IPTV platform under the brand operator: how to build a service from scratch

Launching your own IPTV/OTT service under your own brand seems like a voluminous task and not very clear: where to start, in what order to make decisions, what you can take ready, and what you will have to do yourself. In practice, the path is divided into several consecutive steps – and each has forks, which determine how much time and money it takes to launch.

This article is about the practical side of the question: what decisions the operator has to make at each step and what to pay attention to so that the launch does not turn into a long project with unexpected costs.

Contents

Before choosing a platform, it is worth honestly answering a few questions about what the operator already has:

Having collected the answers to these questions, you can proceed to the next step - the choice of platform architecture.

The set of basic components of the IPTV/OTT platform in the market is approximately the same. The difference is what additional modules and microservices the platform offers beyond that minimum. Below is an overview of the components: from the obvious to those that make the service more modern, functional and different from competitors.

Basic components without which to build an IPTV service:

Components that make the service more modern and functional:

These are modules that are not required to run, but determine how user-friendly the service will be and how long it will remain competitive.

The general principle here is as follows: the basic components are taken ready and tested under load, and a set of additional modules shows how much the platform vendor invests in its development. A good sign is when new features and microservices appear regularly, rather than one-off to launch. If the platform does not develop, in a year or two, the service will begin to lag behind the market, and it will either have to be modified by third-party teams or changed.

If the operator already has a working service on another platform, changing the platform is not a start-up from scratch, but a migration. And here the cost of error is higher: the subscriber should not notice a pause in the service or lose access to content.

If the service is launched from scratch, there is no migration as such, but this does not mean that this step can be missed. Instead of transferring the base, you need to think about the user’s way of getting into the service: how the subscriber learns about it, how he gets into the application, how the authorization passes, how he connects the subscription. The whole path should be simple and automated – there should be no manual operations between the operator’s subsystems (billing, LC, support) and the platform, which the employee will have to perform for each new connected account.

When it comes to moving an existing base, migration is rarely instantaneous. In practice, it is divided into several parallel tracks:

The key issue for the platform at this stage is not an abstract “support for migration,” but rather an abstract one specific phase-shift tools and experience with already discontinued devices. This is where surprises often occur.

Branding comes in different depths – and this is one of the forks at which you should decide in advance on the budget and timing.

Basic level - service name, application icon and operator logo. This is enough for the subscriber to see that the service belongs to his operator, not a third party company. This level closes quickly and does not require large investments.

Deeper level Adaptation of the interface to the operator’s brandbook: color palette and other elements of corporate identity. Here we are talking about how the service looked like a continuation of the brand, and not as a third-party application with a pasted logo.

Maximum level - custom development of application screens for a specific operator. This is the most expensive and longest way, and it is justified when the operator has unique scenarios or a strong brandbook that you want to move to the interface one to one.

Separate from the depth of branding is the question of the quality of the interface itself - and here it is important to find a balance between several, sometimes conflicting requirements:

A good example of this balance interface Titaniumready-made, load-tested screens, which are configured under the operator’s brand and include tools for promoting content and services right in the interface structure.

A separate and often underestimated stage is the introduction of a branded application to Smart TV app stores and mobile platforms. Every market has -- Samsung Apps, LG Content Store, Google Play, RuStore, Huawei App Gallery, Xiaomi Apps - their policies, their guidelines and their requirements for design. The list of app marketplaces for devices can go on and on, and in each of them the rules may differ.

Moderation is not a formality: applications are rejected due to incompatibility with individual TV firmware, and updates can wait weeks for approval.

So that this stage does not last for months, you need a separate expertise: understanding the requirements of each market, preparing metadata and graphic materials, preliminary testing on different models of devices. This work can be carried out on your own, or you can transfer to the team of the platform developer - in the second case, the risk of refusal to moderate is much lower, and the time between the finished product and the first paying subscriber is shorter.

The launch is not the final point, but the beginning of operation. After the start, it is important to see how the service behaves under real load and how subscribers use it.

Level one technical monitoring: tracking the load on iron (servers, video servers, database, communication channels), plotting on the basis of logs. This allows you to notice in time where the infrastructure is approaching the limit, and plan scaling in advance, rather than by the fact of failure.

Level two marketingWhat subscribers watch, what tariffs and selections are in demand, how different segments of the base behave. Based on this data, tariffs, content selections and advertising blocks are adjusted – already on the fact of the real behavior of the audience, and not on assumptions.

To collect and analyze this data, we use our own module MiStats it collects statistics of views and automatically generates collections of popular content for the interface.

Own service is a long-term investment, and the platform for it is not chosen for a year. In order not to have to change the decision again after a while, the platform should have a margin of development in several areas.

Look at three things: device coverage (including legacy consoles and Smart TVs of different platforms), component composition (middleware, video server, billing, monitoring) and a set of additional modules that make the service modern. Separately – on how regularly the vendor releases updates. For example, all of these criteria meet the Smarty platform from Microimpuls.

Yes, if the platform supports such devices. Smarty from Microimpuls works on both modern consoles and models discontinued (Amino, Sagemcom, ADB, GDC, Infomir/MAG, Eltex, Dune). For operator consoles, the update passes through provisioning or network reconfiguration, for client (Smart TV, Android consoles) - through application markets.

Through step-by-step migration: automated account, tariff and subscription translation script, seamless authorization and controlled switching with monitoring at every step. Microimpuls has experience migrating to Smarty, including from legacy platforms and with a fleet of consoles discontinued.

Each market – Samsung Apps, LG Content Store, Google Play, RuStore, Huawei App Gallery, Xiaomi Apps – has its own policies, guidelines and design requirements. Publication can be carried out on their own or transferred to the team of the platform developer. Microimpuls accompanies operators at this stage, from preparing metadata to testing on devices.

On-premise is a platform on the operator’s own hardware: full control over the infrastructure and data, but you need your own capabilities and competencies. The cloud is a subscription model on the resources of the vendor: fast launch without capital costs, but dependence on the vendor and regular payments. Microimpuls’ Smarty platform is available in both models.

More examples of what this path looked like for different operators - in the section "Projects» microimpuls.