“The way we find media has changed,” says Alan Cannistraro, CEO of Rheo. “What technology has done of the past few year is it has really catered to the idea that if you know what you want then it really easy to find stuff. But if you don’t know what you want, then it really isn’t a great place to discover.”
This is where the idea of Rheo was born.
Rheo, which just turned 8 months old, is the world’s first personalized video channel. Using shorter, bite-sized morsels of streamed video, this Apple TV app does the hard work for you according to Cannistraro. It organizes videos based on the mood of the viewer. Titles like, “laugh” for comedy, “spark” for creative content, and the “learn” channel which is educational content (a surprisingly popular favourite).
“We are finding that people turn it on when they don’t want to take time finding things to watch,” he says. “If they want to know the news, they just put it on news.
“I think a lot of choice is a good thing but the decision making that leads to choice is.”
Cannistraro went on to explain the ‘paradox of choice’ and how too many choices, or too few, can lead to dissatisfaction. Be it 40 choices or four, the happy medium of seven usually leads to a more satisfactory outcome for the person making the decisions.
“Fomo is what I think they call it,” he says with a laugh.
Rheo is based on that premise. It takes the decision making away and makes it intuitive and more about browsing.
“In my childhood, there were many things that if I had to pick from a list of stuff to watch, I would never have picked,” says Cannistraro. “But when you are thrust into if you see things you might normally not have watched. That’s the idea that I’ve been doubling down on. If I could just show you what people are making, just show you the great content that is out there, you are more likely to watch it than if you had to pick it based on the title.”
Cannistraro will be on the ‘Alternative Content Distribution and Business Opportunities panel with Elizabeth Karr and Mark Lehman on Sat., Feb. 25 at 12:15 in the Max Bell Auditorium. For more info visit storysummit.ca.
For more info on Rheo, visit rheo.tv.
The Trent Wilkie 