Dublin video analytics firm Vidiro has scored major deals with Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia, the producers of the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, to mine video site YouTube to discover contestants.
Vidiro won the IC Tomorrow competition run last year by government agency Innovate UK, which led to it trialling its technology on The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, helping the talent shows source contestants.
Vidiro has now signed a more formal agreement with FremantleMedia and Syco Entertainment to improve the way they cast talent on future series of their entertainment juggernauts.
Vidiro’s Talent Radar platform is designed to comb 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute and highlight the content that is attracting attention.
The Vidiro Factor
Vidiro chief executive Simon Factor said data about millions of videos could be presented to clients in an accessible, real-time format.
“We have developed an early detecting system,” said Factor.
“By the time a video has hit 1m views, it is too late – everybody knows about it. We surface those videos that have generated just a few hundred views but are already starting to build a buzz.”
Initially, the system analysed audience reaction to bedroom artists singing along to well-known tracks. It gauges these reactions by analysing data, including the proportion of likes to comments, and the number of shares a video is generating.
The system has been expanded to help hunt for talent for Britain’s Got Talent by being broadened out to include more songs, as well as artists, such as dancers and acrobats.
Factor said big data analysis could become a vital tool for production companies and help improve the quality of talent cast in shows.
