As video-on-demand (VOD) platforms continue to compete for audience attention in an increasingly crowded digital marketplace, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming one of the most important technologies shaping how viewers discover, consume and engage with content.
This critical industry shift will take centre stage at the Broadcasters Convention – West Africa 2026, taking place on 22 – 23 September 2026 at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana, where broadcasters, streaming platforms, content owners, technology providers and digital media executives will examine “The Role of AI in Content Discovery and User Experience on VOD Platforms.”
With audiences expecting highly personalised viewing experiences, AI is enabling streaming services to move beyond simple recommendation engines towards intelligent content ecosystems that understand viewer preferences, predict behaviour and continuously optimise user engagement. From personalised homepages and dynamic content recommendations to smarter search capabilities and automated metadata generation, AI is reshaping every stage of the viewer journey.
For VOD platforms operating across Africa’s diverse markets, these capabilities present significant opportunities to improve content visibility, increase viewing time and strengthen customer retention. At the same time, they raise important questions around transparency, algorithmic bias, localisation, editorial responsibility and the balance between automation and human curation.
As streaming libraries continue to expand, helping audiences quickly discover relevant and engaging content has become just as important as producing or acquiring quality programming. AI-powered recommendation systems are increasingly helping platforms surface local productions, regional language content and niche programming that might otherwise remain difficult for audiences to find.
The convention will explore how broadcasters and streaming providers can leverage AI to create more intuitive user experiences while ensuring recommendations remain relevant, inclusive and aligned with audience expectations. Discussions will also examine how AI can support content tagging, metadata enrichment, multilingual search, audience segmentation and predictive analytics to improve platform performance and business outcomes.
Industry experts will further discuss the practical considerations surrounding AI implementation, including data quality, privacy, ethical use of audience information and the operational capabilities required to deploy AI-driven content discovery solutions successfully.
As competition among global, regional and local streaming services intensifies, delivering a seamless and personalised user experience is increasingly becoming a key differentiator. Organisations that effectively harness AI to connect audiences with the right content at the right time will be better positioned to drive engagement, increase viewing duration and strengthen subscriber loyalty.
The Broadcasters Convention – West Africa 2026 will provide an important platform for industry leaders to share practical experiences, showcase emerging technologies and identify collaborative approaches to accelerating AI adoption across Africa’s evolving digital media landscape.
Broadcast Media Africa invites broadcasters, OTT and VOD platform operators, content creators, technology companies, regulators, telecommunications operators, advertisers and media executives to participate in this important industry gathering and contribute to shaping the future of AI-powered content experiences across West Africa.
Find out more here.
