Noting that it has less than 90 seconds to grab the viewer’s attention and “get them excited about a title,” Netflix said it is starting to include a new “video previews” feature on its TV-connected platforms.
In this instance, video previews “aren’t teasers or traditional trailers,” Stephen Garcia, director of product innovation for TV and Chris Jaffe, VP of product innovation, explained in blog post. “They are specially designed video synopses that help members make faster and more confident decisions by quickly highlighting the story, characters and tone of a title. In developing this experience, our testing showed that people watched more of a story, demonstrating these previews helped them browse less and watch more.”
Netflix is adding the feature as it plans to launch more than 1,000 hours of original content in 2017.
Netflix is starting to roll out video previews on a global basis Tuesday and expects them to become available on eligible devices over the next few weeks, including the “majority” of gaming consoles and Roku players, with smart TVs and other platforms to get them “in the coming months.” Presumably, that feature will eventually be included with Netflix’s new app for Comcast’s X1 platform.
