Examining User Recognition of a Sport-Centered OTT Service Using Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis Focusing on the SPOTV Now App

Abstract

PURPOSE Recently, the need to improve service quality to provide an ideal viewing experience for sport OTT service users has increased. This study aimed to analyze user reviews of the SPOTV Now app, an OTT service specializing in sports in South Korea, to identify major perceptions of viewers and suggest measures for improvement.METHODS Review data (8,512) recorded on the SPOTV Now app were collected from November 21, 2017 to November 30, 2023. LDA-based topic modeling analysis was conducted along with a series of data preprocessing processes. Sentiment analysis was carried out through machine learning logistic regression analysis and odds ratio scores were calculated.RESULTS A total of five topics were derived, including ‘member management service', 'service stability', 'sport streaming service', 'sport video service', and 'subscription service'. Sentiment analysis indicated that 'exclusive', 'server', 'payment', 'log-in', 'authentication', 'pay', 'subscription', 'advertisement', 'play', and 'loading' were the top ten keywords.CONCLUSIONS Sport OTT operators should be more responsive to user requests and feedback, and video playback and server error problems should be improved for service stability. It is necessary to secure diversity as well as exclusivity of content, in addition to minimizing advertising or preparing various rate types, so that app users feel that they receive high value for their money.