Introduction

In the era of cord-cutting and the streaming wars, Pay TV operators face intense competition for subscribers. They must reach more devices than ever before, with a user experience that stands out from the crowd - for all the right reasons!

Enhanced features like network PVR and Catch-up TV are now so common in the marketplace that they are becoming must-have features for any serious pay TV operator. At the same time, consumers expect the fexibility to switch seamlessly between watching content in their living room via the set-top box (STB) and watching it on any of their favorite, other devices - from laptops, mobiles and tablets while they’re “on the go”, to streaming media devices, smart TVs and games consoles when they move to a different room. Operators who can’t deliver these essential capabilities fnd themselves rapidly falling behind. When other service providers offer a better user experience or can be accessed on a wider choice of devices, the cord cutting risk rises dramatically.

Unfortunately, the need to reach new devices and offer new features comes as operators are also under pressure to trim costs. How can they balance consumer demand with their own fnancial and operational targets? To deliver these fully-featured user experiences, operators need fexible, future-proof technology strategies with sensible pricing.

Multi-screen, multi-vendor, major headache

Traditionally, running a pay TV service has involved putting together solutions from multiple technology vendors with many months (or years) of planning, development, integration and testing. There’s a tortuous, ever-growing project plan and an expanding price tag to match. Most operators have to pay an expensive systems integrator to put together their solution: from ingestion of video and metadata, transcoding content protection and delivery, to middleware, UI and STB hardware. Many operators have then duplicated this end-to-end workfow with an entirely different set of vendors to reach consumers on other devices like mobiles, tablets and laptops, Smart Tvs, games consoles and streaming media devices. In some cases there’s even manual duplication of content management effort by expensive editorial staff.

2 of 21 On the fnancial side, combining multiple vendors also increases the budgetary complexity as each has their own pricing model. Capital expenditure costs for hardware, software and systems integration fees can be higher than new and growing operators can handle. Meanwhile the typical CDN vendor model of a charge per GB of content uploaded or streamed is often matched by a transcoding cost per live-channel or VOD asset. It becomes hard for operators to predict how costs will rise as their content library and consumer engagement increases.

No matter how much they need to add new features like network PVR, and front-end applications for many devices, operators must think twice before committing to a multi-year, multi million-Euro, high-risk development project with multiple vendors.

Ongoing complexity, ongoing cost

Of course, the challenges don’t end when your service is fnally live. You’ll either need to keep paying your systems integrator for support - or transition to an in-house support team. When it comes to the user experience, you’ll need a team that ensures your apps keep pace with every operating system update from iOS, Android etc, and shifting codec and security requirements for devices like Smart TVs. You’ll also need a budget and a plan for any future adjustments to branding or features.

We’re also seeing unprecedented consolidation in the pay TV sector. As providers merge, the complexity of a multi-vendor backend can rise at an exponential rate. Two backends become four and then six as new groups of subscribers are added to the fold. This increases the costs and timelines to roll-out new features or branding, or result in separate product offerings for different parts of the customer base. Operators who’ve been in this situation will know only too well that migrating subscribers from an acquired subsidiary’s separate technology platforms into a single tech stack can also have a dramatic impact on the bottom line. It allows them to eliminate multiple support contracts, reduce their vendor-management overheads and rationalize their cost structure.

What operators really need is a robust, scalable, affordable solution which is maintainable over time. 24i believes the answer is to de-risk your multi-channel operations by selecting our pre-integrated end-to-end solution for pay TV operators.

3 of 21 24i’s express route to multi-channel success One vendor, one price, every platform

24i’s products support every part of your end-to-end pay TV operation - from ingest, transcoding, encryption and storage to nPVR delivery and user experience - on every kind of device. With a single vendor for all your multi-screen user interfaces, it’s easier to ensure uniformity of brand, features and approach. Meanwhile deploying a unifed backend is far less costly and risky than most integration projects. It brings efciency to content management workfows and means your subscriber management system only talks to one set of APIs. You won’t need separate middleware or an external systems integrator. With 24i, there’s a single, fnancially stable company to manage and contract with.

There may be compromises on a few “nice-to-have” features that are offered by individual specialist suppliers, but the “must-haves” like catch-up TV and network PVR are fully covered, and the advantages in terms of predictable costs and timelines are enormous.

Don’t just take our word for it. Fiber in the has used our Smart Video product (see below for more details) since 2015, powering their STB pay TV service including, since 2017, Amino devices:

“A lot of the time, TV solutions are a chain of different vendors. The beneft of having 24i as the main contractor is that it's easier from an operational and development perspective. I need to talk to one or two parties rather than fve or six in order to get a feature developed and launched or to investigate and solve operational issues."

Bart Smeels Manager of Platforms and System Management at DELTA Fiber

4 of 21 Flexible, modular, scalable

We have pre-confgured our products, Smart Video and Smart Apps, to meet the requirements of most pay TV operators and to offer the fastest deployment at the lowest risk and best value price point. But we can also add or remove certain modules to ft your precise requirements on both managed and unmanaged devices. As you’ll see in the high-level description of these products on the following pages, they cover everything you need to support a pay TV business model. Whether you need an iPhone app, a custom Android TV launcher or a lightweight Java app to bring new services to your legacy STBs, our decade of experience designing and developing user interfaces for pay TV operators and OTT content providers ensures we can meet your needs.

Your choice of STB

Our systems are fully hardware agnostic, so you won’t fnd yourself locked in to working with a single STB supplier now or in the future. 24i will work with the vendor of your choice. It’s all part of our fexible, modular approach that means you can easily change one part of your infrastructure or add more capabilities as you upgrade your service, expand to new devices, or respond to the changing market.

Having said that, if you choose to work with STB hardware from our sister company, Amino Communications, we can supply the pre-integrated STBs alongside the 24i solutions, giving you a truly end-to-end pay TV solution from a single vendor. We’ll even provide day-to-day technical management of the whole platform on your behalf, if that’s what you need.

5 of 21 Here’s a selection of the STBs we have worked with already and the platforms/standards we support:

STB vendors

STB platforms and standards

Pragmatic pricing

In contrast to the multiple pricing models that need to be combined when you work with multiple vendors, 24i offers its solutions to pay TV operators on a simple and affordable basis: a modest set up fee and then a price per subscriber per month. Whether you’re operating 20 channels or 200, the price per subscriber is the same. As you add extra modules of our solution, there’s a modest increase in the price per subscriber. This approach offers operators predictability on costs that makes budgeting for the future a much simpler process. The price you pay only grows with your subscriber base.

6 of 21 Summary: The Benefts of the 24i Approach

Choose 24i to de-risk and simplify your multi-channel TV service to reach all devices with the same, premium user experience at a price point that makes sense. New features will delight your customers, driving up your Promoter Score (NPS) and reducing churn. Meanwhile you get the maximum return for your investment, and by ofoading day to day hassle to 24i, you can focus on improving your customer offering.

Launch Fast

Get to market faster, stay ahead of the competition.

Reduce Costs

Consolidate your multi-vendor operations into a single end-to-end solution for a lower total cost of ownership and a predictable price per subscriber, no matter how many channels you operate.

De-Risk Projects

Eliminate the element of surprise with a pre-integrated solution.

Simplify Operations

Reduce your operational overheads dramatically with our TV platform as a Service offering. Clients like Youfone run their entire pay TV service with just one member of in-house staff.

Increase Reach

24i expertise will take you far beyond the traditional pay TV STB to reach subscribers wherever they are in the expanding world of consumer devices, on Smart TVs, tablets and games consoles.

7 of 21 Take Control

Our Smart Apps solution and Backstage application management interface put you in control of your own user experience, allowing operators the possibility to adjust their content library and branding themselves, quickly and easily without writing a single line of code.

Optimize Investments

We can help you deliver the same great new features to your entire subscriber base, even those with older Linux STBs that don’t have the processing power to support modern streaming applications. With a decade of experience developing for these devices, our team can create lightweight Java clients for each model of STB that will support features like nPVR and catch-up TV without maxing-out the capabilities of lower-powered CPE.

8 of 21 Build your perfect solution with 24i

The following is an overview of 24i’s modular products and services. Operators are to select the modules that best ft their business needs:

Smart Video

Smart video is the engine of your pay TV streaming operation. It covers all the steps of the workfow for multi-platform video distribution of live channels and Catch-up TV. It provides a common media backend architecture and web-services to support subscriber segmentation, recommendations and media packaging. Features include:

Ingest EPG Metadata

Supports multiple formats from vendors including Red Bee (TVA or API), Gividi (TVA), Simply.TV and Gracenote (API).

Encode Live Channels

From unicast streams or an IPTV multicast bouquet, 24i software to control the encoding process is remotely installed on the servers you procure for your premises.

Manage Live Channels

Create channel line-ups and associate live services with the related EPG data.

9 of 21 Enable Time-Shifted Viewing

Confgure settings per-channel to comply with variations in content rights. Option include: ● Pause, Resume and Restart Live TV ● Network PVR - Users can request in advance the recording of a particular programme or all episodes of a series. Recorded content is stored and made available for them to view on the device of their choice either while recording is on-going or once the live broadcast is complete. Smart Video uses “common copy mode”, meaning that subsequent requests for the same content by other subscribers will use the same recording to reduce storage costs. Optional user features include: the ability to fag content as “favourites”, bulk deletions and “follow me” functionality (pause on one device and resume at the same point on another). ● Catch-up - The encoded live streams are automatically segmented into Catch-up fles based on EPG metadata and made available for streaming during the pre-confgured catch-up window (e.g. 7 days). ● Ofine viewing - 24i’s product roadmap includes the option for viewers to download recorded fles for ofine viewing (subject to content rights).

Protect Content

Supports multi-DRM encryption of live streams, time-shifted and on-demand content with PlayReady, Widevine or Fairplay. Integrations are also available with Conditional Access from Verimatrix and Irdeto for STB platforms.

Entitlement Management

The Smart Video solution provides extensive APIs which an operator can use to integrate the service into their existing OSS/BSS solution to ensure subscribers have immediate access to the live channels, Catch-up and VOD content that are included within their subscription package. Alternatively, use the integration capabilities of Smart Apps (see below) to implement a 3rd-party subscriber management system that supports OTT-only subscriptions, in-app purchases or other functionality that may not currently be supported by your existing OSS/BSS.

10 of 21 Recommendations

Smart Video’s built-in recommendation engine uses algorithms to analyze the activity of the subscriber base accessing catch-up content. This is surfaced to viewers in the user interface as a “most watched” feature. Viewers can easily see which catchup and nPVR content items have been most popular over the past 24 hours or the past week. Smart Video is also integrated with 3rd party recommendation engines which can be deployed as an additional service for more advanced recommendations based on the user's (anonymized) viewing profle.

Content Search

EPG, Network PVR recordings lists and VOD metadata stored within Smart Video are made available to the search functions of the front-end applications. Search can be fltered by content title and content description.

Flexible Content Delivery Options

Deploy your own private CDN for devices on managed networks, or use 24i’s own private CDN solution, Media Cache. Alternatively you can choose one of our pre-integrated commercial CDN partners, or bring your own choice of partner and we’ll integrate them into your overall solution.

Support For Zero Touch Provisioning

Smart Video’s APIs can be used to support a light-touch or zero-touch provisioning process for new STBs delivered to the subscriber home. This is achieved by tying the STB serial number to the user record in Smart Video via a secure API call from the operator’s OSS/BSS platform. The STB can then authenticate itself with Smart Video without the need for the subscriber to manually enter credentials such as a username or password. The end user can get started with a new STB quickly and easily which improves consumer satisfaction. What’s more, this process largely eliminates the need for the operator to support the installation of STBs with expensive options like engineer home visits or high volumes of lengthy customer care calls.

11 of 21 Smart Apps

Smart Apps rapidly brings an operator’s streaming video to every consumer screen without compromising on style. Whitelabel applications support all the key pay TV operator use cases like EPG and Catch-up TV, and the built-in application management interface, Backstage, puts you in control of your layout, branding and content promotion without the need to write a single line of code. Features include:

Cross-Platform, Whitelabel Applications

For rapid deployment of branded apps for: ● Linux STBs from any manufacturer - we have extensive experience with Amino, Arris, Sagemcom and KAON ● Android TV STBs via custom launchers ● Smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Philips, Panasonic, Hisense and Sony ● Devices operating the Vewd Appstore ● Devices based on standards such as RDK, HbbTV/ATSC 3.0 ● Mobiles and tablets running iOS or Android ● Streaming media devices including Apple TV (TV OS), Amazon Fire TV and Stick, Roku, Chromecast ● Web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)

12 of 21 ● Games Consoles including Playstation and XBox

For more information on our solutions for Smart TVs and Games consoles, see our Big Screen solutions guide.

Fully-featured video playback

Options include: ● SD, HD, 4K Support ● Multiple codec support including MPEG2, H264 ● Multi-audio & Subtitles

Flexible choice of Monetization and models

Depending on the devices being targeted and the integrations chosen, you can pick and choose from options including: ● SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, FVOD ● Pre-, Mid-, Post-Roll advertising ● In-App Payments

Support for VOD

Cloud-based support for all VOD workfow use cases including ingestion, transcoding, DRM protection and streaming to user interfaces.

Customer-centric UX features

Content discovery and personalization features designed to drive engagement and maintain customer loyalty. Depending on the target consumer device, options include: ● Advanced Search ● Intuitive Content Navigation Flows ● Rich EPG ● Manage Recordings ● Cross-device Playback (“Follow Me”/Pause and Resume)

13 of 21 ● Binge-Watching of VOD content ● Recommendations ● Favorites ● Watchlists ● Ratings ● Reminders and Notifcations ● Multi-profle Households ● Parental Controls ● TV Everywhere (TVE) Authentication support

Backstage cloud interface for application management

Intuitive, web-based interface for the code-free, real-time management of app elements including: ● Branding and styling options include adjustment of colours, buttons, logos and automated image resizing ● Page built/layout ● Customizable menus and welcome screens ● Promotional areas ● Audience segmentation - target subscribers groups with tailored UX ● Localization ● Device-specifc confgurations

Backstage cloud interface for content management

Intuitive, web-based interface supports manual content and metadata enrichment, scheduling and adjustment of availability windows, creation of thematic categories etc.

Backstage integration management API layer

Enables easy and rapid deployment of complementary solutions from a full ecosystem of trusted partners including: subscriber management systems, billing, advanced recommendations, advanced data-driven analytics, Artifcial Intelligence solutions for metadata enrichment.

14 of 21 Continuous Integration and Testing

The 24i test lab is equipped with 350+ unique devices to ensure maximum compatibility of apps with the range of models on the market. Continuous integration and development workfows include automated testing and regression testing across all platforms and for every OS update.

Service Management

Every 24i deployment comes with product support as standard, but if you’re looking to reduce your own investment in on-site engineering staff, we can also provide full remote monitoring and management of the Smart Video infrastructure that encodes, stores and delivers your live channels, catch-up and Network PVR. We’ll diagnose and fx any technical issues, relieving you of the need to analyse problems or apply patches. If you select an Amino STB for your end-to-end solution, our technical support can also extend to the STB in the consumer household via Amino’s Engage solution. We’ve even got customers who run an entire pay TV service with just one member of (non-technical) staff.

24i Services

24i’s expert team can provide bespoke services to support your business needs, including:

● Migration of your existing subscriber base to the 24i platform ● Integration of any third party solutions (analytics, EPG providers etc.) as required ● Development of custom user interfaces in the unlikely event that your specifc use cases are not covered by our whitelabel applications - including development of lightweight Java clients to bring your updated service to low-powered, legacy STBs via a frmware update. ● Development (in consultation with your STB vendor) of set-up wizards to facilitate light-touch or zero-touch provisioning and set-up of STBs in the subscriber home.

15 of 21 24i Support For Open Platforms And Emerging Standards

Increasing numbers of operators are fnding that open platforms like Android TV and RDK are an efcient way to achieve their business goals without the time and expense of a fully bespoke STB project.

24i has extensive experience developing custom launchers for Android TV STBs and assisting the operators in the process of getting those launchers fully certifed by Google. Examples include those built by 24i for Entel in Chile on a Sagemcom STB, Youfone in the Netherlands with an Amino box and in Slovakia on a KAON device. High-level case studies can be found below, with more details available on our website.

In addition to the standard time-to-market benefts of an Android TV service, customers who combine a 24i custom Android TV launcher with an Amino STB are able to further reduce the certifcation time thanks to Amino’s TV Application Distribution Agreement (TADA) with Google that allows Amino to certify custom launchers and distribute Google Applications. Youfone, for example, was able to launch their Android TV STB service in just fve months on an Amino Amigo 7X device.

24i can also deploy applications for devices operating the RDK or ATSC 3.0 standards. Please ask our pre-sales team for more information.

16 of 21 Experience That Speaks For Itself

A selection of 24i’s work for pay TV operators of all sizes:

Youfone

Dutch MVNO Youfone replaced its entire pay TV infrastructure in just fve months with a turnkey Android TV solution from 24i, including STBs from our sister company Amino, a custom Android TV launcher which was certifed by Amino as a Google TADA partner . Subscribers enjoy a fexible TV experience with live TV, catchup, restart and nPVR for around 100 channels on the Netherlands’ frst Android TV STB service.

Delta

Quad-play operator DELTA Fiber Netherlands has been using 24i’s Smart Video product as the back-end for its pay TV operation since 2015. Smart Video manages the encoding and streaming of around 150 live TV channels to DELTA set-top boxes (STBs) including pause, resume and restart functionality. The 24i software also handles the full complexity of creating, protecting and serving Catch-up and PVR content. The solution was expanded in 2018 and 2019 to include a new generation of Amino STBs. With the combination of 24i user interface and Amino software, Delta achieved 90% self-install by subscribers and dramatically improved their Net Promoter Scores.

17 of 21 Slovak Telekom

Slovak Telekom uses 24i’s Smart Apps product to manage a consistent UX on multiple devices across three different brands in two different countries. The /T-Mobile subsidiary offers customers more than 60 live channels on its Magio TV and Magio Go service in Slovakia. Target devices include an Android TV Operator Tier service on a KAON STB and Samsung and Android TV Smart TVs, as well as iOS and Android devices and web browsers.

Separate brands Digi Go in Slovakia and T-Mobile TV Go in the Czech Republic are also managed from the same implementation of Smart Apps.

Entel

24i has worked with Chilean mobile operator Entel since 2015, bringing the Entel TV service to life on Linux STBs in 2017 and extending it in 2020 to reach Samsung and LG smart TVs, a new breed of Android TV STBs and iOS and Android devices for out-of-home content consumption. A custom Operator Tier Android TV Launcher based on 24i’s Smart

18 of 21 Apps product enabled Entel to become a super-aggregator, offering popular apps like Netfix, YouTube, Fox and HBO GO from the Google Play Store alongside its own Entel TV offering.

KabelNoord

Deployed in 2019, Kabelnoord’s implementation of 24i software covers transcoding, Network PVR, the front end application, middleware and a range of Amino STBs. 24i and Amino also provide services to support and monitor the Kabelnoord infrastructure. The hybrid Kabelnoord STBs combine DVB-C and OTT with IPTV multicast including Irdeto DRM. The service grew to around 8,000 subscribers in its frst year of operations and is adding approximately 500 pay TV subscribers per month.

KPN

24i developed applications that bring Dutch telco KPN’s pay TV service to Samsung and LG Smart TVs. Subscribers can pause live channels, restart, record and catch-up from their existing television. The applications are integrated with KPN’s existing back-end infrastructure, subscriber-management platform and content management system.

19 of 21 20 of 21 About 24i

24i offers a fast, cost-effective route to video streaming success on all consumer devices.

Our expertise and end-to-end solutions enable pay TV operators, broadcasters, and content providers to manage and deliver elegant OTT user experiences and grow their business.

24i’s fexible products for preparing streaming content and publishing front-end applications bring SVOD, TVOD and AVOD services to life on smart TVs, streaming devices, STBs, mobiles, and web browsers.

24i embodies the Dutch spirit - we work hard, innovate, and explore. Headquartered in Amsterdam, with ofces in Madrid, Brno, California, Helsinki and Buenos Aires, 24i is a group company of Amino Technologies plc. Our customers include telecoms companies like KPN, Slovak Telekom and Entel, broadcasters such as TV2, NPO and RTÉ and OTT service providers like Topic (First Look Media), Broadway HD and Pure Flix.

For more information, please visit www.24i.com

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