What Metadata Should You Add So Shows Get Found on OTT Streaming?

What Metadata Should You Add So Shows Get Found on OTT Streaming?

You are competing with catalogs that already hold more than 40 million unique television, movie, and sports titles. When you leave a record incomplete, you give search and recommendations nothing reliable to match. Here's the basics to get right:

Title

Start with the public title, because that is the first string a viewer types and the first string a device search index stores. Roku asks you for a title and a unique identifier in the JSON search feed so your programs can appear when someone searches from the remote or the mobile app, and Apple TV search resolves requests by program name as well as by topic. Use the name people already know, and keep that series name identical on every episode. A shortened form will miss the query.

Synopsis

Once the title is stable, write a short synopsis and a longer description for every movie and every episode. Name the subject, the setting, and the kind of story, and keep the episode text specific to that installment rather than repeating a generic series line. If you only write “new episode,” you give the index nothing to match when someone searches for the topic.

Genre

After the description, choose genre labels from a controlled list on the platform you're working with. Roku's content feed, for example, carries a genres array and a tags array so you can group a program with similar titles. A mismatched label or one that doesn't match the categories specific to that service will stick your file in the wrong row.

People

Viewers also search by people, so enter credits as a search field rather than leaving them only in the closing credits. Many platforms accept search queries by actor, director, and topic as well as by title, which means someone can ask for films with a named performer or documentaries about a subject. Enter the principal cast, the director, and, where your audience searches that way, the host or instructor.

Rating and Advisories

You also need a rating and any advisories, because those fields decide both who may watch a title and who can find it. The Federal Communications Commission describes the television industry's voluntary ratings, which appear at the start of a program and which the V-chip can read so a parent can block categories. U.S. video services should apply those age-based ratings, display them when playback starts, and use the Motion Picture Association rating for unedited theatrical films. If you omit the rating, you drop the title out of age-filtered queries.

These are the basics, and if it seems overwhelming, we can help. Visit Lightcast.com today for a demo of how our all-in-one platform can get your content out there and let you keep track of it.