Sky Italia has entered into an agreement with Linius Technologies Limited to deliver a personalised TV trial for selected subscribers.
Under the agreement, Sky Italia will use Linius’ services to develop personalised channels for testing. It is expected to particularly focus on Serie A content to begin, with Serie A attracting more than 260 million viewers over a season.
Commenting on the development, Linius CEO Chris Richardson said: “Italian football fans are among the most passionate sports supporters in the world and we’re confident they will embrace our technology to give them an even better fan experience.
“With Serie A and the EPL set to resume this month after a forced hiatus due to COVID-19, the development of personalized TV by Sky Italia will be a welcome boost for sports fans”.
The agreement with Sky Italia will enable it to develop a closed trial to test user engagement and reaction to personalised TV. It will also facilitate commercial modelling and provide insights into future product design.
Richardson added: “Consumers are increasingly wanting a viewing experience specifically tailored to them.
“Using Linius Technologies’ services, Sky Italia subscribers will have access to hyper-personalised videos that will change the way they consume sports and other content”.
Research by Quantum Market Research on Sky UK subscribers found high demand for tailoring TV subscriptions, with 96% of respondents saying they were likely to use personalised channels.
The research also found subscribers considered personalised TV great value and are willing to pay an average £14.30 on top of their existing subscription fee.
And among those unlikely to renew their pay-TV subscription, 77% said the addition of personalised channels increased their likelihood to stick with the service.
The deal with Sky Italia is a one-off trial that includes a personalised channel proof of concept, video virtualisation, enrichment, and trial support.
The trial dates have yet to be finalised due to current global uncertainty.
