing teams focused on programming to engage with the tool in a conversational manner to achieve certain objectives, including the establishment of rails that helps further personalize content recommendation for users. The tool also goes beyond metadata to drive better results when users search for content within the platform, Quickplay said.
“Canela Media’s mission to innovate and deliver the best OTT streaming experience and to become the destination for Spanish-language content is pointing the way to new opportunities for personalized content delivery for the OTT industry,” Paul Pastor, the co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Quickplay, said in a statement. “The combination of our best-in-class OTT solution and our Curator Assistant will enable them to ensure that quality of experience – from the relevance of recommendations to the on-screen experience – exceeds viewer expectations.”
In addition to its pact with Canela Media, Quickplay announced in September it is working with Televisa-Univision to drive further enhancements within its Univision Now app, which offers live television streams alongside on-demand replays of shows and other content.
The partnership will allow Televisa-Univision to leverage viewership demographics — which the company refers to as “cohorts” — by analyzing certain elements like the location of streaming users and the types of devices they use, then deliver more-personalized content recommendations and relevant advertising to those streamers.
“Univision is the leading Spanish-language network in the U.S., which is why we’re thrilled to partner with the Televisa-Univision team as the new provider to ensure loyal viewers have an exceptional and personalized experience across Univision Now, enabled by our suite of capabilities,” Pastor said.
The partnerships come at a time when interest in Spanish-language streaming media is climbing in the United States. A recent report by Parks Associates shows Hispanic-identifying households are willing to spend big on streaming services and continue those subscriptions if they are consistently served content that aligns with their interests.
While the report demonstrates the immense opportunities for subscription-based products, the same is true for ad-supported streaming services. Analysts at Horowitz Research said earlier this year that Latin-identifying audiences tend to use free streaming services like Tubi, Pluto TV and YouTube at a higher rate compared to the average U.S. household.
