Background
Tata Play is India’s leading content distribution platform, providing Pay TV and OTT services. The company’s objective is to connect viewers with the best content on any budget, any screen, anytime, and anywhere. Tata Play was the first operator to launch multiple products and services that redefined the subscribers’ viewing experience in the country.
Objective
India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies where online video consumption has been increasing tremendously for the past couple of years, along with a steady growth in the Pay TV segment. Tata Play wanted to tap into this new market for online video, while also laying down an upgrade path for the unconnected DTH user base.
Solution
Accedo was tasked with developing a highly customized user experience for the Binge+ box providing an end-to-end solution and acting as the prime system integrator. The combination of Accedo’s extensive front-end experience and its feature rich Android Launcher solution meant it was able to quickly develop an offering to realize Tata Play’s objectives. This included integration with more than 14 content partners and third-party solutions, as well as incorporating Tata Play’s existing in-house DTH infrastructure.
Accedo Android Launcher is a Google and Netflix certified, specialist solution that enables global TV operators to replace the standard Android TV Operator Tier Launcher with a consistent set-top box experience that is customized to their brand. The solution also hosts a lot of key features bridging the gap between OTT and the legacy TV experience, enabling operators to save on integration costs.
This made it possible for Accedo to effectively manage and deliver an otherwise very complex project. Amidst this rapidly evolving video landscape, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to discover the content of their choice. To tackle this challenge of discovery, the Tata Play Binge+ smart set-top box needed to provide the best combination of live TV channels, catch-up content, and on-demand OTT platforms in a single device and User Interface (UI). The focus was on providing a unified experience for viewers to access content available across multiple platforms on a single screen.
Tata Play wanted to make Binge+ unique, delivering live TV along with aggregated OTT content and apps in a single set-top box, powered by a highly interactive and unified UI and experience.
Results
Tata Play Binge+ offers a tailored user experience with movies, originals, TV shows and documentaries from 14+ partner OTT apps in a unified UI with the simplicity of a single subscription.
Tata Play Binge+ offers users all the benefits of a Smart TV without actually having one. Users can access a mix of live channels as well as a number of partner OTT apps on one device, without switching between multiple HDMI ports. It also includes various Smart TV-like features such as the ability to cast mobile content onto the screen with the built-in Chromecast, play games, connect Bluetooth, and use Google Voice Assistant to discover content. With the “Binge” tab, users no longer have to juggle between separate logins for each app, but can easily search for their favorite movies, shows and originals from across the range of OTT platforms.
Tata Play Binge+ also features Cloud DVR, something completely new for the Indian Pay TV space. Users can record live headend streams on demand to watch later, as well as schedule future recordings or record past programs. Cloud-to-cloud integration means that recordings can take place even if the box is not online
