OSNtv is latest pay-TV service to use a virtual STB
OSN, a MENA entertainment and Pay TV provider, has mirrored its set-top box (STB) user experience (UX) on Samsung smart TVs without an OSN STB.
OSNtv is available through a virtual STB – an application running on the Samsung televisions that takes over key parts of the user experience, including live TV and the programme guide.
This allows OSNtv to retain the kind of prominence it achieves with a set-top box without the pay-TV operator owning or shipping its own hardware.
This innovative distribution approach is being used by a handful of Pay TV operators globally, several of whom are using the same TVkey Cloud technology being implemented by OSN.
TVkey is a joint initiative between Nagravision (the streaming back office, pay-TV OS/UX, and content protection vendor) and Samsung.
It ensures content security for premium entertainment services by harnessing the television chipset and uses the HbbTV Operator Application (OpApp) standard to allow pay-TV providers to build their custom UX on top of the television OS.
Nagravision calls this kind of implementation a ‘direct-to-TV’ service.
The virtual-STB will help OSNtv reach more potential customers across 20+ countries where it operates. It works with Samsung UHD connected TV models released in 2021 or later.
The companies involved say this is the first time this direct-to-TV model has been used in MENA.
Sofia Digital, which lists OTT platforms, metadata, and app development among its capabilities, developed the OSNtv+ smart TV UX for this deployment. It is based on the HbbTV OpApp standard, with an integrated video player.
This makes OSNtv the primary source of linear/live TV while also integrating OSNtv’s on-demand content, and ensures the service is integrated into the Samsung television set remote control.
The user interface supports English and Arabic.
Not just another app
The crucial achievement for OSNtv is that it is not just another app in the Samsung app store that users must find and then open. It gains a special status. As the sovereign application, it runs by default.
A spokesman at Nagravision emphasises that this is the key benefit of using HbbTV OpApp with TVkey Cloud. “Core to the proposition is that operators can be prominent, with a persistent UX that replaces the native TV interface.
“This ensures they are top-of-mind, delivering brand relevance even when they don’t own the hardware.
“This technology lets the operator access valuable real estate on the connected TV so they can offer their proposition directly to the consumer.
“If you are one app of many, your branded UI does not persist on the connected TV.”
That’s because, like with any standard TV app, it closes down after use.
By being the first screen a typical user will see, the pay-TV operator can pursue the ambition of being the super-aggregator – the ‘home page’ where people discover content across a range of streaming apps.
This becomes more difficult if you are an app among apps.
Marketing tool for operators
The Nagravision spokesperson notes that the direct-to-TV model is also a marketing tool.
“When the TV is turned on for the first time, it provides a ‘subscribe now’ option as part of the set-up process, ensuring [new to OSNtv] subscribers are captured during the TV set-up process.
“This provides the operator with a valuable retail point-of-sale.”
Imad El Khoury, VP commercial sales at OSN, says: “Our goal is to ensure consumers have easy access to their favourite OSNtv content. TVkey Cloud allows them to enjoy the best of OSNtv on connected TVs.”
“With the launch of TVkey Cloud,” says Morten Solbakken, executive VP and COO at Nagravision, “OSN is adopting innovative solutions that go beyond traditional set-top boxes to drive growth, expand service reach, and monetise content.
“This provides OSNtv with a new and secure distribution channel for premium content.”
Mustafa Sadick, head of TV & AV group, Samsung MENA, says this deployment adds value to its customers who want OSN services.
If you are interested in how pay-TV (and free-to-air) platform operators balance apps among apps, set-top boxes and virtual STB-type implementations, the subject is discussed in depth at Connected TV World Summit, March 10-11.
You can see the agenda here.
Global virtual STB implementations
A small group of pay-TV providers are achieving the same outcome as OSN, through the same or other implementation models.
Claro Columbia uses TVkey Cloud to be the default UX on Samsung television sets in its home market. VTVcab in Vietnam has also used this technology.
HD+ has used HbbTV OpApp to become the ‘sovereign’ UI on smart TVs in Germany from the likes of Hisense and Loewe.
Freely – the streaming-first free-to-air platform in the UK that is a likely long-term successor to Freeview, is the primary UI on a range of partner smart TVs including those from Bush, Toshiba, Sharp, Hisense and JVC.
These collaborations also use the HbbTV OpApp standard (sometimes running on the TiVo OS).
DirecTV’s UI is going to become the gateway through which consumers can reach streaming TV services on a custom version of The Trade Desk’s Ventura TV OS [on smart TVs] in the US.
Also in the US, the cable pay-TV giants Comcast and Charter Communications are behind Xumo TV. This brand is marketed independently of the main pay-TV brands, but the service uses the Comcast Entertainment OS (which is also the core software building block for Sky Glass).
Xumo TV is focused on free content, including Xumo Play, which features hundreds of free streaming channels, plus access to popular subscription apps. It runs on third-party smart TVs from the likes of Sharp, Pioneer, Westinghouse, Element and Hisense.
There is another approach to getting a pay-TV service deployed (as the sovereign application and UX) on a smart TV without a set-top box. That is to develop your own TV set.
Sky in the UK has pursued this private-label smart TV model with Sky Glass.