Simplestream: 2023 in review

By Marco Lorenzi, Head of Marketing

2023, what a year you’ve been! As I was making myself comfortable on the sofa, steaming cup of coffee in hand, I couldn’t resist the temptation of looking out of the window to reflect on the past year at Simplestream. ?

Who am I kidding? This is not how I spend my free time outside of work (contrary to what the thought leaders on your LinkedIn feed expect you to believe over Christmas), yet I needed a cliché to intro the last issue of our Unboxed newsletter for this calendar year.?

Objectively, it has been a great 2023 at our HQ. One that will be remembered by our nieces and nephews for its innovation, new challenges, new products, and – most importantly – celebrated ?success of the 40+ team working daily to make the delivery of streaming video services simpler, and better.?

Channel Studio, going down under?

We kicked off this year with the announcement of a new project undertaken with Australia and New Zealand’s leading teleshopping channel, TVSN. It was the perfect stage to deploy our brand-new product, Channel Studio, which over the past few months grew to become THE ideal destination for content providers to distribute (and monetise) their video content across virtual channels.

Don’t just take my word for it, the product was crowned as one of the ‘Best of Show’ at IBC in September, an Award for the TVB Europe category. And that’s not all, as its continuous enhancement now offers the option to add live events to the pre-scheduled 24/7 virtual channels.

Livestream Scheduler and Sports Video Platform?

Research and development for new products and features never stop. Our teams also brought Livestream Scheduler to life, which sat at the heart of the work done with TELUS, for their Optik TV. And guess what? This product also won the prestigious Streaming Media Europe Innovation Awards! A testament to the effort of a team of engineers and developers who want to make a difference in today’s streaming landscape.

The relaunch of our Sports Video Platform – the proposition specifically designed for sports brands, rights owners, and holders – coincided with the announcement of our GAAGO project, rapidly followed by the release of a new set of OTT services for the United Rugby Championships. Not to forget, the announcement of a new business alliance with Globecast, for fully managed services and 24/7 support.?

We love facts…

Finally, some stats, to help you get through your lunch break. We published 26 issues of Unboxed (thank you for being such a loyal reader, we’ll send some chocolates in the post).

We launched:

• A new podcast, Beyond the Stream, hosts the most influential thought leaders in the industry today.
• The comprehensive ‘Consumers in the modern age’ report, with a snapshot of habits and video consumption patterns in the UK, across a sample audience of 300 self-defined end-users.?
• Dulcis in fundo (it’s Latin, pardon me), our solutions across the entire portfolio of clients powered over 22 million hours of playtime, including the full range of devices. And things, believe me, are going to get bigger and bigger next year.

So, here’s to 2024, with our best wishes for the happiest of holidays this festive period! ????

Fin. (for now)

UNBOXED

OTT service migration in a nutshell

Migrating your OTT services from one platform to another can seem like a mammoth task, especially when dealing with intricate data, third-party integrations, and an extensive content library. If the service your current platform provides isn’t fulfilling the needs of your business, then migrating sooner rather than later could save you money in the long term.

We put together a four-step guide to help you navigate the intricacies that migrating an OTT service can hide. At Simplestream, we work with a clear objective in mind, which is to make it quick and easy to move your user data and content to a brand-new platform, powered by Simplestream.

Here's what this looks like:

1. Organise the metadata for seamless OTT service migration
2. Create a roadmap for operational efficiency
3. Simplify your workflow
4. Launch your service

Keen to learn more? Read the full guide here.

SNIPPETS

???Global SVOD subscriptions are expected to increase by 321 million between 2023 and 2029 to reach 1.79 billion, according to forecasts from Digital TV Research. The US alone is predicted to add 30 million subscriptions, followed by Brazil (up by 23 million) and India (27 million). Learn more.

?? In case you missed it, we recently released our latest case study, showcasing the relaunch of the GAAGO set of OTT services. Check it out, and learn how Simplestream integrated existing CRM and backend platforms with the proprietary tech stack, to create a brand-new, multi-platform experience for Gaelic sports fans on a global scale.