iWorld
TiVo brings comprehensive personalised content discovery platform with voice search
MUMBAI: TiVo Corporation, a leader in entertainment technology and audience insights, has introduced its new fully-integrated Personalized Content Discovery platform. The new platform provides video operators with the most comprehensive suite of content discovery features that combine the power of TiVo’s renowned conversational voice search with personalized search and recommendations. The platform also features powerful analytics capabilities that enable operators to conduct A/B testing; thus, giving operators the ability to optimize their operations in real-time.
With fully-integrated conversational services, TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery platform leverages voice search making it easy for a user to ask, “What’s on TV tonight?” and get highly-relevant personalized search results. Instead of bringing up the whole TV guide with 300+ channels, the response will highlight the top 10 television programs that the user is most likely to be interested in, based on their viewing behavior and interests. This integration is exceptionally crucial as more and more customers turn to voice search, with 30.5% of Amazon Echo, Dot or Google Home owners stating that they use voice assistants to help them find something to watch, according to TiVo’s most recent Video Trends Report.
TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery platform also supports contextual voice queries, which allow users to easily narrow down results within a specific context, thus eliminating the need to string together extremely long queries with unnatural phrasing to achieve the same results. For example, if a user was to ask, “Find me movies with Tom Hanks,” after the initial search results are displayed, the user can simply say “only the comedies” to filter the results to find comedies starring Tom Hanks. In addition, the conversational search capability spans across all content catalogs available to the consumer, such as linear TV, video-on-demand (VOD) or over-the-top programming. As a result, the platform recognizes what the user is subscribed to and can be set to only return what is available to that specific user within their packages.
“For voice search and discovery to be truly effective, the user must be able to refine and explore through conversation,” said Colin Dixon, founder and chief analyst, nScreenMedia. “Solutions such as TiVo’s will be invaluable in helping operators deliver conversational discovery tools that allow their customers to more fully exploit the content that is available to them.”
TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery platform has a fully integrated backend business console that provides management and real-time tuning of search results, allowing service providers to easily improve the user experience and generate more engagement from viewer searches. Operators can use rules to drive internal business objectives, such as boosting more VOD titles in voice searches to promote broader category awareness. Operators also benefit from a decreased cost in ownership, since they can quickly make real-time changes without requiring extra support from engineering teams.
“Thanks to our fully-integrated approach, service providers can provide their customers with the flexibility of conversational search, going beyond traditional keywords and delivering a truly personalized experience that also drives their own business objectives internally,” said Pratik Patel, director of product management, Advanced Search and Recommendations, TiVo. “In the past, it was an incredibly timely and labor-intensive process to update search results. Now, changes can be created almost instantaneously, generating stronger, more relevant results for viewers while improving overall customer loyalty and engagement.”
TiVo’s conversational services go beyond basic voice commands to make natural dialogue a reality. With TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery platform, consumers can use their voice to search for digital entertainment across data spaces, including linear, VOD and over the top. By taking the content, user and situation into account, TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery platform provides fast, highly accurate results and relevant guidance.
Gaming
Roblox appoints Sunil Rao as India managing director to drive growth
Former AWS leader to lead creator ecosystem, partnerships and local strategy
MUMBAI: Roblox has appointed Sunil Rao as managing director for India, as the company looks to deepen its footprint in one of its fastest-growing markets.
Rao, who will join in May, will serve as the senior-most representative for Roblox in India, leading local strategy, partnerships and day-to-day operations. His mandate includes strengthening the platform’s presence, supporting the creator ecosystem and aligning India’s market needs with global priorities.
A key focus area will be nurturing India’s growing community of developers and creators, enabling local studios to leverage Roblox’s tools for scaling and monetisation. Globally, the platform’s creator community earned over $1.5 billion in 2025, underlining the economic potential of user-generated content ecosystems.
“Roblox is at the forefront of enabling a new generation of creators and games. India’s scale, creativity, and entrepreneurial energy present a massive opportunity,” said Rao. “I’m excited to build a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem that empowers developers and creators across the country. Ensuring child safety and aligning closely with India’s regulatory framework will be among my top priorities.”
Welcoming the appointment, Roblox vice president international Zhen Fang said India represents a high-potential market for the company. “Sunil brings deep expertise in building operations across diverse markets, and his passion for community-centric platforms makes him the ideal leader to drive our next chapter of growth in the country.”
Rao brings over two decades of experience across technology platforms, venture capital and developer ecosystems. He was previously part of the leadership team at Amazon Web Services, where he led strategy and corporate business development across Asia-Pacific and Japan. He also served as a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, working closely with startups and founders.
Earlier in his career, Rao played a key role in building developer ecosystems at Symbian, Nokia and Google, contributing to the growth of major mobile and internet platforms.
With India’s large youth population and rapidly evolving digital landscape, Roblox’s latest leadership move signals a sharper focus on long-term growth, local relevance and creator-led innovation in the market.
