Integrating social networks in an IPTV recommender system

The proliferation of multiple channels in the actual offer of cable and IPTV services is bringing challenges for users when selecting which program to see. Recommender systems are being introduced with the goal of facilitating the viewers ’ choices and promote TV content consumption. Different technical approaches to these systems are supported either on automatic algorithms or social data and activities analysis. This paper reports on the first development phase of the Pétala system- a recommender system for an IPTV Telco- that aims to improve content recommendation by integrating social networks. Pétala provides the ability to use the system both in the Set-top box or as a web widget integrated in a social network like Facebook