While consumers’ unyielding demand for content has helped lead to the development of new delivery systems and entirely new forms of media, content producers and distributors are still struggling to meet consumers’ lofty user experience expectations, says a new report from the Canada Media Fund (CMF).

The CMF has released a mid-year update to its 2016 Key Trends Report “Entering the Age of Experience,” released in February.

One way to improve the user experience, the report recommends, is through bots. Bots interpret a user’s voice or text to automate and perform simple tasks, like ordering food or booking an appointment. In addition, chat bots are programmed to appear on social media as an “individual” and can simulate human conversation. Companies often use these chatbots to answer consumer questions. So how can bots benefit the entertainment industry?

The report found that bots can be used to support the discoverability and consumption of content. It gave the example of the MindMeld bot, which can help users discover content through voice-activated searches. These searches, the report states, can be as complex as “I want to watch movies about AI.”

Bots are also starting to be used by marketers. Toronto-based DHX Media recently employed a chat bot on Kik messenger app to build interest in the then upcoming Degrassi: Next Class premiere. The report does stress, however, that this is an emerging technology and there are still kinks to work out.

Another trend the report focused on as important for content creators to consider is consumers desire to customize and participate in the content experience. Citing Minecraft as an example, the CMF report outlined the sales success of the game (which sells 10,000 copies a day) as linked to its creative fan base, which has created nearly 70 million related videos on YouTube.

Overall, the report looked at six trends in total, including the pressure online video puts on bandwidth and the need to upgrade broadband performance, consumer response to VR and AR and creating enough content to push these technologies forward, as well as monetization strategies.

On the monetization front, the report found that the industry, particularly in the U.S., is looking to improve customer experience (and diversify revenue) with dynamic pricing options for movie ticketing. It gave the example of Atom Tickets, a startup with $50 million in financing from Lionsgate, Fox and Disney that’s developed an app that lets users buy movie tickets and invite their friends on a movie date. The more people who agree to the movie date, the lower the ticket price is for each patron. The app is currently available across the U.S. and in Calgary. It is expected to be available across Canada by the end of the year.

Lastly, the report discusses OTTs expansion into international territories and the regulatory challenges faced by those countries. The report found that local governments and regulators are beginning to intervene by imposing stricter regulations on foreign-based OTTs. It gives the example of regulators in Indonesia that have insisted that Netflix comply with domicile requirements, tax regulations and censorship rules or be blocked from the country.  Australia is also soon to pass legislation that will require OTTs to charge a 20% sales tax, even if they’re not based in the country.

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