Sky Glass is the revolutionary go-to-market concept that puts the Sky entertainment OS inside a private-labelled Smart TV, removing the need for a set-top box (and removing the requirement for a satellite dish, as it is a streaming-only solution). But Reglinski emphasised that Sky Glass is an experience that can be replicated on multiple endpoints, including streaming puck set-top boxes like Sky Stream. This device takes the Sky Glass UX onto any television set via HDMI.

Where a syndication partner intends to deliver the entertainment OS inside its own Smart TVs (the ‘Smarter than a Smart TV’ vision articulated in current UK consumer advertising), they order the television hardware via Sky, which leverages its now established supply chain. “The experience can be on Sky Glass hardware or Sky Stream – and we can look at putting the experience onto other compatible devices,” Reglinski reveals.

“[Syndication partner] operators can bring their own content, apps and their own brand to the experience. Very importantly, they retain the customer relationship and the billing relationship with their customers, and they are in control of the data and the monetisation of the platform,” Reglinski explained. “The integrations can be very bespoke, depending on the operator, but obviously there will be localisation [e.g., language, content, apps]. They might want a mobile companion app. Often operators want to control how they show content, how it is merchandised, and there is a lot of flexibility in the editorial tooling.”

Sky Glass is powered by the Comcast Global Technology Platform, which is also common to Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex (the streaming-only box that is bundled with broadband in the U.S.), Sky Q and XClass TV. XClass TV is another example of how a Pay TV operator builds its OS into a Smart TV, only this time it is the Comcast entertainment UX, and it is a third-party branded Smart TV maker that provides the hardware (i.e., Hisense models in the U.S.), sold in retail stores without the need for an Xfinity subscription (including outside of Comcast’s geographic service footprint).

Reglinski pointed to the scale of the Comcast Global Technology Platform: 75 million [broadband and streaming] connected devices are running off this now, with 40m voice commands processed a day, as an example of scale for just one advanced feature (voice search and command). The American MVPD Cox and the Canadian BDUs Shaw, Rogers and Videotron are already syndication partners for the Global Technology Platform, with Cox making use of the X1 OS/UX since late 2015.

The Syndication of Sky Glass has already begun, with Foxtel in Australia and Multichoice in South Africa signed up. “Foxtel was the first and they signed up even before the Sky Glass launch in the UK,” Reglinski confirms. “We are currently in the process of getting them onto the platform.”

Why is the Sky/Comcast group syndicating Sky Glass in the first place, given it has significant scale for its tech platform and development already? According to Reglinski, “A lot of Pay TV operators and telcos face the same challenges we do, and there is an opportunity for global MVPDs [Pay TV operators] to power their entertainment and connectivity services via our platform. We are excited by the chance to bring this [Sky Glass] experience to as many consumers as possible.

“Secondly, platform scale benefits everyone. The more investment we make in our platform the more innovation we can drive, and the more consumers and operators benefit globally.” She says syndication partners find this appealing, given the need to keep ahead of consumers, who are becoming more demanding.

“It is important that this is not a standard technology relationship,” she added. “We are developing true partnerships here, and the [syndication] customers we bring into our system want flexibility, including how they talk to their consumers, and they get quite a lot of control on how that is done.”

Reglinski views the Sky Glass model as a new market opportunity for syndication partners. “We’ve learnt from our own markets that if you launch a proposition that is rooted in true consumer insight and simplicity and you take that to market in a way that talks to consumers, you can break into a new segment and drive customer satisfaction. There are lots of learnings from the Sky and Comcast go-to-market approaches and operators are really interested in us sharing those learnings and helping them to drive their business objectives.

“This is not a point-in-time purchase – you are buying into a roadmap and benefit from all the investments and innovations that we introduce for our own consumers over time. Even in ‘live’ we get unique requests from partners, and we consider those as we develop the platform. And of course, there is live operational support.”

Michelle Reglinski was speaking at Connected TV World Summit.

The service will also offer Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.

MultiChoice will relaunch Showmax using NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology platform, and the new Showmax group will be 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% owned by NBCUniversal. The companies say the move comes as Africa approaches an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability, and builds on MultiChoice’s success on the continent, on which it has a 50-market footprint.

Calvo Mawela, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice, says: “We launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and are extremely proud of its success to date. This agreement represents a great opportunity for our Showmax team to scale even greater heights by working with a leading global player in Comcast and its subsidiaries.”

Matt Strauss, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal, comments, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity to further scale the global presence of Peacock’s world-class streaming technology, as well as to introduce millions of new customers to extensive premium content from NBCUniversal and Sky’s stellar entertainment brands.”

Comcast and Charter Communications have announced that their streaming joint venture will be branded Xumo. The companies have said the move will evolve the brand from a FAST service to an “entire entertainment ecosystem” which includes streaming devices, content and a streaming service.

Flex – the 4K streaming device Comcast licensed to the joint venture – will become Xumo Stream Box while Comcast’s Smart TV platform, XClass TV, will be called Xumo TV. According to the companies, users will be able to find their favourite streaming content easily through voice search and a “world-class” user interface.

Both Xumo Stream Box and Xumo TV will continue to be powered by Comcast, and Xumo will go-to-market with its first branded devices in late 2023 (distributed by Comcast, Charter and Walmart, with additional distributors still to be announced).

Xumo’s FAST service – which currently has hundreds of linear channels and on-demand option – will be rebranded Xumo Play. Xumo devices will comes with Xumo Play, giving customers access to the free content offering, and the service will continue to be available as an app on other platforms.

Marcien Jenckes, President, Xumo says: “Since 2011, the Xumo brand has connected with millions of customers across the country, establishing itself as a leader in the free ad-supported TV industry for the innovative ways it delivers content to its users.

“The new Xumo will bring industry leading streaming and aggregation technology nationwide through its expanding content, product line up, and retailer relationships.”

Based on its own research, Comcast recommends that 20-30% of overall multi-screen ad spend should be dedicated to advertising on streaming services (including FAST channels).

Broken down by gender, data from Nielsen’s Content Rating Database (based on Xumo – the Comcast-owned FAST service) suggests that men tend to watch more news on FAST services, while women spend a greater proportion of their viewing time watching comedy and entertainment shows.

Xumo data shows that U.S. viewers spend an average of 104 minutes daily with FAST content. Despite this, the report notes that “consumers may land in the FAST sphere without even knowing it.” Of Xumo users, 70% subscribe to Netflix, 80% subscribe to Hulu, and 65% subscribe to Amazon Prime Video.

James Rooke, President, Comcast Advertising, said: “FAST is a new and engaging way for consumers to watch and discover premium content in an environment that mimics linear TV. And because FAST services are easy and free to access without signing up, it’s becoming a valuable way for advertisers to reach audiences – especially cord cutters.

“While FAST does not replace linear TV or other streaming advertising, they certainly act as a valuable complement; the strongest media plans combine FAST and streaming with traditional TV in order to maximize reach and efficiency.”

Mary Ann Halford, Partner at Altman Solon (one of the world’s largest global strategy consulting firms with an exclusive focus on the Telecoms, Media, and Technology sectors), said: “I believe they [CE device makers] are becoming the new gatekeepers”, although she pointed out that Pay TV operators can compete in the CE market too – with Sky Glass  an example of a Pay TV operator as a Smart TV maker.

“The race is definitely on,” declared Joe Nilsson, Chief Commercial Officer at SportsTribal, a FAST specialising in Tier-Two sports with 40+ channels spanning billiards and motor sports to combat sports. He pointed to the ambition of “flag-bearers” like Samsung and LG, “who have their own OS and aggregate in two ways: their direct content product in the form of Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels, and aggregation of the TV market via apps.”

Halford highlighted a key strength of Smart TV makers: collecting ACR (automatic content recognition) data, and advanced advertising. “They are all building their own ad sales capabilities and leveraging this data,” she pointed out.

ACR uses fingerprinting to understand what a household is watching at pixel/glass level, which means that content from any external HDMI source (like a Pay TV set-top box) as well as from Smart TV curated services is covered. ACR also monitors content whether it is broadcast or streamed. That is a powerful tool when it comes to showing what a household watches and what advertising they have been exposed to.

Picking up on a potential weakness of CE device makers as aggregators, Nilsson questioned the extent to which they can harness exclusive content like sports to drive usage. Will a sports fan buy a particular television set if their favourite sport or competition was exclusive to that device maker?

The live audience also thought CE device makers are credible competitors for the role of primary TV aggregator in the entertainment home. Here are their answers to this question:

Who is best placed to be the default content aggregation and discovery UX that people return to again and again, every day (thinking about the time period 2023-2026)?

• Pay TV operators, 45%
• CE platforms (e.g., Smart TV makers), 25%
• Studio D2C, BVOD or AVOD apps providers, 13%
• Dedicated independent apps that aggregate streaming services or deep-link to content, 17%

So, how do Pay TV operators differentiate themselves from CE device makers in the battle for aggregation? You can read some of the non-exclusive qualities that will determine success or failure in our previous story, here.

But asked to focus on strengths that clearly favour Pay TV providers, Halford pointed to convenience as key, and that means multiscreen availability of the aggregated service, and portable viewing. Nilsson pointed to multiplay provision – the ability to tie aggregation to broadband and mobile services.

Brigita Brjuhhanov, TV Product Owner/Team Lead at Elisa, which launched an Android TV based next-generation TV platform called Elamus in Estonia last August, highlighted how multiplay provision helps Pay TV compete with streaming services that curate content (albeit in smaller ‘bouquets’). She noted that consumers are used to seeing Pay TV brands advertised on bus stops, and people have used their cellular services for 20 years and have deep trust in the brand, whereas some streaming services are brand new to a market.

This webcast considered the extent to which Pay TV device strategies can help operators maintain their relevance – and maybe even grow their market – for content aggregation. Sky Glass is a great example of innovative thinking, with the Sky-designed (and retailed) Smart TVs marketed on the basis of sophisticated hardware at a good price, available in monthly instalments (or a single payment) to homes that may not have satellite dishes (as it is a streaming-only television set) with a flexible subscription TV contract on the side.

“More Pay TV providers are starting to embrace Smart TVs as the fulcrum of the viewing experience,” according to Tim Pearson, Vice President, Solution Marketing at NAGRA (a long-time specialist in Pay TV and multiplatform TV provision, UX, business analytics and content protection, among other things). He was referring to the virtualised set-top box (‘operator-as-an app’ or ‘direct-to-TV’) model where the Pay TV operator functionality is built into the television set itself (thus removing the need for an operator STB).

NAGRA has a product called TVkey Cloud that supports this model by embedding the security anchors for content protection into the television set silicon (which has to be in partnership with a Smart TV maker – in this case with Samsung). This is designed for Pay TV operators ready to work with a CE partner, and enables marketing partnerships whereby the Pay TV offer is available out-of-the-box (as an automatic app launch) when someone plugs in their new Smart TV at home.

Sky has taken the concept another step forward, by becoming the CE partner for itself – designing and retailing its own television set (Sky Glass).

With more CE brands (beyond the original TV manufacturers) getting into the Smart TV OS business (e.g., Fire TV OS from Amazon and Roku TV from Roku), there is surely a growing danger that Pay TV operators could find themselves sitting behind a compelling UX-with-content offer from television set makers. Although Sky never says so explicitly, Sky Glass is a way for them to ensure their UX and content offer is always the first thing anyone sees in a Sky Glass home.

Sky cannot be relegated to second UX status on a Sky Glass television set – and that probably explains why another European Pay TV heavyweight, Deutsche Telekom, “is tracking this proposition to see if it makes sense,” – as revealed at Connected TV World Summit in May.

Still focusing on the impact of device strategy on the aggregation future, Pearson pointed to the growing sophistication of television sets and their operating systems in general, but also to the ongoing importance of set-top boxes, including how Android TV Operator Tier based STBs have proved their ability to boost a Pay TV operator’s position as a content aggregator (thanks to super-aggregation and content discovery features).

Brjuhhanov at Elisa noted that it is harder for Pay TV operators in smaller markets to onboard popular streaming services, due to market scale, and they may have to wait in turn while global streamers launch elsewhere. Elisa opted for an Android TV approach for its Elamus platform partly to ensure competitive onboarding. “Android TV has given lots of us more freedom and opportunities for aggregation, with more apps connected,” she pointed out (speaking on behalf of smaller Pay TV providers).

Halford pointed to the new Comcast/Charter Communications joint-venture in the U.S. for the nationwide availability of the Flex streaming device (and OS) as another example of how Pay TV providers can carve out new aggregation opportunities.

Comcast launched Xfinity Flex in March 2019 as a 4K streaming-only box (and OS/UX) to its Internet-only customers – that is the chunk of Comcast homes that are not taking a traditional Pay TV package from them. And there lies the opportunity: for Pay TV providers to stay in front of cord-cutters and remain their primary UX and aggregator for entertainment, even if it is a non-traditional bundle.

From that, new content distribution possibilities flow, too. Comcast bundled the Peacock streaming service (which it owns) with Flex at no extra cost. And most recently another of its owned streaming services, the free ad-supported Xumo, has been integrated into the Flex offer.

Then in April this year Charter joined Comcast in a joint-venture (contributing $900m to the cause) to expand the Flex OS/UX/app store/content offering into something more – a platform that can expand beyond Comcast homes via deals with hardware makers (and retailers). So, from 2023 when Charter starts to offer this product, Flex (however branded) will “compete at scale with established national platforms,” in the words of Tom Rutledge, Chairman and CEO at Charter.

It is worth pointing out that Flex is part of the same Global Technology Platform that the Comcast/Sky group has built and which also underpins Comcast’s Xfinity X1 set-top boxes, Sky Q and Sky Glass – and also X Class TV, an OS that Comcast makes available to third-party television makers in the U.S. (with Hisense as the launch partner). The plan for the Flex JV is that Comcast and Charter will both sell X Class TV sets directly or via retail, as well.

In short, [these] Pay TV providers have dived into the cord-cutter market to become the aggregators of non-Pay TV (but broadband) homes. As Halford points out: “They are seeing people cut the cord and seeking out content a la carte on Samsung TV, Roku and Amazon Fire, and they are trying to provide something [in that market segment] with the robust features of Pay TV navigation and discovery.”

Given the importance of apps onboarding, content partnership relations are as important as ever, and these were next on the webcast agenda. Is there any way that an aggregator can set themselves apart from others when looking to attract streaming services to their platform? Nilsson outlined what mattered to him.

“Addressable reach for the app is the primary driver – so how many of those devices [that the app is being integrated with] are in the market and also connected to the Internet. That’s the first question you ask yourself: ‘Is the juice worth the squeeze’, especially when there is a unique OS [that you have to develop/manage the app for].

“There is a commercial element,” Nilsson adds. “And we look for an alignment of our free offering alongside their paid propositions [so are they a good complement].”

Then there is ‘share of voice’: how many apps there are on the platform. Discoverability is also key, with Nilsson keen on the deep metadata integration that allows SportsTribal to automatically surface content from its app.

During the webcast, the audience were asked what they think are the key value-adds an aggregator must offer to content partners. Here is the full question and the results of the poll….

Beyond ‘carriage’, what are the most important value-adds a content aggregator (e.g. Pay TV/CE device maker) can give to a streaming content service? You can choose up to four items from the list. 

• Content discovery & content promotion (surfacing, visibility, prominence), 58%
• Attractive packaging (including in bundles, maybe with ongoing bundled discounting), 53%
• Unique audience reach (including co-marketing & promotional discounts), 47%
• Sharing of viewing behaviour insights, 42%
• Favourable onboarding/carriage business model (e.g., revenue share), 32%
• Credit/billing/account management functions, 26%
• Single sign-on, 26%
• Advertising (sales house) representation (where ad-supported), 21%

Content was also part of this discussion – namely the extent to which you need original, exclusive or local content to win the battle for aggregation. For Brjuhhanov, content is still key if you want to differentiate as an aggregator. “It is mandatory to have original content to separate you from others, but you must only focus on high-quality originals,” she declared.

The Elisa executive believes Pay TV operators can compete with global streamers for attention by ensuring the best content is available in local languages, with subtitles and audio description, and her advice is to partner with the local (national) broadcasters to create original content. She agreed there may be an opportunity to harness broadcaster library content on a platform and help to promote it.

For Halford, sport is the glue that keeps the diminished number of American Pay TV subscribers on-platform, and it remains the bedrock for Pay TV subscriber retention (and acquisition). “Sports is a flag in the ground for Pay TV providers to acquire new users,” Joe Nilsson added. “That means the fight at the top [for Tier-One sports rights] is pretty intense.”

Local and hyper-local is an opportunity for Pay TV to differentiate itself, now that streaming has reduced the barriers to entry for live productions, according to Pearson. This is a strategy employed by several NAGRA Pay TV customers in the U.S.

Sports is an obvious candidate for hyper-localisation. “Some of the regional operators we work with see this as an opportunity to differentiate their services and add a whole new category of content,” Pearson explained. Hyper-local could mean city-level stretching to regional or even State-level in the U.S. “It depends on the size of the audience for the content [i.e., how widely you have to spread the content offer to reach a viable minimum audience],” he explained.

This is part of a two-piece report, and you can read about the other key webcast insights here, including:

• The importance of content discovery, packaging and promotion in the battle to be primary aggregator
• How the total content offer on a platform can be expanded using apps onboarding
• The value of multi-genre and multi-demo diversity via the apps partnerships, when super-aggregating
• Value-adds that leverage trust and brand relevance, like carrier billing.

Watch the webcast itself on-demand.

Earlier this year, Comcast and Apple partnered to bring the Apple TV+ app to Comcast’s entertainment platforms, including Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex, and XClass TV. Customers can now download the Xfinity Stream app from the App Store on Apple TV.

Michael DelCiello, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at Comcast, said: “We are always looking for ways to enhance our entertainment experiences as the needs of our customers evolve – whether that’s expanding to new platforms, launching new features, or adding more programming options.

“With today’s launch of the Stream app on Apple TV, our customers now have a new device option for accessing their Xfinity TV subscription in the home, and they will be the first to enjoy a new, streamlined UI designed to make it easier to find something to watch – whether that means getting back to a favourite show or movie, or finding something new.”

VideoAI was released for general use by Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) in January. It is a fully managed, 24/7 software-as-a-service offering, so media companies can pay for the applications on a per minute basis. According to Bart Spriester, VP & GM of Content & Streaming Providers Suite at CTS, the key differentiating point for VideoAI is the provision of pre-trained algorithms which mean the applications work out-of-the-box. Other vendors provide the AI detectors but leave media owners to work out their own algorithms, he claims. The VideoAI algorithms draw upon millions of hours of AI learning at Sky, Comcast and NBCUniversal.

VideoAI is also fully automated – there is no manual work involved when segmenting show introductions or credits once they have been detected, for example. “AI technology can be focused not only on enhancing the end consumer experience but on reducing the operational cost for content providers and operators,” Spriester points out.

The immediate applications available with VideoAI are:

• The solution can be used to generate specific metadata to support content chaptering with automated titles and summaries, plus smart thumbnails. Intros and credit rolls are detected to support this. VideoAI can also help detect ad breaks to support dynamic ad insertion.
• Contextual advertising. The content is analysed for brand opportunities and for advertiser sensitivities. CTS says this capability improves the value of every ad break.
• Live-to-VOD. Thumbnails, titles and summaries are created on-the-the-fly as a live event airs, ready for fast on-demand availability. Highlight reels can be automatically created during live sports events – and these are shown on-screen to enhance the sports viewing experience.
• QoE checks. Video assets can be automatically analysed to identify and tag key onscreen moments such as hard cuts, black frames and transitions, or audio silences or specific sounds. Alarms can be set to warn operations teams if something is wrong. If there is silence, for example, is there supposed to be silence in the programming or has the stream failed?

Comcast Technology Solutions says content owners, operators and even advertisers can work with the company to develop their own business use-cases. And Spriester promises that even small customers can influence the CTS development roadmap for the new product.

In terms of workflow, the VideoAI detectors sit downstream of audio and video encoding/decoding and closed captions creation. Customers with content in the cloud (and Spriester says this would be most of them) can provide low-resolution proxy assets for the VideoAI detectors to check, prior to the AI-based applications being performed. Enriched metadata is then sent back. It would also be possible to run detectors downstream of full video files, and it is possible to analyse live video as long as CTS can site its detectors in the cloud where the live signal comes from (proxies cannot be used with live).

CTS is in talks with several potential customers outside the Comcast group, with segmentation for auto-chaptering one of the most sought-after applications. Spriester emphasises: “This is not just another AI tool. We are bringing the pre-trained algorithms on a SaaS-based model. Our solutions have been proven and deployed at scale at some of the largest operators and content creators in the world.”

Fraser Stirling, Chief Product Officer at Sky, adds: “VideoAI from Comcast Technology Solutions is a potential game-changer. With VideoAI as a managed service, companies can quickly launch a range of AI-powered video services at scale, and benefit from investments we’ve made internally, to drive their own business objectives forward.”

The multi-year deal has also been widened to extend the availability of ViacomCBS streaming services PlutoTV, Paramount+ and SHOWTIME OTT, and to include BET+ in Comcast Cable’s broadcasting rights.

Ray Hopkins, President, U.S. Networks Distribution at ViacomCBS said, “We are pleased to have reached new agreements that strengthen our long-valued partnership with Comcast. ViacomCBS is a cornerstone content provider, and we look forward to serving millions of Xfinity customers with greater access to their favorite channels and programming from our leading brands.”

“ViacomCBS continues to be a great partner, and we are very pleased to provide our Xfinity customers with access to their content across our industry-leading platforms,” said Rebecca Heap, Senior Vice President, Consumer Products & Propositions at Comcast Cable.

Comcast Cable is the largest cable TV operator in the United States, with 18.5 million residential customers in the country as of last September.

Sky TV customers and NOW Entertainment Members in the UK and Ireland will now have free access to Peacock’s catalogue, with thousands of hours of TV shows and movies, including classic TV shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, popular dramas such as Downtown Abbey and Battlestar Galactica, and unscripted series such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Peacock viewers will also have access to movie titles such as Best Man, Bird on a Wire and Children of Men.

Zai Bennett, Managing Director, Content at Sky UK and Ireland, said, “The introduction of Peacock content on Sky and NOW will expand the incredible line-up available to all our customers, giving them access to even more of the best entertainment from our partners at NBCUniversal. With brand new Peacock Originals, must-watch reality and hit library series, we couldn’t be more excited to add Peacock for all our customers, at no extra cost.”

By using Metrological’s application platform, as well as its WPE (Web Platform for Embedded) browser and WPE cloud architecture, NOS already has a cloud-based TV app store with its TV service, and can choose from more than 300 pre-integrated TV apps. The platform allows for the easy integration of OTT services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which NOS has now added, and which customers can access without leaving the main screen. It will also make more localised, niche app-based content available for customers, such as Euronews, Vimeo and Accuweather, all of which are new to  NOS’ set-top box.

Metrological believes its platform allows easy onboarding, optimisation and monetisation of OTT services and app content. The Rotterdam based company has previously worked with operators such as Liberty Global to facilitate high performance rendering of HTML5 apps, integrated UX and third-party services on STBs, with pre-integrated and pre-certified software code. The company believes its platform significantly reduces the launch time of new services.

João Ferreira, Director of NOS Innovation Services, said: “Since we first began working together, Metrological has enabled us to respond to our subscribers’ changing content needs. With its Application Platform, we are able to quickly and easily onboard apps across all devices, integrated directly into the award-winning user interface our subscribers know and love.”