Sunrise launches ‘TV Highlights’ feature on Liberty Global’s award-winning Horizon Platform
Sunrise has partnered with Media Distillery, a leading AI technology provider in video user experience (UX) optimization, to launch a new ‘TV Highlights’ feature delivered on Liberty Global’s award-winning Horizon TV platform.
The ‘TV Highlights’ feature, which includes a Preview Distillery tool by Media Distillery, has been rolled out to Sunrise’s one million TV customers this month. Sunrise, a former Liberty Global operating company, spun off into a separately traded company in 2024.
Preview Distillery utilizes Generative AI and machine learning to create short video snippets that quickly show viewers what a show is about, helping them to make informed decisions about what watch. For instance, a key scene from a feature documentary could be displayed, or a clip from a talk show, or highlights from a sports programme in catchup. This facility streamlines content discovery, reduces the time spent searching, and mitigates viewer frustration, ultimately boosting engagement and enjoyment. Fully automated and with no need for human editorial intervention, the solution is both economical and scalable.
Chris van der Linden, Director Entertainment Platforms at Liberty Global, said: “The collaboration between Liberty Global and Media Distillery on the development of the Sunrise TV App marks a significant leap in how customers experience television. We’re excited to introduce innovative features like personalized TV highlights to Sunrise users – helping them discover and enjoy the content they love more easily than ever. With the support of Media Distillery’s advanced AI technology, we can deliver accurate and engaging TV highlight clips that transform content discovery. By combining Liberty Global’s product vision with Media Distillery’s deep video understanding, we’re delivering a future-ready platform built around user value, performance, and flexibility.”
Christoph Richartz, Chief Consumer Officer Main Brand at Sunrise, said: “Our customers have so much interesting content to choose from in our TV service, but we know that some viewers can find it difficult to decide what to watch. Our research shows that if we present short highlights to the users, it helps them decide faster, and as such, it increases engagement.”
Under the agreement with Sunrise, Preview Distillery provides 100 TV Highlights clips per day on the Sunrise TV App for the Sunrise’s 50 most watched broadcast TV channels. The clips, generated from the broadcast TV signals, have a duration ranging from 15 to 20 seconds.
TV Highlights feature prominently in the Sunrise TV App UI/UX, with a selection of clips shown in the main row in the UI, a dedicated carousel, and clips rows personalized such that each viewer sees an individualized array of clips for different programmes.
Customers can enjoy TV Highlights on all of the service’s video apps – iOS and Android mobiles and tablets, smart TVs, streaming devices including Apple TV and web apps – boosting Sunrise’s content discovery capabilities and increasing viewer engagement.
