Media Distillery, the AI technology provider in video user experience (UX) optimisation, and Sunrise Communications AG, Switzerland’s leading challenger, announce the deployment of the Preview Distillery solution to help Sunrise’s approximately 1 million enhanced TV customers more easily discover appealing content. The solution is at the core of Sunrise’s new ‘TV Highlights’ feature.

Live at Sunrise since the beginning of September, Preview Distillery automatically generates short video clips that indicate what a TV programme is about, enabling viewers to more easily decide what to watch. Live broadcast previews are created in near-real-time, enabling Sunrise to apply the previews to transform the user experience of watching timeshifted TV, in catch-up or replay.

Preview Distillery, launched in September 2024, utilises Generative AI and machine learning to create short video snippets that quickly show viewers what a show is about, helping them to make informed decisions about what watch. For instance, a key scene from a feature documentary could be displayed, or a clip from a talk show, or highlights from a sports programme in catchup. This facility streamlines content discovery, reduces the time spent searching, and mitigates viewer frustration, ultimately boosting engagement and enjoyment. Fully automated and with no need for human editorial intervention, the solution is both economical and scalable.

Under the agreement with Sunrise, Preview Distillery provides 100 TV Highlights clips per day on the Sunrise TV App for the Sunrise’s 50 most watched broadcast TV channels. The clips, generated from the broadcast TV signals, have a duration ranging from 15 to 20 seconds.

“Our customers have so much interesting content to choose from in our TV service, but we know that some viewers can find it difficult to decide what to watch. Our research shows that if we present short highlights to the users, it helps them decide faster, and as such, it increases engagement,” says Christoph Richartz, Chief Consumer Officer Main Brand at Sunrise.

Enhancing Discoverability, Avoiding Decision Fatigue, Enhancing UX

TV Highlights feature prominently in the Sunrise TV App UI/UX, with a selection of clips shown in the main row in the UI, a dedicated carousel, and clips rows personalized such that each viewer sees an individualized array of clips for different programmes.

TV Highlights enrich the A-Spot carousel (top row on Home) of the Sunrise TV app interface, with clips tailored to each viewer based on their individual viewing behaviour.

Customers can enjoy TV Highlights on all of the service’s video apps – iOS and Android mobiles and tablets, smart TVs, streaming devices including Apple TV and web apps – boosting Sunrise’s content discovery capabilities and increasing viewer engagement.

Sunrise is further enhancing the customer TV experience by helping viewers discover interesting content to watch. Sunrise offers a vast collection of content, via linear TV, catch-up and replay, as well as VoD and OTT. The company firmly believes that the TV Highlights feature has the power to further enhance viewers’ ability to find, access, and enjoy appealing content.

“Despite the power and beauty of our discovery and recommendation engines, which provide personalized suggestions, offering these TV Highlights delivers another important piece in facilitating content discovery,” explains Richartz.

“We’re a multilingual country: We are extremely proud of our capability to provide services in all the main languages that our customers speak. We believe that providing TV Highlights, created specifically to help all our customers find more of the content they love, differentiates Sunrise in the marketplace.”

Sunrise’s TV services are powered by Liberty Global’s Horizon platform. Chris van der Linden, Director Entertainment Platforms at Liberty Global says: “The collaboration between Liberty Global and Media Distillery on the development of the Sunrise TV App marks a significant leap in how customers experience television. We’re excited to introduce innovative features like personalized TV highlights to Sunrise users – helping them discover and enjoy the content they love more easily than ever. With the support of Media Distillery’s advanced AI technology, we can deliver accurate and engaging TV highlight clips that transform content discovery. By combining Liberty Global’s product vision with Media Distillery’s deep video understanding, we’re delivering a future-ready platform built around user value, performance, and flexibility.”

“We are honoured to have again been entrusted by Sunrise to help its customers reap extra enjoyment from their TV service,“ said Roland Sars, Co-founder and CEO of Media Distillery. “By launching TV Highlights powered by Preview Distillery, Sunrise is exemplifying how technology can be harnessed to meaningfully improve TV entertainment experiences,” he added.

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Categories: Press Releases

Tags: AI, Media Distillery, Sunrise, Switzerland