The latest round up of OTT Video news, deals, launches and products
Dish Network and Nielsen announced an agreement to improve Nielsen’s local TV ratings service by integrating Dish’s aggregated set top data. Anonymized data from millions of Dish households across 210 markets areas will be combined with insights from Nielsen’s local market – allowing for a deeper understanding of viewing habits and increased metrics reliability.
Video compression firm V-Nova will be demonstrating its Perseus software at next week’s NAB show in Las Vegas. The company will be staging live demos powering live and on-demand IPTV systems, which V-Nova claims allows an unnamed tier 1 pay TV operator to halve the bitrate of its HD channels, extending the reach of its service up to 800%. It also says the Perseus OTT SDK enables a new TV service provider to deliver a mobile OTT video streaming service over a congested 2G network.
NeoNova, the broadband arm of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) in the US, has announced a new referral program that allows its affiliates to promote the OTT service Sling TV. “Our affiliates are the go-to local providers for new technologies in their serving areas. We’ve been working with traditional video content and our ViewLocal platform for years, and we’re excited to add a program that allows our affiliates to promote Sling TV’s programming services. Not only will they be able to realize additional revenue, but they can continue to drive awareness with their customers about new services like Sling TV.”
White-label OTT cloud TV platform Vidmind has unveiled a new marketplace at MIPTV 2016 in Cannes this week, to enable content providers to offer global pay TV services to ethnic groups living outside of their home countries. Vidmind says the marketplace aggregates local content and gives content providers the ability to offer their own branded next gen TV services, to increase traffic.
Rovi has filed 14 patent infringement cases against Comcast this week. The filings relate to features including the way that Comcast implements remote recording, AnyRoom DVR, and X1 search. “For over a decade, Comcast built its business using Rovi’s patented technology, which it licensed for a fixed term. Comcast’s decision to continue using Rovi’s pioneering technology as an unlicensed infringer is simply intolerable. After numerous attempts at negotiations, Rovi was left with no choice but to defend its intellectual property from unlicensed use,” said Tom Carson, president and CEO, Rovi.
Imagine Communications has announced that its live encoding and dynamic ad insertion solutions are now available on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Imagine says this will provide new monetization opportunities for broadcasters, service providers and media companies by improving speed, efficiency and flexibility of media workflow. The cloud-enabled Versio solution enables channels to be developed and deployed through the cloud, with the option of OTT and traditional distribution.
Broadband technology vendor Vecima Networks will be launching Bravura at this year’s NAB – a multiscreen IP video delivery solution. The software-based product provides the components for multiscreen SD, HD, and 4K UHD video processing, preparation, and delivery. The platform allows for integration of ad insertion and multiple DRMs, as well as delivery of catch-up services including time shifting and nPVR.
Quantenna Communications, the ultra-high performance WiFi business arm of Quantenna, has now surpassed the milestone of 60 million chips shipped worldwide, into more than 60 product designs, with service providers in more than 15 countries. It also introduced the world’s first Wave 3 QSR10G 8×8 Wi-Fi chipset.
The SVoD service Fullscreen, aimed at teenagers, is due to launch at the end of this month – offering scripted and unscripted originals for $4.99 per month. AT&T is the premier launch partner, and will promote the service with special offers. AT&T and Fullscreen will co-produce content for the SVoD service, and AT&T’s DirecTV and U-verse Audience Network.
Security solutions provider Inside Secure has partnered with multimedia software company VisualOn to launch a secure SDK for video applications, supporting the most popular DRM system across all OTT platforms. VisualOn’s OnStream MediaPlayer+ (OSMP+) is a multimedia player development kit enabling cross-platform content delivery and playback on connected devices, including mobiles, tablets, desktops, laptops, set tops, and smart TVs.
Kaltura has announced that it is powering Viacom18’s new VoD service VOOT. The free, ad-supported video streaming service launched last week and offers almost 17,000 hours of content. Viacom18 is a joint venture operation in India between Viacom and the Network 18 Group, founded in 2007.
Global WiFi network Fon and British Telecom have announced customers can now purchase WiFi access passes using Pay with Amazon. WiFi access passes enable customers to get connected on the go to the UK’s largest WiFi network, with over 5 million hotspots nationwide powered by BT and Fon. The incorporation of Pay with Amazon means that customers can now use their Amazon account details to make their purchase.
Millennial-focused media group Trace will be launching its SVoD service Trace Play in June this year. The service will roll out initially in France, Switzerland, Belgium, and other French speaking countries in the Caribbean, followed by the US and UK, and eventually in 60 countries overall, according to Trace. This will include 4,000 hours of programming – some of it original and exclusive.
Telstra subsidiary Ooyala has unveiled a new HTML5 video player for desktop and mobile devices – as part of its Ooyala IQ analytics solution. The latest Ooyala Player says it enables a high level of customization for delivering tailored viewing experiences, and integrates with major video advertising and analytics services.
California-based video game publisher Maximum Games has acquired French company Avanquest Software Publishing, also a video game publisher and developer. Maximum says the acquisition is part of its move to expand its distribution footprint outside of the Americas, and Avanquest will now operate under the Maximum Games name. “Becoming part of the Maximum Games family is a perfect fit for us,” said Steve Powell, Managing Director of Avanquest Software Publishing. “Maximum Games has experienced exceptional growth and has an ethos and long-term vision that’s shared by us.”