Platform operators are being offered a pre-integrated, end-to-end solution for use with Android TV Operator Tier set-top boxes that enables Linear-on-Demand, a new video paradigm that pulls together programming from multiple live and on-demand sources and blends them into a personalised linear playlist. The content sources could be streaming services or mainstream channels and their catch-up variants.
The solution is provided by 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) working with Media Distillery and XroadMedia. 3SS first demonstrated the Linear-on-Demand concept at IBC 2016. The STB and multiscreen UI/UX specialist, which covers front-end and back-end requirements, has provided the UX and project leadership on some notable operator Operator Tier deployments, including Com Hem. Linear-on-Demand becomes part of the company’s 3READY UX solution, which includes voice control using 3READY Assistant.
Media Distillery uses AI to bring a new depth of understanding about what is inside video content, using face, speech, object, logo and text recognition, among other things, to generate advanced metadata. XroadMedia provides the Ncanto content discovery, recommendation and personalisation solution, which is a back-end offer optimised for cloud and server-based deployments. The combined Linear-on-Demand solution uses cloud-native technology throughout.
The combined offer establishes granular user profiles that reflect subscriber viewing tastes, partly thanks to the deeper understanding of what type of content people are watching. And these tastes can be precisely matched to other content thanks to the rich metadata that is being produced. This determines the content that is gathered into the Linear-on-Demand channel. Viewers can also tell the system their favourite topics and genres.
“Assuring the quality of existing metadata is one of the key challenges for operators to position relevant, concisely aligned content for subscribers,” 3SS points out. “With this new joint platform, multiple layers of high-quality metadata are made available in real-time to help viewers find their desired content, thereby promoting viewer engagement.”
“Better personalisation and simplified, more successful content discovery will drive increased viewer enjoyment and loyalty,” declares Kai-Christian Borchers, 3SS Managing Director. Roland Sars, CEO of Media Distillery, comments: “It’s time for TV service providers to deconstruct and re-sequence their content, to serve up right-size, on-topic personal experiences. The players who differentiate through their content metadata, and enable individualised, intuitive viewing, will captivate audiences.”
Borchers adds: “At 3SS, Linear-on-Demand is a dream we have been pursuing since we founded the company back in 2009. The building blocks are now in place.”
