TVN Warner Bros. Discovery launches Zoku, an AI-driven shop-the-show service on Player

TVN Warner Bros. Discovery has launched Zoku, a service it calls “entertainment-to-commerce,” linking programs on its Player streaming platform with online shopping. Viewers who pause a show in the Player app see products spotted in that scene; where nothing specific is detected, they get the full product list for the episode. Segments with shoppable items carry a Zoku logo, and a standalone site, Zoku.pl, lets users browse products by program and episode before being sent to a retailer’s site to buy.

The recognition layer is AI-driven. According to the broadcaster, the system analyzes on-screen imagery and matches it to items in partner catalogs, either the exact product or one inspired by what appears in the show. Adam Sawicki, group senior vice president for digital at TVN WBD, told Press that AI opens new possibilities, including targeting content itself. At launch Zoku.pl lists reality and lifestyle formats including Hotel Paradise, Zakup w ciemno, Top Model and Ostre cięcie.

TVN WBD is not running the shop. Retail partners take payment and handle stock, delivery, returns and customer service. The company says coverage will expand gradually as more retailers sign on, but it has not named launch partners or described how it will charge brands.

Why it matters

Zoku is one of the first attempts by a major broadcaster in the region to turn its catalog into a commerce surface using computer vision rather than manually tagged product placement. For advertisers it creates an inventory type that sits between product placement and retail media: a product does not need to be written into the script to become shoppable, but a brand that wants guaranteed matching will likely need to be in a partner’s feed. It also hands TVN WBD first-party purchase-intent data from its streaming audience, something Polish TV groups have lacked as Player competes with Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon for ad budgets.

What’s next

Wirtualne Media notes that Poland has been here before. The Insbay app tried scene-level shopping in 2020, and Telewizja Republika’s Goryla.pl store drew regulator questions about how product placement was disclosed. Zoku’s test will be whether AI matching is accurate enough to avoid awkward or misleading suggestions, and how the broadcaster labels commercial recommendations under Polish media law and the EU AI Act’s transparency rules. TVN WBD has not said what share of Player’s catalog is covered or whether the feature will reach linear channels.