Gracenote

Streaming now dominates TV viewing. SVOD catalogs grew 20% in the past year to over 107K titles and FAST channels continue to multiply. Yet, U.S. viewers still spend an average of 12 minutes searching for something to watch. More content isn’t the answer. Making it discoverable is. Here’s what we’re seeing across the ecosystem. Heading to Vegas? See what we have planned for #NAB2026. Link in the comments.

Three-quarters of those aged 18-24 follow sports regularly, but only 30% watch entire games according to YouGov. Might live sports lose relevance in the future? Since its birth, TV has been the key destination to watch sports. However, the rise of the creator ecosystem and social video has changed the way that younger fans interact with sports. How will broadcast and social video work together to ensure the future of sports media? Next month, Gracenote's Raimond van Raamsdonk will join sports industry leaders from Sky Sports, LALIGA, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Creator Sports Network and others at #StreamTVEurope to debate this question. Join us there or look out for insights from the debate here.

“Ads are sexy again.” That’s the headline from Beet.TV’s latest interview with our own Bill Condon. But it’s not because ads changed. It’s because streamers are getting smarter about where, when and how they appear. At the #BeetRetreat in San Juan, Bill unpacked why Gracenote’s content intelligence makes this possible — sharpening discovery, improving visibility into ad adjacency and aligning campaigns with the right show, genre, mood and viewing context. The result is a better value exchange across CTV — more relevant, respectful viewer experiences, stronger advertiser outcomes and increased monetization for publishers.   As ad-supported options continue to multiply, what will define the next era of CTV advertising: precision, performance, transparency — or something else? Hear Bill's take in the video linked below.

In 2026, AI-powered entertainment experiences are moving from experimentation to expectation. But making them actually work — at scale, in production, with real audiences? That's the hard part. Gracenote has the solution — content intelligence. And at NAB, we’ll be showing what that looks like in practice. LLM-enabled content searches that deliver real-time, reliable results, connected sports hubs that drive value long after the final whistle and streaming distribution that takes catalogs from invisible to unmissable. We’ll be at the Encore at the Wynn April 18-22. Stay tuned for more details. #NAB2026 #contentintelligence

LLMs can provide entertainment suggestions tailored to viewer intent — like recommending the best content featuring Best Actor Oscar winner Michael B Jordan. Instead of rows of thumbnails, LLM recommendations can be conversational, explaining why the viewer will like them. However, entertainment results from LLMs require verification with a trusted dataset. These points were made by Gracenote SVP of Product Tyler Bell last week at Connected TV World Summit. Discussing the move to conversational AI in entertainment with Telia’s Christofer Peilitz and John Moulding of Adwanted Events, Tyler added that LLM results would differ by the user's geographic location. AI-driven search will improve viewer search experience, providing context to results and driving a higher likelihood of click-through.

Soon, finding the latest Timothée Chalamet flick — or where tonight's game is streaming — may be as simple as asking an LLM. Making that actually work? Harder than it sounds. In his recent think piece for Streaming Media Magazine, Gracenote’s SVP of Product Tyler Bell argues that a strong model is only half the equation. To deliver timely, accurate, relevant results, LLMs need to be grounded in continuously updated, normalized entertainment metadata. Without that foundation, even the most advanced model can produce results that sound right — but aren't. As catalogs fragment, rights shift and availability changes daily, the quality of the underlying data will determine whether these experiences create value or frustration. Check out Tyler’s smart take on what it takes to build AI-powered content discovery and recommendations viewers can trust. Get the full article in the comments.

Are the Oscars following the audience? Gracenote’s data suggests they might be.   In the last decade, films released by Apple, Amazon, Netflix and MUBI have received 25% of nominations across the eight major acting, directing, writing and Best Picture categories at the Academy Awards.   That’s one in four nods going to streaming-first studios.   Independents captured another 22%.   Combined, nearly half of major nominations now come from outside the traditional studio system.   As audiences increasingly discover and watch movies through streaming platforms, those platforms are also gaining influence in the industry’s highest honors.   Our latest analysis explores what this shift signals for the future of film awards and the evolving studio landscape.   Read more in the article linked below.

Consumers in the U.S. now spend ~12 minutes searching for something to watch, according to recent Gracenote research. Globally, it’s even longer — and many viewers give up entirely. So what needs to change? That question was the focus of a recent conversation between Gracenote’s Kanishk Prasad and Trent Wheeler and TVREV’s Alan Wolk—exploring everything from improving FAST discovery to tackling industry transparency. Three takeaways stood out: 1️⃣ Discovery should be content-centric — not app-centric. Viewers think about what they want to watch, not which platform it’s on. 2️⃣ Personalization needs more context. Algorithms alone still miss mood, time available and intent. 3️⃣ AI-Powered Conversational discovery is coming. Voice and natural language could reshape how viewers find content. But the bigger takeaway? As content libraries continue to expand, experience becomes the real differentiator. Curious how others in streaming, media and CTV are thinking about discovery right now. What will matter more in the coming years: better recommendation algorithms or better UX? Link to the full interview in the comments.

Large language models (LLMs) have the potential to fundamentally change CTV content discovery. But providers need confidence that the recommendations and responses they’re passing back to viewers are relevant, accurate and up-to-date. Join Gracenote’s Tyler Bell and Telia’s Christofer Peilitz at Connected TV World Summit in London next week. Along with The Media Leader UK’s John Moulding, they’ll discuss how operators can drive a step-change in their entertainment stacks and UX by safely harnessing the power of LLMs. Adwanted Events

U.S.-produced SVOD titles are up 13% year-over-year — yet their share of global catalogs is shrinking. Across the five top streaming services, American programming now accounts for less than half (42%) of available titles — down from 45% a year ago.  On Netflix, that figure drops to 32%. South Korea (9.8%) and Japan (9.5%) now surpass Great Britain as the platform’s leading contributors, and international hits like Bluey and Cassandra are regulars in Nielsen’s Top 10. Streaming’s center of gravity is shifting. Not away from U.S. content — but toward a more globally weighted mix. As supply diversifies, catalog composition becomes a strategic variable — shaping content discovery, audience engagement and planning assumptions. If you’re tracking how country-of-origin mix influences streaming performance, explore our latest Data Hub article. Link in the comments.