Metadata February 7, 2026 10 min read

Metadata Becomes Product Layer: Discovery, Personalization, Automation

The industry recognized: metadata is not a utility function, but a product layer enabling discovery, personalization, rights monetization, and automation.

Metadata as Product Layer

For years, metadata was treated as a utility function — something operations teams maintained in the background. That's changing.

"Metadata becomes the product layer, enabling discovery, personalisation, rights monetisation and automation."

— Lee Otterway, Dot Group

What Rich Metadata Enables

🔍

Discovery

Search and recommendations that actually work.

👤

Personalization

AI-driven content matching to viewer preferences.

📋

Rights Monetization

Automated rights tracking and windowing.

Automation

AI-powered workflows for content operations.

The Cost of Poor Metadata

Content without rich metadata is operationally expensive:

  • Every time you can't find an asset → pay twice (cost + carbon)
  • Manual processes that should be automated
  • Missed monetization opportunities
  • Poor viewer experience → churn

Foundation for AI Automation

AI in broadcast focuses on operational efficiency — but AI needs structured data to work:

Content analysis

AI analyzes video → needs metadata schema.

Workflow automation

AI automates tasks → needs structured data.

Predictive analytics

AI predicts performance → needs historical metadata.

Rights management

AI tracks rights → needs contract metadata.

EPG Service: The Foundation

Building your metadata layer?

EPG Service provides the foundational metadata layer for discovery, personalization, and AI automation.

Get in Touch