Vewd products include:

• Vewd Core, an HTML5 rendering engine for streaming devices.
• Vewd OS, a full Smart TV OS built upon Vewd Core, featuring UX, pre-packaged onboarded apps and app management.
• Vewd OpX, a platform-independent, hybrid linear/streaming solution for STBs and televisions (ready for HbbTV and ATSC 3.0)
• Vewd Atom, a lightweight client for low-cost IP connected STBs, both new and legacy (giving the ability to easily upgrade legacy devices).

Vewd Software has main offices in Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and Poland. The Vewd management team will remain in place as part of the $109M deal, and over 275 people become part of Xperi.

“Xperi’s TiVo product offerings, when integrated with Vewd’s suite of streaming platform solutions, will help accelerate and scale the deployment of TiVo OS for connected TVs and expand our video-over-broadband offerings,” says Jon Kirchner, CEO at Xperi. “Vewd’s global reach and expertise in providing support to content owners, TV OEMs, and SoC partners as they deploy middleware and OS solutions across various devices is tremendously valuable and further paves the way for additional monetisation opportunities as we expand our global footprint of streaming devices.

“The acquisition of Vewd also strengthens the growth outlook of our product business as we prepare to separate our IP and product businesses this fall. We expect incremental revenue of $10 million in the second half of this year, followed by substantially higher revenue and a positive EBITDA contribution in 2023,” Kirchner added.

Aneesh Rajaram, Vewd’s CEO, comments: “We’re excited to join the Xperi family and look forward to combining the experience, skills and scale of both organisations to deliver new innovations for our clients. Together, we’re set to deliver more engaging experiences to the millions of viewers globally who enjoy TV shows, sports, and the movies they love through our platform.”

Last year, Vewd launched the Operator TV in collaboration with European TV manufacturer Vestel. The Software-as-a-Solution based, customisable Smart TV product allows Pay TV operators to extend their branding and control over the device’s user interface. Frattolin believes that Pay TV operators can expect to improve their customer reach when combining the Operator TV with an all-IP service, a model which might be appealing for customer segments who were not considering Pay TV subscriptions in the first place.

He said: “You think operators should replace STBs with TV – that makes sense – but it’s also about addressing more customers that don’t have a set-top-box and don’t want to have one in the first place, or don’t want a second box. It might be attractive as a second point of consumption.”

Frattolin argues that the Operator TV gives Pay TV operators a high degree of flexibility with regards to how they choose to deliver services and go to market with their products. Similar to the contract model of mobile operators, he envisions customers being given the option to rent TVs, paying their Pay TV subscriptions on a monthly payment plan with the option of changing their device every two years. You can read how Sky in the UK is pioneering a similar approach, where the television is bought outright, including using instalments.

He comments that a significant selling point for consumers is the integrated experience they receive, and the simplicity of having just one device and therefore avoiding  the clutter of additional boxes or dongles, or the complications of multiple interfaces and compatibility errors.

Emphasising the importance of distributing risk and cost with regards to developing and manufacturing their own Smart TVs, Frattolin argues that Vewd’s collaboration with Vestel allows Pay TV services to take advantage of the mass manufacturing capabilities and the standard hardware products manufactured by the latter. He says, “[Vestel] has  greater economies of scale compared with STB vendors, and even more than operators designing their own boxes”.

Frattolin highlights three different approaches Pay TV operators could take to extend control over the consumers’ Smart TV experience. He characterises the first approach – offering a Pay TV service app in the TV’s app store –as not being a solution at all, because the operator has no control over the UI. Operators favouring an app would also sacrifice prominence, as they face competition for visibility in the app store.

The second and third approaches use two different types of OpApp (Operator Applications) – privileged OpApps and operator specific OpApps respectively, both of which harness the HbbTV hybrid broadcast/broadband specs. A privileged OpApp approach does allow operators to take over some of the UI and has more permissions than a normal app – however operator control is still limited. Another complication is that privileged OpApps are meant to be downloaded in the field (and therefore do not need to be pre-installed on the device).

Frattolin noted that there are large markets – such as the United States – where Smart TVs tend not to support the underlying HbbTV technology which enables OpApps to be downloaded and used. This issue is avoided when deploying an operator specific OpApp, as this type of OpApp is specified to be pre-installed in devices. According to Frattolin, the operator specific OpApp allows operators to take control over the complete UI.

“The operator specific OpApp can give access to all the Smart TV features. Operators can control everything from settings, first time installation, to source input – all the kind of things which are important for the Operator TV.”

Pay TV services can determine the degree of customisation they want with Operator TV. On one end of the spectrum, the product is offered as a turnkey solution, with the level of customisation low. This involves branding and light customisation on the main menu. On the other end of the spectrum, Vewd can unpack the turnkey solution and control different components to incorporate the operator’s own UI design, and operators can use Vewd’s toolkit to build their own UI within the Operator TV infrastructure.

Speaking about the launch of Sky Glass (the Sky created and branded television set) and the separate Comcast branded Hisense Smart TV, XClass TV (using a Comcast OS/UX) Frattolin is confident that the TV landscape is now ready for operator controlled Smart TVs.

He says: “The concept of operators customising a TV and selling it is not new. There were some previous experiments in Eastern Europe but they weren’t successful because the industry, the technology and the public were not ready. If you go back five years, you had to support a lot of proprietary technology, making the TV too expensive, or if you didn’t have that technology you lowered the quality of your service – and then it wasn’t appealing anymore for the user”.

Although he does not believe Pay TV operators will become the dominant Smart TV manufacturers, Frattolin notes that we are “in times of great change”. He expects more operator TVs similar to Sky Glass to  be launched over the next two years, and while STBs won’t disappear in the near future, it is likely we will see a mix of technologies and approaches as a way to extend Pay TV control over devices.

More on this subject

Pay TV operator device and household reach strategies will be explored in detail at Connected TV World Summit in London this May, when discussions will include operator-branded televisions and the direct-to-TV ‘operator as an app’ model, plus the developments in STB platforms from RDK to Android TV Operator Tier. For more details email: team@mediatelevents.com

Aneesh Rajaram, CEO of Vewd comments: “Operators have tried different strategies to embrace Smart TV, but together with Vestel, we’ve made the first solution that seamlessly connects Pay TV and Smart TV.”

Vewd believes the solution represents a significant step forward for Pay TV operators seeking to extend their control over the Smart TV landscape, and that other approaches to replacing STBs are sub-optimal. If Pay TV operators choose to go the route of creating a TV app (accessible through Smart TV app stores) Vewd highlights the face stiff competition they face from competing services, as well as their reduced visibility. Additionally, the constant presence of other TV apps on screen could lead to increased subscriber churn.

Rajaram said, “Consumers are streaming more and connecting fewer devices to the TV. As a result, Operators are forced to fight for visibility among Smart TV apps. Vewd Operator TV ensures Operators of any size can seize control from the start and win the home’s most important screen.”

Another approach to cutting out STBs is to employ an OpApp (Operator Application) which can be embedded into the device, and allows Pay TV operators to take over the TV experience to create a customised, branded user interface. Vewd notes that this solution, while superior to a TV app approach, is not universalisable as the underlying HbbTV technology is not deployed in many countries, and in some cases, may not have all the features accessible through a dedicated STB.

In contrast, the Operator TV aims to circumvent the issues of app competition and HbbTV territorial limitations, while providing additional benefits to Pay TV operators and consumers. For one, if customers choose to unsubscribe from the Pay TV service, keeping them in the branded user interface means that there is a permanent reminder to re-subscribe. Vewd also highlights the increased revenues that operators with direct retail outlets could expect to accrue selling TVs in-shop, as well as the offers/bundling opportunities they can make available to customers.

In terms of functionality, Vewd provides broadcast and IP content security with the Operator TV, as well as customised operator UI and a cloud managed reference user experience. Available content includes premium OTT and video-on-demand, FAST channels and full support of broadcast channels.

The new device will be powered by VewdOS – an operating system designed for smart TVs, set-top boxes, and smart home and IoT devices – and will be targeted at pay TV operators.

“The combination of a modern customisable streaming experience with an innovative, easy-to-deploy form factor is an easy choice for operators seeking growth,” said Aneesh Rajaram, CEO, Vewd.

“Innopia’s new device, together with Vewd OS, delivers everything Pay TV operators need to launch new services they control, reduce churn and attract new subscribers.”

Innopia President, Heewon Park, said: “Vewd OS brings operators flexibility, control, and deep customisation options.

“With this HDMI streaming media player, operators can offer the latest OTT services without costly hardware or software updates. It’s ready to go immediately offering the shortest possible time to market for operators who need new streaming options to reduce churn and grow their customer base.”

The streaming media device will be available in the second half of 2019 and will support HD and Ultra HD content.

-Describe Vewd and the company’s core focus?

Vewd is the world’s largest smart TV OTT software provider. Companies like Sony, Philips, Sagemcom, Swisscom, Verizon, Vestel and many more rely on us to make OTT and hybrid TV work on almost 50 million devices each year.

Our primary focus is to build the products and services that help smart TV manufacturers, Pay TV operators and content owners navigate the increasingly complex and fast-evolving TV landscape to produce successful and timely outcomes with their OTT offerings.

-When was the company founded and how has its strategy changed since then?

Vewd started as Opera TV, a division of Opera Software, back in 2002 when it delivered browser-based rendering technology to Canal Plus Technologies. This was used to enhance the world’s first interactive TV middleware. Soon after, the current core management team coalesced around developing software to render UIs and stream video on the Nintendo Wii, which was truly the world’s first streaming TV device. In 2007, the product portfolio expanded to help Philips launch the world’s first smart TV.

Since then, the smart TV industry has evolved rapidly, inspiring also the Pay TV industry, and Vewd quickly grew its blue-chip customer base to include major TV brands and leading Pay TV operators by focusing on a unique product development and partnership approach. At one end, Vewd pushed the boundaries to build the market’s most modern products that meet both consumer and customer demand. At the other end, Vewd partnered and invested heavily with silicon vendors to ensure its products were always ready on a range of silicon chipsets, thereby hitting critical market windows for customer product launches.

Today, as the industry’s only independent, white-labelled software provider that offers solutions for hybrid TV and OTT, Vewd has focused on widening the availability of its product offering to achieve massive scale. Vewd’s products are designed to be completely turn-key or modular and available across all key silicon vendors, across any OS, across any form factor, and from entry-level to high-end devices. Furthermore, Vewd allows its customers to lead with their brand and allows for truly differentiated offerings.

-Who do you see as your biggest competitors and how do differentiate yourself?

Depending on the Vewd product in question, key competitors could range from in-house solutions from large corporations (eg. Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS, Comcast Xfinity) for our modular software, and large Internet companies (eg. Google’s Android TV, Amazon’s Fire TV, Roku TV) for our turn-key software.

As an independent provider, Vewd differentiates itself by developing key software modules that can be deployed cross-platform: any silicon vendor, middleware, form factor or OS. For example, nearly 90% of Android TVs include Vewd’s software modules, enabling critical features such as hybrid TV that allow for these TVs to be sold. Furthermore, for our turn-key software, Vewd OS, we have highly optimised our software to enable smart TV features on entry-level TVs and selected a white-label approach to allow OEMs and operators to lead with their brand and differentiate their offerings. This helps our customers fulfil their product vision.

Finally, by ensuring our business model compliments rather than competes with our customers’ ambitions, we’re able to think long term and deliver to them high-quality software that secures their annual deployments.

-What do you see as the biggest opportunities in the video/technology space and what are the biggest challenges?

There are a number of vibrant opportunities in the video space right now. We see a bright future and considerable growth for live TV. This skews especially to sports content. According to eMarketer, sports digital media rights will have substantial growth over the next three to five years (11.5%). But traditional TV rights will see only slow growth (3.2%).

There’s also an opportunity for AVOD services as SVOD services become entrenched. We’ll see if there’s an upper bound with so many premium SVOD services demanding a share of the consumer’s wallet. With 42% of US households having three SVOD subscriptions, the coming launch of Disney+ will be a great litmus test. Will the number of households stacking four subscriptions increase? If it does top out, more viewing will take place on AVOD services. This also implies there is a coming boom in targeted advertising opportunities.

On the technology side, Hybrid TV standards like HbbTV and ATSC 3.0 provide tremendous opportunities and new business models for free-to-air operators, who are making a comeback in the US and expanding in the EU. HbbTV Operator Apps, which create a virtual set-top box in software, can help operators reduce capital expenditure and even do away with set-top boxes altogether. We expect more of the free-to-air operators, in particular, to embrace Operator Apps this year.

5G will have a tremendous impact, although the current US-China trade war and sanctions against Huawei may slow the rollout somewhat. 5G can expand the reach of long-form 4K and HD content, solve last mile connectivity into more homes. We should expect 5G-connected HDMI dongles to bring streaming video into more homes.

These opportunities are balanced by several thorny challenges. First, content production, discovery, and personalisation. The current discovery model is biased towards the large players because they have enough user data to make good recommendations. But as programming options expand and as more heavyweights enter the game, the sheer vastness of the content available becomes a problem. Is all of this production viable? Can the amount of production be sustained to keep undiscovered creators motivated? These are questions we’ll know the answer to in several years.

The slow pace of linear TV advertising budgets moving to fund free OTT services. Corresponding to the growth of AVOD, we see a tremendous opportunity in the space, but the shift of budgets from linear TV to OTT is quite slow at the moment. The pace needs to improve to support continued growth.

Lastly, the economics of 4K and 8K content delivery are a major challenge. Transport costs are still high and create OPEX disadvantages. This acts as a brake on adoption and deployment even though consumer uptake of 4K TVs is better than anyone expected.

-What innovation or development do you think has had the biggest impact on the video market as it stands today?

If I had to pick just one of the recent shifts we’ve witnessed, I would pick the advent of IP-delivered video and the opportunity it provides for consumption on any screen, at any location. This has led to increased viewership and engagement on all forms of content from live to on-demand. We’re still in the early days of this massive opportunity.

-How do you think the video market and viewing habits will look five years from now?

First, OTT share of total video, in hours per day, will outpace linear TV but not replace it. We’ll see Gen X and Gen Y drive this shift, consuming more on-demand IP-delivered video across screens. Gen Z will enjoy the same video within a more engaging lean-forward experience, much like we see with Twitch. Hence, we can anticipate new technology providing the tools and distribution paths for content creators to bring these Gen Z experiences also onto the big screen.

In the on-demand video market, major OTT players will be well established and we will see clear global and regional winners. While not all SVOD services will survive, some will continue through consolidation or acquisition.

5G will begin to make its mark and make OTT access truly ubiquitous and available on a multitude of devices. Additionally, codecs and standards will evolve to support wider OTT availability, lowering the economic barriers that exist today.