HBO Max has launched two new mobile features in the U.S. aimed at making content discovery easier, including AI-powered short-form video clips and more natural search functionality.
The first featured is called “HBO Max Shorts” and is initially being tested with select iOS users in the U.S. before a broader rollout out across more devices and markets.
It surfaces vertical video clips and compelling scenes from HBO Max content to help users decide what to watch next. The featured is powered by AI and curated by human editors. Per WBD, an AI tool that was built in-house uses machine learning algorithms tapping scene-level metadata to sift through thousands of hours of titles and suggest the most high-impact scenes. Once clips are suggested, human editors select those that are most representative of stories and exciting for viewers to watch to help encourage discovery of new shows and films. The clips are surfaced in a new vertical video experience on HBO Max.
The feature is expected to expand to incorporate sports content and improve as users interact with it.
“We're thrilled to launch this application of AI to accelerate the creation of these clips and look forward to quickly expanding to make even more of our amazing content offering discoverable through this new feature,” said Deepna Devkar, SVP of Machine Learning Engineering, in a statement.
HBO Max is the latest streamer to tap into consumers’ mobile usage and apparent affinity for short-form vertical video. Others in the space pursuing short-form, clips and other features on mobile as a way to help drive content discovery and more engagement include Disney’s ESPN, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Fox One among others.
Netflix earlier this year rolled out a redesigned mobile app that introduced a new vertical video feed dubbed “Clips,” which is meant to serve as a personalized highlight reel to help viewers decide what to watch based on short clips from series, films and specials, tailored to their tastes.
It comes as content discovery continues to be a challenging part of the TV service app user experience amid a crowded and fragmented entertainment space and as consumers, including younger, turn to social video apps like TikTok as a vehicle for content discovery for more traditional entertainment.
And recent data from Hub Entertainment Research found younger viewers in particular report deciding what to watch before turning on the TV.
Additionally, nearly half of those younger viewers surveyed by Hub turn to social media for recommendations, with 48% of viewers 13-24 saying they hear about shows and movies from trailers on social platforms (vs 38% of older adults).
With vertical video and show clips housed on its own mobile app, HBO Max stands to help improve the user experience and drive more engagement while keeping users on its own service.
In addition to short-form video clips, adult Android users in the U.S. are getting the second new mobile feature from HBO Max via an experimental conversational search experience.
The feature is available from the search page under “Ask HBO Max,” allowing users to ask more natural search queries and the ability to interpret intent behind a search with relevant video recommendations, even if exact search terms aren’t available in the metadata.
For example, select subscribers can now perform searches such as “in the mood for a comedy” or “dysfunctional family drama” or “best movie for a girls night in.” For more on platform players testing out conversational mechanisms for user experience features like search and discovery with a so-called conversation layer, read here.
The new HBO Max search feature is expected to eventually be rolled out to more markets and devices.
“These new mobile features build on intuitive, familiar behaviors subscribers use every day. Both ‘HBO Max Shorts’ and ‘conversational search’ translate those behaviors into new ways to discover programming across the HBO Max service, making it easier and more seamless for subscribers to find something to watch," said Liesel Kipp, Executive Vice President, Product Management, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Meanwhile, HBO Max parent WBD is amid a pending yet recently paused mega-merger with Paramount Skydance as the companies await an antitrust trial brought on by 12 state AGs.