Viaplay is adding a dose of over-the-top (OTT) content to the traditional linear television fare it delivers to set-top boxes in the Nordics region, the company said in a news release today.
"[O]ffering Viaplay on streaming STBs [set-top boxes] is part of our strategy to ensure that the widest possible audience is able to access our content, in the most convenient way," Niclas Ekdahl, Viaplay's CEO said in the news release.
Viaplay, which is part of international entertainment broadcasting operations company Modern Times Group (MTG), is using Envivio's software-based encoders to extend the streaming option to IP set-tops. It claims to be the first provider in Scandinavia to launch a full OTT play with a hybrid set-top box (called the Viaplay Box) available to any user with an Internet connection.
The boxes themselves were introduced in April as a way for Viaplay's traditional IPTV, cable and satellite customers to consume Viaplay's premium online content on their TVs. Viaplay uses the Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Smooth Streaming technology to deliver the content to PCs and set-top boxes.
The blending of linear television streams with the online video content is more evidence that the service delivery market is changing, said Julien Signes, Envivio's president and CEO.
"Broadcasters no longer need to implement separate architectures for Web and 'traditional' television distribution," Signes said in the news release. "By embracing OTT and a streaming set-top box approach, Viaplay has shown that it recognizes the efficiency and scalability it offers both for delivery and storage, and that IP is clearly going mainstream."
For more:
- Envivio distributed this news release
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