E-Guide | Are Your Smart TV OTT Apps Up to Scratch? Four UX Must-Haves for Big Screens
The direction of travel for in-home streaming is clear. While mobile still dominates short-form viewing, Smart TVs now reign supreme in the living room. By 2026, at least 50% of global households, or around 1.1 billion homes, are expected to own one.
But with sky-high demand comes equally high expectations. On Smart TVs, every second counts. If users struggle to log in, cannot find content quickly, or encounter clunky playback, they will leave and may not return.
That is why we have created our new free guide: “Are Your Smart TV OTT Apps Up to Scratch? Four UX Must-Haves for Big Screens.” Drawing on years of experience building and optimising Smart TV OTT apps across platforms like Samsung, LG, Android TV, and Vizio, we have identified the UX essentials that can make or break engagement with your service.
What You Will Learn in the Guide
In under 10 minutes, you will gain actionable insights into the four areas where OTT apps succeed or fail on the big screen:
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Onboarding that converts. How to turn curiosity into commitment in under 60 seconds.
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Navigation that just makes sense. Cut the friction and help viewers get to content faster.
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Family-friendly and accessible UX. Why inclusivity is not optional and how to get it right.
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Performance that delights. Optimise speed, reliability, and smooth playback to reduce churn risk.
You will also discover future-proof trends shaping Smart TV experiences so you can stay ahead of user expectations.
If you are a niche or mid-sized OTT service, you are already competing with streaming giants like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon. You may not have their budgets, but with the right UX, you can deliver a polished big-screen experience that keeps audiences engaged.
Get the Free Guide
Smart TV apps are not just another device. They are the place where your service needs to shine. Small improvements to UX can translate into big gains in sign-ups, retention, and satisfaction. Download the guide now and learn the four Smart TV UX must-haves that can help your OTT app truly compete on the big screen.
Want to discuss your Smart TV strategy and how to improve engagement on the big screen? Contact us to start the conversation.
Follow Magine Pro on LinkedIn to stay up to date with our latest product news, announcements, and industry insights.
Is OTT Rebundling? What Netflix’s Aggregation Move Signals for the Industry
A recent Streaming Media article highlighted a significant shift: Netflix is quietly moving into aggregation, positioning itself not just as a destination for content, but as a hub for other services. The catalyst? A “first-of-its-kind” partnership with French broadcaster TF1, which will bring TF1’s live channels and on-demand content into the Netflix app for users in France.
This deal puts Netflix in a role traditionally played by cable, aggregating third-party content, simplifying access, and locking in audiences. Industry watchers have long predicted a return to bundling in streaming. Few expected Netflix to be the one leading the way.
Streaming was meant to offer freedom and flexibility. But today’s reality often involves juggling multiple apps, overlapping content, and rising subscription costs. For many users, the à la carte model is starting to feel more fragmented than freeing.
Netflix isn’t alone in this approach. Amazon, Apple, and Roku have long offered aggregated content experiences. What sets Netflix apart is its global scale, deeply engaged user base, and ubiquity across Smart TVs and devices. When Netflix moves, the industry pays attention.
For smaller OTT services, the implications are worth watching, but this isn’t necessarily bad news. Discovery is becoming more complex, and the battle to own the subscriber relationship is evolving. But with the right foundation, independent services are well-positioned to stay competitive, whether they remain standalone or choose to also collaborate within aggregated ecosystems.
At Magine Pro, we see this trend reinforcing the need for agility. That might mean offering FAST channels alongside SVOD content to reach broader audiences. It could involve introducing pricing tiers, localising experiences, or distributing through platforms like Amazon Channels while maintaining control of the core service.
This isn’t a return to the old cable bundle, but it is a new chapter, one where simplicity, discoverability, and user experience take centre stage. We see the streaming services that succeed will be those built to adapt.
Attending IBC this year? Drop by Hall 5, Stand D72 to see how we help our partners build flexible, future-ready OTT platforms. You can book a dedicated meeting with the team here for a full demo.
Smarter, Safer Streaming with the Parental Control Feature Upgrade
Streaming should be safe, seamless and stress-free. Families want peace of mind, and platform operators need confidence in compliance. That’s why we’ve upgraded our parental control feature to make safer, age-appropriate streaming easier to deliver, manage, and trust on every screen.
What’s New with Parental Control?
Our enhanced parental control feature goes beyond PIN prompts. It introduces rating system flexibility, richer content metadata, and more control for both operators and end users.
For OTT operators:
- Enable national rating systems by region
- Add rating levels, advisory reasons, and icons to content
- Stay compliant with regional regulatory frameworks
For end users:
- View content ratings and details like ‘violence’, ‘nudity’, or ‘strong language’ before pressing play
- Set PIN prompts based on specific content ratings
- Manage parental settings easily in their user account
Why Parental Controls Matter for Your OTT Service
- Friction-Free Compliance: Meet age-appropriateness rules with built-in flexibility
- Trust & Transparency: Clear ratings and advisory info build viewer confidence
- Better UX for Families: Parents get the control they want without complexity
How the Parental Control Feature Works
Parental Control is adaptable and easy to configure, whether you’re protecting live content, catch-up, or on-demand video.
Operator setup:
- Enable it in Console > Default Settings > Content > Parental Control
- Choose from flexible logic options:
- Watershed: PINs required for linear content between 22:00–06:00, including catch-up content. Can also be enabled for specific channels by setting “verify age” to yes.
- Around the clock: Ideal for VOD – PIN prompts appear based on age ratings set in metadata.
- Age limit: A global setting that enforces PIN prompts for content at or above a specified PG age.
- Enabled by default: Automatically turns parental control ON for all new users upon registration.
- Optional parental control: Allows end users to enable or disable parental control from their account settings.
- Enable one or more rating systems, and define a fallback system for countries where no rating system is configured. (If no rating level is set for a region, no rating will display for that content.)
- Tag each asset with rating levels and advisory reasons (e.g., “violence”, “language”) via metadata.
User configuration:
Users can manage their own parental control settings directly from their account, allowing them to tailor PIN prompts and content access based on their preferences.
- Set personal PIN prompt thresholds based on rating level
- Receive/reset PINs via email for secure verification
- See rating level and content reasons before watching
- Toggle parental control on/off (if allowed by platform settings)
Available On:
Our enhanced Parental Control feature is available across all Magine Pro applications:
- Web, mobile, Smart TVs, Android TV, tvOS
- VOD (including downloads), Live, Linear, Catchup, and Trailers
Smarter Metadata for Smarter Protection
For the Parental Control feature to work effectively, your content metadata should include the following fields for each asset (e.g., Movie, Episode, Broadcast):
- System: The rating system being applied (e.g. US, Sweden)
- Rating: The specific age or classification level (e.g. PG-13, 18+)
- Reasons: Tags describing why the content received that rating, such as “violence,” “nudity,” or “substance abuse”
Operators can enable multiple rating systems and configure a fallback system for regions without a dedicated rating scheme. This ensures consistent content protection worldwide.
What the Viewer Sees
- Rating level displayed as icons or text on content cards and detail pages
- Rating reasons shown before playback (e.g. “Nudity,” “Violence”)
- PIN prompts are triggered at the appropriate moment based on user or platform-defined thresholds
- Transactional email sent to users for PIN delivery, reset, and verification
- Users can manage settings in their account (if the service allows), including adjusting rating thresholds or disabling parental control, with PIN confirmation required for changes
Put Viewers in Control and Keep Your Platform Compliant
Parental Control protects both your platform and your viewers. With greater flexibility for operators and more clarity for users, it helps you deliver a safer, smarter, and more personalised streaming experience.
Ready to activate Parental Control? You can enable it directly in your Magine Pro Console.
Want to learn more about Parental Control and the other powerful features in our OTT platform? Get in touch. And don’t miss future feature announcements—follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates.
The Ultimate OTT Glossary: 70+ Streaming Terms You Actually Need to Know
If you’re building or managing an OTT streaming platform, you’ve probably come across terms like ABR, DRM, or CDN. Whether you’re overseeing platform development, monetisation, or the viewer experience, this glossary breaks down the most important OTT acronyms and terms you need to know.
In this article, explore the essential OTT acronyms by category—Delivery & Playback, Security, Monetization, Content Processing, User Experience, Quality & Performance Monitoring and Business Success Metrics—so you can feel confident talking shop, selecting vendors, or just understanding what’s really happening behind the scenes.
Jump to a section:
- Delivery & Playback
- Content Processing
- Security & Rights
- Monetisation & Analytics
- Billing, Access & Support
- User Experience & Front-End
- Quality & Performance Monitoring
- Business Metrics & Success Indicators
Delivery & Playback
OTT – Over-the-Top
Video delivered over the internet, bypassing traditional cable or satellite. The foundation of services like Netflix, Disney+, and niche streaming platforms.
CDN – Content Delivery Network
A global network of servers that cache and deliver content based on user location, minimising latency and buffering.
Edge Server
Part of the CDN, these are servers closest to the viewer’s location, ensuring lightning-fast load times.
Origin Server
The “master copy” of your content lives here before being distributed across the CDN.
DASH – Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP
A streaming method that adjusts video quality in real-time based on network performance, like ABR (Adaptive Bitrate Streaming).
ABR – Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
Automatically shifts video resolution and quality depending on a user’s bandwidth, ensuring smooth playback.
HLS – HTTP Live Streaming
An adaptive bitrate protocol developed by Apple that breaks the video stream into smaller file chunks for better playback performance.
Latency
The delay between user action (like hitting play) and actual playback. Critical to get right in live streaming.
Buffering
Temporary loading interruptions—often the result of high latency or poor network conditions. No one wants to see the spinning wheel of doom.
CMAF – Common Media Application Format
A standardised format that simplifies the delivery of streaming media across different devices, reducing the need for multiple versions of the same content.
Content Processing
Transcoding
The process of converting a video from one format or resolution to another to ensure compatibility across platforms.
Encoding
Compressing raw video data into a digital format suitable for efficient storage and streaming.
Codec
A device or program that compresses (encodes) and decompresses (decodes) video or audio data. Examples include H.264, H.265, and AV1.
Bitrate
The amount of data transferred per second in a video stream. Higher bitrates generally mean better quality but require more bandwidth.
Frame Rate
The number of frames displayed per second (fps) in a video. Higher frame rates provide smoother motion.
HDR – High Dynamic Range
A video technology that expands the contrast and color range for more lifelike and vivid images.
SDR – Standard Dynamic Range
A traditional video standard with a more limited range of colors and contrast compared to HDR.
Resolution
The number of pixels in a video image (e.g., 720p, 1080p, 4K). Higher resolutions provide clearer images.
Rendition
A version of a video at a specific resolution or bitrate, used in adaptive bitrate streaming.
VMAF – Video Multi-Method Assessment Fusion
A quality metric developed by Netflix that combines multiple quality indicators to assess perceived video quality.
Security & Rights
DRM – Digital Rights Management
Technologies used to prevent unauthorized copying, sharing, or playback of digital video content.
Tokenisation
The generation of time-limited, encrypted access tokens to control user access to video streams.
Geo-blocking
The restriction of content availability based on a user’s geographical location, often due to licensing agreements.
Monetization & Analytics
SVOD / AVOD / TVOD
- SVOD: Subscription-based (e.g. Netflix)
- AVOD: Ad-supported (e.g. YouTube)
- TVOD: Pay-per-view (e.g. Prime rentals)
VOD – Video on Demand
Content that users can watch at any time, as opposed to a scheduled broadcast.
PPV – Pay-Per-View
Users pay a one-time fee to watch specific content, often used for live events.
EST – Electronic Sell-Through
Users purchase and download content to own permanently.
HVOD – Hybrid Video on Demand
A model combining elements of subscription and ad-supported content.
HYBRID
DAI – Dynamic Ad Insertion
The real-time insertion of video ads into a stream, tailored to individual viewers.
CSAI – Client-Side Ad Insertion
Ads are requested and inserted by the user’s device during playback.
SSAI – Server-Side Ad Insertion
Ads are stitched directly into the video stream before delivery, creating a smoother viewing experience.
SSP – Supply-Side Platform
A platform that allows publishers to manage and sell their video ad inventory.
DSP – Demand-Side Platform
Used by advertisers to buy video ad space across multiple sources through automation.
DMP – Data Management Platform
Collects, organises, and analyses user data to support targeted advertising.
CPM – Cost Per Mille (Thousand Impressions)
A pricing model that charges advertisers per 1,000 ad impressions.
IAB – Interactive Advertising Bureau
An industry organisation that sets standards for digital advertising, including video formats.
CMP – Consent Management Platform
Manages user permissions and privacy preferences to ensure GDPR and CCPA compliance.
TCF – Transparency and Consent Framework
A standard framework for communicating and managing user consent in digital advertising.
IFA – Identifier for Advertisers
A unique ID assigned to devices for ad tracking and targeting purposes.
VAST – Video Ad Serving Template
A specification that standardises communication between ad servers and video players.
VMAP – Video Multiple Ad Playlist
Defines when ads should play during a video (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll).
VPAID – Video Player-Ad Interface Definition
Enables interactive video ads but is being phased out in favor of SIMID.
SIMID – Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition
A secure standard for interactive ads, replacing VPAID.
ADR – Average Daily Revenue
The average revenue generated per day. Useful for forecasting and tracking platform performance.
MAU / DAU – Monthly / Daily Active Users
Tracks viewer engagement. A high DAU/MAU ratio indicates strong stickiness.
ARPU – Average Revenue Per User
Measures how much you’re earning from each user on average.
Billing, Access & Support
CRM – Customer Relationship Management
A system for managing subscriber data, preferences, and interactions to support retention.
CMS – Content Management System
Enables management of video files, metadata, categories, and publishing workflows.
Entitlement System
Controls which content users can access based on their subscription level or purchases.
Billing Engine
Handles the processing of payments, renewals, refunds, and invoicing.
SMS – Subscriber Management System
Manages authentication, account settings, and access permissions.
Cloud DVR (cDVR)
Allows users to record and store live content in the cloud for later viewing.
nPVR – Network Personal Video Recorder
A server-based recording system enabling viewers to record programs without hardware at home.
User Experience & Front-End
UI / UX – User Interface / User Experience
UI refers to the design and layout of the service, while UX is the overall user journey and satisfaction.
EPG – Electronic Program Guide
Displays scheduled or available content in a visual, navigable format—especially for live TV.
CTA – Call to Action
Prompts such as “Subscribe Now” or “Watch Free” that encourage user engagement.
SEO – Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing platform and content metadata to improve search engine visibility.
Play Rate
The percentage of visitors who click play after landing on a video page.
Quality & Performance Monitoring
QoS – Quality of Service
A technical measure of service performance, including delivery speed, uptime, and reliability.
QoE – Quality of Experience
How the user perceives the playback quality, buffering, video resolution, and responsiveness.
Engagement Rate
The frequency and intensity of viewer interactions with content, such as likes, shares, or time watched.
Average Watch Time
The average time viewers spend watching a single piece of content.
Completion Rate
The percentage of users who finish a video from start to end.
Buffering Ratio
The proportion of time spent buffering versus time spent watching.
Peak Concurrent Users
The highest number of users simultaneously streaming content on your platform.
Business Metrics & Success Indicators
NPS – Net Promoter Score
A metric measuring user loyalty and satisfaction based on likelihood to recommend your service.
CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost
The total marketing and sales cost required to acquire a single paying subscriber.
CLTV – Customer Lifetime Value
The predicted total revenue a subscriber will bring throughout their time with your platform.
Churn Rate
The percentage of subscribers who cancel their service during a specific time frame.
MRR / ARR – Monthly / Annual Recurring Revenue
Metrics that track predictable revenue from subscriptions.
Ready to Simplify the Streaming Stack?
Whether you’re just getting started with your first VOD service or scaling an established streaming platform, understanding the building blocks—from CDNs to DRMs—is key to long-term success.
Ready to put this knowledge into action and simplify your entire streaming stack? Talk to our team and discover how we can help you build a seamless, scalable, world-class streaming experience.
Preparing for the Next Wave of Smart TVs: How to Navigate OS, AI, and UX Trends
In the battle for eyeballs, the big screen seems to be winning. YouTube’s CEO, Neal Mohan recently confirmed that TV screens have overtaken mobiles as the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US. And while the US leads the way, this shift is happening globally. Research from Ampere Analysis (Feb 2025) shows 76% of internet users in Europe now own a Smart TV. That’s a 25% increase over the past three years, mirroring a 25% rise in share of viewing for these devices since 2021.
At Magine Pro, we’ve been developing Smart TV streaming apps for over 12 years, giving us a front-row seat to this transformation. As more consumers shift to the big screen, we hear one major concern from OTT service providers: How can they stay ahead of the curve when Smart TV technology is so fragmented and constantly shifting?
Every year, CES and other tech expos are filled with announcements from giants like LG and Samsung showcasing features and upgrades aimed at driving consumer TV sales. Meanwhile, the already crowded Smart TV OS landscape keeps expanding. How are OTT services supposed to keep up? Should they invest resources into supporting multiple operating systems for reach, or focus on the latest trends to future-proof their apps?
To help answer these questions, I’ll break down some of the biggest trends likely to shape the industry in the next few years. Importantly, I’ll look at how smaller OTT services can prepare for them. In this blog I’ll explore:
- AI-Based Upscaling
- Auto-Translation
- Voice & Gesture-based Control
- Emerging Operating Systems
If you’re reviewing your OTT service’s Smart TV strategy, you can also download our e-guide: Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services.
Now let’s get stuck into those emerging trends!
AI-Based Upscaling: Seamless Smart TV UX Without The Compromises
For years, Smart TV app performance has been constrained by device limitations, bandwidth restrictions, and processing power. High frame rates, smooth animations, and seamless transitions require significant resources. As developers, we’re often forced to sacrifice visual fluidity to maintain stability across different TV models. But AI-based upscaling is set to change that, shifting the burden of performance optimisation from app developers to TV hardware itself.
AI-powered upscaling, like Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), has already transformed the gaming industry, using machine learning to boost resolution and frame rates in real-time. Now, Smart TV manufacturers are integrating similar technology to fill the gaps in frame rates and motion smoothness. This means that an app running at 30 frames per second (FPS) today could soon appear just as fluid as a 50FPS app, without developers needing to rewrite code or optimise animations for every individual device.
At Magine Pro, we see this as a major leap for OTT UX on Smart TVs. Historically, upscaling on TVs has focused only on the video, forcing app developers to strike a balance between animation quality and responsiveness in the UI, sometimes choosing simpler transitions or reducing visual effects to maintain app stability. With AI-enhanced motion processing becoming standard in new TVs, we expect this to allow for more upscaling in the app UI, allowing the next generation of streaming apps can be more dynamic, visually polished, and immersive, without compromising performance.
Key Takeaways for OTT Services
So what does this mean for OTT providers currently planning their Smart TV strategy? You can afford to focus less on maxing-out your FPS across multiple TV platforms to compete with the big names in streaming. Concentrate instead on creating consistent, scalable experiences and building engaging, visually rich interfaces, knowing that AI will handle the performance lift on supported devices. As AI-based processing becomes the norm, even smaller streaming services will be able to deliver a premium app experience, without the premium engineering overhead.
It’s not just about smoother UI animations. AI-powered upscaling could transform how OTT services approach video delivery for Smart TVs. If the TV itself can take lower-resolution streams and enhance them to near-4K or even 8K quality, operators can optimise their encoding strategy accordingly to cut CDN costs without sacrificing viewer experience.
On-Device Subtitle Translation: Lowering Barriers to OTT Localisation
Localisation has long been a challenge for OTT services expanding globally. Now, once again, hardware integration with AI could alleviate some of the hard work for content owners, getting the Smart TV hardware to perform automated, real-time translations directly on the device.
AI-driven translation tools are already familiar in web browsers. Now Smart TV manufacturers are beginning to integrate real-time subtitle translation directly into their operating systems. This means that rather than requiring streaming services to upload a separate subtitle file for every supported language, TVs will be able to dynamically translate dialogue into the viewer’s preferred language on the fly.
For OTT providers, this could significantly reduce localisation overhead—especially for smaller services looking to scale quickly into new markets. Instead of managing, storing, and encoding hundreds of subtitle variations, services could rely on the TV’s built-in AI to generate subtitles in real-time, unlocking faster time-to-market for new territories.
However, this shift comes with new UX considerations. If Smart TVs are generating and overlaying subtitles at the OS level, OTT services must ensure that their UI design doesn’t create conflicts. If a platform hardcodes subtitles into the video stream or places on-screen graphics in common subtitle areas, there’s a risk of clashing visual elements—leading to a messy, unreadable experience for viewers.
Key Takeaways for OTT Services
At Magine Pro, we know Smart TV apps must be built with flexibility in mind, ensuring subtitle placement adapts dynamically to maintain a consistent UX on all devices as individual manufacturers change their functionality. With Magine Pro’s white-label OTT platform, streaming services get expert guidance on Smart TV UI adaptations, ensuring their apps remain consistent and future-proofed as on-device AI capabilities evolve
While the AI-powered upscaling we already covered is an easy win for streaming services, AI-generated translations introduce a new layer of complexity. Generative AI is still imperfect, and OTT providers will need to weigh the benefits of rapid market expansion against the potential risks of inaccurate subtitles.
Voice and Gesture Control: The Future of Hands-Free Smart TV Navigation
For decades, the TV remote control has been the primary way viewers interact with their screens. But as Smart TVs become more sophisticated, voice and gesture-based navigation will revolutionise how users browse and control streaming apps. While these technologies are still evolving, major Smart TV manufacturers are already investing in AI-driven interfaces that allow users to interact with their TVs in more natural and intuitive ways.
Voice control is already mainstream – AI assistants like Alexa and Siri are now household names. On Smart TVs, voice-enabled remotes now let users search for content, change channels, and control playback with simple voice commands. Some platforms now also use camera-based tracking or motion sensors to allow viewers to navigate menus with hand movements instead of button presses. LG’s Magic Remote, already supported in the Magine Pro OTT Platform, is a step towards this, allowing users to employ their remote control like a mouse rather than being restricted to sequential up-down-right-left navigation.
Both voice and gesture control offer convenience and, for those who struggle to use traditional remotes, accessibility. However, there are still significant challenges with these technologies, especially when it comes to accuracy, consistency, and user adoption.
New search and navigation methods may require a rethink on button layouts, hover states, and menu navigation to accommodate touch-free interactions. Gesture-based navigation could also introduce new UX challenges, such as avoiding accidental selections or ensuring that on-screen prompts guide users effectively.
Key Takeaways for OTT Services
At Magine Pro, we believe OTT services should monitor these developments closely and ensure their apps are designed with flexibility to accommodate future interaction models. Since these technologies are still evolving, smaller OTT services should wait for greater standardisation before investing heavily. For now, it’s important to focus on creating clear, structured UIs that are adaptable to evolving Smart TV capabilities, as well as concentrating on improving metadata to power voice search and ensure content can easily be found by voice assistants. As an added benefit, the metadata work will also enhance personalised content recommendations for increased engagement in the shorter term.
Navigating The Shifting Smart TV OS Landscape
One of the biggest challenges for OTT service providers is keeping up with the fragmented Smart TV operating system (OS) landscape. With Samsung’s Tizen, LG’s webOS, Vizio, Roku, and Android TV, plus a steady stream of new or proprietary OS announcements, it’s difficult to predict which platforms will gain traction and which will fade into obscurity.
Each OS has its own development requirements, UI constraints, and feature set, making it costly and time-consuming for streaming services to build and maintain native apps for every platform. Additionally, while major players like Samsung and LG are working toward better standardisation, Smart TV platforms still have inconsistencies—from differing CSS rendering engines to unique input navigation behaviours.
Key Takeaways for OTT Services
For OTT providers, the key to future-proofing against OS fragmentation is flexibility. Instead of committing to bespoke app development for every new platform, a modular, scalable approach ensures that apps can adapt quickly as new operating systems emerge.
At Magine Pro, we solve this challenge by providing a single-codebase solution that supports multiple Smart TV platforms, ensuring a consistent user experience across devices. By focusing on cross-platform compatibility, streaming services can avoid getting locked into the complexities of individual OS ecosystems and instead scale efficiently as the market evolves.
Want to know how Magine Pro customers like Passionflix approach Smart TV apps? Download our e-guide: Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services.
The Future of Data-Driven Streaming: Overlooked Metrics That Could Unlock OTT Growth
With fierce competition driving annual churn rates as high as 47%, the streaming industry cannot afford to overlook any data-driven insights that could move the needle towards profitability. Success depends on understanding the metrics that power audience engagement, optimise content strategy, and drive revenue growth. While many OTT services rely on standard data points, some critical statistics remain overlooked. Could they provide the competitive edge that’s needed in a crowded market?
In this article, I’ll explore the key analytics every streaming service should monitor, highlight some underutilised data points that can transform decision-making, and explain why a flexible platform for data exports is essential for scaling your service.
Key Metrics Every Streaming Service Monitors
To start, let’s review the foundational statistics that most OTT services already track. These form the backbone of operational and strategic decisions:
1. Audience. Examples include:
- Daily and Monthly Active Users (DAU/MAU): Track the size and consistency of your audience over time. This helps identify growth trends and gauge user loyalty.
- Device Usage: Understand how users access your service—whether via mobile, smart TVs, or desktops—to optimise experiences for the most popular platforms.
2. Engagement. Examples include:
- Hours Watched per User per Day/Time of Day: Understand how engaged your audience is and which content drives the most consumption. Essential for giving users the right content recommendations at the right time.
- Completion Rates: Measure the percentage of content viewed to determine if your audience finishes episodes or movies. This is particularly vital for identifying binge-worthy content and optimising recommendations.
3. Funnel. Examples include:
- Trial-to-Subscriber Conversion Rate: Analyse how many free-trial users convert into paying subscribers.
- Churn Rate: Track the percentage of subscribers who leave your service to refine retention strategies.
4. Quality of Service (QoS) & Quality of Experience (QoE). Examples include:
- Buffering Percentage: Identify issues impacting playback performance.
- Video Startup Time: Ensure your service meets customer expectations for seamless streaming.
- Playback success/Failure: Get early warning of issues that are preventing users from enjoying the content they’ve chosen. This is commonly monitored along with the rate of exits before the video starts (EBVS).
These data points are all critical for day-to-day operations but often represent only the tip of the iceberg.
Neglected Metrics That Could Transform OTT Growth
Here are some commonly overlooked areas to analyse. You may find they offer insights that unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation:
- Behavioural Profiling Through User Profiles
The ability to segment the user experience for different people within a single household account has grown in popularity in line with the growth of both personalised recommendations and the viewing of OTT content on the big screen. Of course, it’s not used by everyone – our experience suggests fewer than 40% of accounts have profiles enabled – but OTT service providers can still make great use of the data these profiles offer. Analysing individual viewing habits more effectively is essential to offering personalised recommendations that are proven to increase engagement and user satisfaction. If you’re still measuring usage only at the household level, you’re missing out. - Catalogue Rotation and Content Discovery
Many streaming services find that 90% of views come from just 10% of their catalogue. While it’s good to know your top performers so you can promote them to more users, it’s important to also track the underutilised content. This data is useful for influencing your future licensing and in-house production decisions, but there’s more that you can do than just drop the poorly performing content. Perhaps the problem isn’t the content but the way you’re promoting it? New graphics or enhanced metadata could be what’s needed to make these unsung gems come to life. You could also consider giving some of the lower-performing assets a boost with some homepage promotion? Or make use of a feature like Magine Pro’s “random” setting which shuffles all the selected assets in a specific collection every 24 hours to keep rails looking fresh. These measures could improve your return on investment for content you’ve already invested in. - Recovered Customers
Most OTT services rightly place massive priority on their churn rate but how closely are you watching the saved subscriptions – those that were on the verge of cancelling but were recovered via promotional offers or reactivation campaigns? Tracking this data can provide a wealth of insights into what is driving the effectiveness of retention strategies and identify opportunities to refine outreach efforts. To really make the best of this data, you’ll need to ensure your user flows capture user feedback on why they’re planning to cancel as well as the measure that persuaded them to stay. - Return on Investment (ROI) by Content Group
Measuring hours watched per content item is valuable. But the true insight comes from correlating that data directly with the relative cost of licensing or producing the content. If cheaper content is driving half as many viewing hours as a flagship drama show, but costs a third as much to make or license, then it could actually be considered your star performer. Getting streaming data and rights data together in one platform drives smarter acquisition decisions. This can help prioritise investments that maximise viewer engagement and revenue.
The Value of Data Exports and Custom Dashboards
If you’re the size of Disney+ or Netflix, you’re almost certainly monitoring all these metrics and more already. For smaller streaming services, however, it’s much harder to be across all the data and take appropriate action. To act on these types of insights, it’s essential to have the right business intelligence tools.
The standard analytics dashboard offered in most streaming platforms can provide an overview, but for truly data-driven growth, you need the ability to customise your analysis and develop your own dashboards.
That’s why we’ve architected the Magine Pro OTT platform so it’s easy to integrate user data with tools you already use, like Tableau or Power BI, empowering your team to make smarter decisions. By creating custom dashboards, you can align your analysis with your specific business goals. For example, tracking engagement trends by region can inform localised content strategies.
Ready to take your streaming data to the next level?
The metrics you monitor today shape the future of your OTT service. By keeping track of some of the commonly neglected data points as well as the foundational ones, you can create a more engaging, efficient, and profitable platform.
Don’t let overlooked metrics hold back your OTT growth. Contact Magine Pro today to see how our flexible tools can help you unlock your platform’s full potential.
From Vertical Video to Smart TVs: What’s Next for OTT Streaming in 2025
As 2024 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the remarkable shifts we’ve seen in the OTT industry over the past year. Key trends are reshaping how content owners approach their digital strategies, and with consumer habits evolving rapidly, there’s a wealth of opportunity and innovation on the horizon. According to the Oliver Wyman Global Consumer Survey, video remains the dominant service across Europe, with an average of 1.5 subscriptions per capita. Yet, what’s particularly noteworthy is that around 30% of consumers still don’t have active subscriptions, presenting room for further growth. Alongside this, we’re seeing a shift in viewing preferences: TiVo’s Video Trends Report revealed that viewers are now three times more likely to watch content on TV screens rather than mobile devices.
Building on this, 2024 has also marked a significant rise in vertical video streaming, a trend that goes far beyond platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. The New York Times reported that services like ReelShort are transforming content consumption with short, minute-long soap operas and dramas. With production costs under $300,000 per feature and revenue reaching $22 million by December 2024, vertical video is proving both cost-effective and highly profitable. Some viewers have even spent up to $20 to continue watching episodes, showing just how successful these models can be in monetization. During my recent IBC panel discussion, I noted how TikTok’s success lies in removing the decision burden through algorithmic content delivery, so the question remains for 2025, if the mix of short form, different monetization models and low production costs, will continue to serve niche segments.
At Magine Pro, our partnerships in 2024 have given us an up-close look at the changes sweeping through the industry. We launched several successful niche streaming services, including Kulturwelt+, which delivers cultural content to German-speaking audiences, providing valuable insights into the growing demand for specialised, localised content. Additionally, our rapid migration of Filmicca’s platform in just three weeks highlighted the increasing need for efficiency and flexibility in the OTT space. These hands-on experiences have deepened our understanding of the evolving landscape, and as we look ahead to 2025, we anticipate several key trends that will continue to shape the OTT industry.
- Vertical Video Integration is one of the trends we expect to grow in 2025. Traditional streaming services will need to consider incorporating vertical video formats to engage younger, mobile-centric audiences. Unlike Quibi’s previous attempt, services like ReelShort have succeeded by focusing on specific genres and demographics. The platform’s 75% female audience demonstrates the power of targeted content strategies. In 2025, we expect more streaming services to experiment with hybrid formats that combine traditional and vertical viewing experiences, allowing them to reach broader audiences in innovative ways.
- Smart TV Growth. As the shift toward larger screens continues, Smart TV applications will become even more essential. Our data shows an 80% increase in TV screen viewership compared to smaller devices, signalling that bigger screens are becoming the preferred choice for consumers. Streaming services will need to prioritise smart TV apps and ensure seamless integration to meet this growing demand.
- As the streaming space becomes more competitive, Hybrid Monetization Models will be key to success. With subscription fatigue becoming more widespread, successful platforms will need to embrace flexible monetization strategies that blend SVOD, TVOD, and AVOD models. This adaptability will allow them to meet consumer demand for choice, while also diversifying revenue streams.
- Personalisation at Scale will continue to be a priority. The Oliver Wyman Survey found that bundling and personalised content recommendations are top of mind for users, with 31% of European subscribers willing to pay extra for enhanced features. As personalisation technology advances, streaming services will need to deliver more tailored experiences to keep pace with consumer expectations.
- Finally, as the industry becomes more competitive, Operational Efficiency will be crucial. Streaming services will increasingly focus on improving their operational processes through automation and simplified tech stacks. This will enable them to maintain profitability while delivering exceptional experiences to viewers.
For content owners, 2025 will be about making strategic choices in technology partnerships. The days of building complex in-house solutions are giving way to proven, scalable platforms that can deliver immediate results while controlling costs.
At Magine Pro, we’re committed to helping content owners navigate these changes. With our end-to-end OTT platform, we provide the tools and expertise needed to create engaging streaming experiences that foster viewer retention and revenue growth. As we enter 2025, there’s no doubt that the opportunities in streaming remain substantial. The key to success will be striking the right balance between traditional viewing experiences and new, emerging formats, all while combining compelling content with technical excellence and operational efficiency. Those who can do this will be well-positioned to resonate with their audiences and thrive in an increasingly competitive market.
Curious about how the key trends shaping OTT in 2025 could impact your business?
Discover how Magine Pro can help you stay ahead of the curve with personalised streaming experiences, smart TV integration, and hybrid monetization models. Book a meeting with us for a demo and learn how our flexible platform can help you navigate the evolving OTT landscape and drive growth.
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The Path to Profitability: How the Right Technology Can Transform Your OTT Service
The OTT industry is at a crossroads. The market is becoming increasingly saturated, just as consumers exercise more caution in spending, and investors are growing restless about returns. The message we hear loud and clear from giants like Netflix and Disney down to the smallest OTT services visiting the IBC trade show floor: profitability is their number one priority. To achieve this goal, they must tackle rising operational costs, stand out from the competition, and stem churn.
The latter is an escalating challenge. Deloitte’s 2024 Digital Media Trends survey found 40% of respondents had cancelled a paid SVOD service in the past six months. The figure rises to 53% among Gen Z and millennial consumers. Propping up average revenue per user (ARPU) with price rises will only help so much. Deloitte also found 35% of US consumers (of all generations) felt the content available on streaming video services isn’t worth the cost, while a price rise of $5 would prompt 48% percent of them to cancel their favourite SVOD service.
Technology choices are key to OTT profitability
So, what can existing OTT services, that don’t pack the clout of a Netflix or Disney, do to reach and maintain profitability? For many, the secret lies in technology. Outdated, fragmented, or inefficient systems bog down operations and lead to unnecessary overheads. Conversely, the right technology partner can unlock new pathways to efficiency, scalability, and growth. By simplifying workflows, leveraging automation, and implementing flexible, transparent pricing models, OTT providers can free up resources to focus on what really matters: creating and curating exceptional content and fostering deeper audience engagement.
At Magine Pro, we believe that transforming technology infrastructure is not just a cost-saving measure but a strategic investment in profitability and longevity.
The Hidden Costs of a Fragmented OTT Tech Stack
For many existing OTT services, a fragmented multi-vendor tech stack is a major obstacle to profitability. While piecing together various technologies might seem like a flexible approach, it often leads to inefficiencies and hidden costs that erode margins. Duplication of capabilities—such as having multiple analytics tools or overlapping content delivery systems—means you’re paying twice for no added value. Integrating disparate systems is both time-consuming and costly, requiring significant resources and headcount to ensure seamless functionality. This complexity not only inflates operational expenses but also limits agility, as adapting the stack to new demands or growth opportunities becomes increasingly cumbersome.
Simplifying Streaming Operations to Save Costs
Outsourcing to a single, end-to-end OTT platform like Magine Pro offers a transformative solution to these challenges and lower headcount across the organization. By consolidating workflows under one integrated system, OTT providers can eliminate redundancies, reduce integration costs, and free up valuable internal resources. Choosing to buy rather than build, and opting for a truly end-to-end, pre-integrated solution, eliminates the need for a dedicated engineering team in-house, or to spend time and effort managing multiple vendor relationships, contracts, support teams, or service-level agreements. The result is a significant reduction in operational overhead, enabling you to reinvest savings into content creation and acquisition, marketing, or audience engagement.
Of course, not every “all-in-one” solution” is created equal. Many platforms promoted as “complete” are actually heavily reliant on third parties for key parts of their functionality such as billing engines, CRM and DRM. In this case, you’re clearly handing off the responsibility (and cost) for developing and maintaining the integrations to the vendor of the “complete” solution, but what’s the financial impact and administrative overhead of this approach? Either the platform vendor is charging a markup on these external services, or you’re still going to be on the hook for managing multiple vendors and SLAs.
At Magine Pro, our all-in-one platform is designed not just for efficiency but also for flexibility and scalability, ensuring that your technology grows with your business without adding complexity – so you can reach more consumer devices, with more business models, and more content without increasing overheads. Some of our customers are able to operate a full OTT service with just a handful of staff members because they outsource all the complexity to us.
How Automation Boosts Efficiency And Cuts Headcount
Automation is a cornerstone of operational efficiency, and advances in AI offer many new opportunities for OTT providers to streamline workflows, reduce errors, and lower costs. At Magine Pro, automation is deeply integrated into our platform to handle repetitive tasks with precision and speed. For example, our content ingest process automatically updates program assets multiple times daily, ensuring seamless and accurate content delivery. Image scaling is automated across all device types, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.
By minimizing manual intervention, automation not only cuts costs but also provides the scalability needed to support a growing content library. To learn more about how automation can transform efficiency in the media industry, read the article by our CEO, Matthew Wilkinson, in the IABM Journal (Issue 130, page 50).
Optimizing User Lifecycle Management for Revenue Growth
Automation can also make a significant impact in the all-important fight against churn. Retaining existing customers is not only more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, but it also contributes to long-term revenue stability. Passive churn (caused by issues like failed payments caused by an expired credit card) and active churn (when users deliberately choose to cancel) both undermine profitability. Addressing these effectively requires a platform equipped with tools to predict, prevent, and recover at-risk subscribers. You’ll need analytics to track user behaviour and help you to optimize your offerings accordingly.
Magine Pro’s lifecycle management tools are designed to tackle churn head-on. Our billing engine automates subscription renewals, proactively retries failed payments and ensures seamless price updates, reducing passive churn. For active churn, curated recommendations and personalized win-back campaigns keep users engaged. By enabling OTT providers to identify churn risks early and implement tailored retention strategies, Magine Pro helps boost revenue while lowering customer acquisition costs (CAC). This focus on lifecycle management ensures that providers retain their most valuable assets: loyal, long-term subscribers.
You can learn more about subscriber retention strategies by downloading our whitepaper: The Profit Playbook.
Why Streaming Experience Matters in Avoiding Unnecessary Expenses
When selecting an OTT platform, it can be tempting to opt for the lowest-cost all-in-one service. It’s why so many services launch on a platform like Vimeo. But too many services soon find the false economy in selecting a platform without the necessary tools to support their growth aspirations. If you find yourself in need of a specific additional feature that’s essential to your market – perhaps support for an emerging payment method or a newly mandated parental control feature – how likely are you to get support for it from your low-cost vendor?
Many cheaper options offer a technology platform but little in the way of human support or expertise to guide you through the complexities of growing an OTT business. Without these skilled resources, providers risk costly trial-and-error learning, missed opportunities, and inefficient workflows. For example, we’re often able to save our customers significant time and money by advising them on which applications will give them the best return on investment for their specific target audience segment.
At Magine Pro, we bring more than just technology to the table—we bring experience. Having started as a direct-to-consumer streaming service, we’ve been on the frontlines of the industry and understand the challenges of churn, audience engagement, and profitability. Our team works closely with clients, offering tailored advice and support to avoid common pitfalls and accelerate growth. This combination of cutting-edge technology and human expertise ensures you’re not just buying a platform, but a partnership that drives long-term success.
Want to see how a technology shift could affect your OTT profitability?
Interested in learning more about automation and the capabilities of the Magine Pro OTT Platform? Book a meeting with one of our experts for a personalized demo. Discover how our flexible platform and streaming services can cut costs and maximize revenue.
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Why OTT Needs to Simplify: Insights from IBC 2024
If there’s one phrase that kept coming up in nearly every conversation at IBC 2024, it was operational & cost efficiency. As OTT services become more complex, media companies are losing focus on what they do best: delivering great content and building lasting audience relationships.
At Magine Pro, the message we kept hearing from customers and industry peers was clear: “We need to simplify.” And that’s exactly what we’re focused on.
Why simplification is the key to OTT success
While the smaller niche OTT players have always looked for a one-stop platform that offers all the tools they need, many others have built intricate, multi-vendor technology stacks to keep pace with the market. Several of these, including significantly sized broadcasters and VOD services, are now finding this approach is starting to show its challenges. When you’re constantly juggling different vendors, integrating new technologies, and troubleshooting your stack, you lose valuable time and energy that should be spent engaging your audience.
At IBC, one of the hottest topics on our stand was the need to streamline these operations. More and more media companies are looking for ways to outsource their entire tech stack. They want a single partner who can handle everything from the platform to the applications, so they can focus on the big picture. This is where Magine Pro comes in.
We’ve seen a real shift in mindset. Companies are migrating to our platform because they realise that operational effectiveness and cost-efficiency are just as important as the content itself. By outsourcing their technology to a partner like Magine Pro, they get to simplify, innovate, and concentrate on what really matters: building their brand and winning over audiences.
Navigating subscription fatigue: The top challenge for 2025 and beyond
Subscription fatigue was another major theme at IBC. With disposable income stretched, services are fighting for attention in a saturated market. Consumers are becoming more selective and churn rates are rising. We’ve been putting a lot of energy into this area at Magine Pro, focusing on adding lifecycle management tools to our OTT Platform and helping our clients to keep users engaged for the long haul.
One of the things I’m most excited about is how we’ve optimised our billing platform to monitor, manage and reduce passive and active churn. It’s not just about keeping users from cancelling their subscriptions. It’s about winning them back with the right tools. This means better payment options, more engaging notifications, or curated content recommendations that keep them coming back. I believe this is going to be one of the defining challenges of the coming few years, and it’s something we’re ready to tackle head-on.
The power of partnerships in a changing industry
It’s clear that partnerships are also going to be important success criteria in the future of OTT. While there’s plenty of talk about consolidation, the real need is for companies to work together to better serve their audiences. Going it alone is becoming less viable.
At Magine Pro, we see this first-hand in our work with tier 2 and tier 3 media companies, broadcasters, and niche video-on-demand providers. Many of these organisations come from a media background, not technology. Simplifying technology for them, bringing them a complete solution but also working with a wide range of partners to meet their needs, allows them to stay agile and growth-focused, putting their energies into curating content and engaging their audience.
Why experience still matters in OTT
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough in our industry is the value of experience. There’s a lot of new technology and fresh ideas out there, but there’s also a lot to be said for working with a partner who has been through it all before. Magine Pro has been around since 2012, and before we shifted to a B2B model, we were running a direct-to-consumer service ourselves.
That experience—of being on the frontlines of the DTC market—still informs everything we do today. We’ve lived through the challenges of consumer acquisition, content curation, and churn management, and we’ve applied those lessons to how we serve our clients now. We’re not just another technology vendor. We’re a partner who understands the entire lifecycle of the video service business.
At IBC, it was clear that this experience resonates with our clients and the potential customers we spoke to. In a crowded marketplace where technology can often feel commoditized, our ability to offer deep, hands-on expertise is what sets us apart. We’re not just delivering a platform; we’re helping our clients navigate the complexities of a shifting industry.
What’s next?
IBC 2024 may be over, but the conversations we had will continue to shape our approach in the coming months. The message from our clients and partners is clear: simplicity, partnership, and user engagement are the keys to success in OTT.
Here’s to the next phase of OTT, and to keeping things simple!
If you’d like to know more about how Magine Pro’s OTT platform helps services to simplify their operations, why not book a demo?
Scaling Video Distribution: Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream’s Strategic Partnership
In the ever-evolving landscape of video-on-demand (VOD) services, what end users experience is only the tip of the iceberg compared to the complex operations happening behind the scenes. While the industry strives to create seamless, uniform experiences for viewers, the backend processes of content distribution remain intricate and pose ongoing challenges. Recognising these challenges, Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream have forged a strategic partnership, working together over the years to streamline and add value to the VOD distribution ecosystem.
The Complexity Behind the Scenes
The media supply ecosystem is fraught with complexities that create significant hurdles for content providers:
- Bridging the Supplier & Distributor specification gap: Running a direct-to-consumer OTT service often involves working with multiple media licensors or suppliers, each potentially using different video formats (ProRes, MP4, etc.), metadata formats (CSV, Excel, JSON, XML, etc.), and subtitle formats. This creates operational overhead when managing and updating a VOD catalogue.
- Aggregation Platform-Specific Requirements: Many direct-to-consumer services aim to expand their reach by distributing content on platforms like Amazon Prime or Apple TV+. However, these platforms often impose strict requirements and limited integration options, creating barriers to wider distribution.
“Running a scalable Direct to Consumer OTT service, that supports both diverse content acquisition from studios and licensors, as well as wider distribution reach, requires simplicity and end-to-end automation. This reduces operational costs and ensures a uniform experience across all applications and platforms.” – Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine Pro
The Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream Solution
To address these inefficiencies, Magine Pro has partnered with Stockholm Stream to integrate their Delta product seamlessly into the distribution process. This collaboration aims to abstract the complexity of content distribution and improve operational efficiency through a pre-integrated Media Asset Management (MAM) platform.
Key Features of the Integration:
- Unified Ingest and Distribution: The core premise is “Ingest Once – Distribute to Many,” simplifying the content management process.
- Comprehensive Asset Overview: Delta provides a clear status overview of each asset in the delivery pipeline, enabling efficient workflow management and quality control.
- Automated Cue Point Markers: The system efficiently handles automated cue point markers, identifying intro and credit time markers, and allowing for flexible ad-cue points in VOD.
- Localisation Support: The integration supports multi-language localisation for media, including multiple audio tracks and subtitle options.
- Format Unification: Delta unifies exports and converts video and subtitles to the required format for each platform, ensuring effortless delivery to Magine Pro and other services.
“Enabling VOD services to leverage a white-label platform like Magine Pro and distribute through channel stores like Amazon Prime or Apple TV+ allows for optimal content monetisation. Our integration of Delta with Magine Pro streamlines workflows, adds validation, and enhances visibility for users, ensuring clear status tracking of each asset across all platforms. Our close collaboration with the Magine Pro development team enables us to effectively meet new customer requests, addressing both ingestion and platform workflows.” – Patrik Littmann, CEO of Stockholm Stream
Magine Pro partners with Stockholm Stream to integrate Delta, helping media companies grow market share quickly and efficiently.
Benefits for Content Providers
- Streamlined Workflow Management – The integration allows content providers to manage their catalogue and distribution in one place, reducing operational costs and improving efficiency.
- Enhanced User Engagement – Features like “skip intro” and “play next” are seamlessly implemented, improving the end-user experience and potentially increasing watch time.
- Simplified Localisation – The system streamlines the process of adapting content for different markets, opening up new monetisation opportunities and improving audience engagement globally.
- Quality Assurance – With comprehensive status overviews and automated quality checks, content providers can ensure that only high-quality assets are delivered to platforms, reducing the risk of rejections or revisions.
- Scalability – As content distribution scales, the integrated system efficiently manages a high volume of assets and deliveries across multiple platforms without losing track.
Looking Ahead
The partnership between Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream marks a significant milestone in simplifying, optimising and scaling the VOD distribution process. By addressing the complexities of media formats, platform requirements, and localisation, this collaboration empowers content providers to focus on what matters most: creating and delivering compelling content to audiences worldwide.
“By combining Magine Pro’s renowned quality and reliability with Delta’s simplicity and validation features, we are delivering a new level of functionality that is truly unique in the OTT landscape.” – Patrik Littmann, CEO of Stockholm Stream
As the VOD landscape continues to evolve, solutions like the Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream integration will play a crucial role in helping media and entertainment companies expand their market share effectively and rapidly. Through streamlined operations, assured quality, and global distribution capabilities, this partnership is set to make a lasting impact on the industry.
Interested in learning more about the partnership between Magine Pro and Stockholm Stream and how they’re enhancing VOD distribution? Meet them at IBC! Book a meeting here to connect in person at the Magine Pro stand 5.H56.