Stop Calling it 'Authentication'

When cable customers sign up for new TV Everywhere video services, typically they’re asked to go through a registration process to verify that they subscribe to cable. But calling the process “authentication,” as the industry is prone to do, can be a real turn-off for subscribers, according to Matt Murphy, SVP of digital video distribution for Disney & ESPN Media Networks.

  Matt Murphy, Disney & ESPN 

In focus group research, the programmer found that being asked to “authenticate” themselves could be a barrier to consumers signing up. "When they saw 'authenticate,' they didn't know what that means, and it implies it might be something they have to pay for," said Murphy, speaking at TV in a Multi-Platform World, a New York event presented by Multichannel News, B&C and TV Technology.

Using the word "verify" instead of "authenticate" improved the chances that they would register and use a service, Murphy said. Currently there’s low awareness of TV Everywhere services, he said, and the registration process needs to be easy and “frictionless.” The good news is that the research showed that TV Everywhere services increase subscriber perceptions that a provider is on the cutting edge.