MediaKind to facilitate upgrade of Ericsson's “legacy” Mediaroom TV platform

MediaFirst Client for Mediaroom is a new solution that allows existing Mediaroom operators to upgrade to the MediaFirst television platform.

MediaKind announced in IBC the launch of MediaFirst Client for Mediaroom, a new solution that allows existing Mediaroom operators to upgrade to the MediaFirst television platform. Mediaroom is an IPTV platform, originally developed by Microsoft and expanded by Ericsson, which has more than 40 million STBs deployed throughout the world.

The introduction of MediaFirst Client with a SaaS platform Cloud-based technology enables existing Mediaroom operators to deliver a converged multi-screen experience and respond to the fast-paced video delivery market. MediaFirst provides economics, agility and innovation at the speed of the web using the latest cloud, Continuous Delivery and DevOps technologies.

By leveraging the quality and robustness of the existing Mediaroom platform and merging it with the next generation of UI/UX and the speed of the MediaFirst Cloud Platform, TV operators can now deliver even more engaging and immersive media experiences and increase monetization. Industry research estimates that a content-centric experience can increase ARPU by up to 30%.

The MediaFirst client allows Mediaroom operators to reuse their deployed STB hardware. This eliminates the need to provide additional hardware, delivery and customer support, which can cost over $150 per STB replacement. Through a simple software upgrade to this new client, operators can deliver a converged multi-screen experience, including pay TV in the home, TV everywhere and over the top (OTT) services. The MediaFirst TV platform unifies the consumer experience across devices without any additional integration efforts.

Gowton Achaibar, Chief Operating Officer and Head of R&D at MediaKind, said: "In this new era of media, viewers are constantly seeking more immersive and personalized ways to experience the media content that enriches their lives. For TV providers with legacy STBs, the challenge has always been how to evolve their offering and provide the rich content experiences that consumers expect today, across all their devices. With MediaFirst Client for Mediaroom we have created a simple way for our customers to of Mediaroom make this transition and realize the benefits of the MediaFirst TV platform, with minimal disruption to existing subscriber bases.”

La combinación del cliente MediaFirst para Mediaroom y la plataforma de televisión MediaFirst proporciona a los operadores una reducción significativa de los costes de infraestructura, una mayor eficiencia operativa y una mayor visibilidad en el uso de la plataforma de televisión. El nuevo cliente ofrece a los consumidores la opción de continuar con la experiencia familiar actual o dar el salto a una nueva y envolvente interfaz de usuario.

Los consumidores también se beneficiarán de las características de los medios de comunicación modernos, tales como contenido personalizado (permite a los consumidores encontrar contenido en sus propios términos), análisis avanzado (permite a los operadores monetizar a través de promociones inteligentes, involucrar a los consumidores con pruebas A/B y proporcionar información sobre las necesidades operativas preventivas); control por voz (proporciona a los consumidores nuevas formas de encontrar contenido y de participar en la experiencia televisiva con facilidad a través de mandos a distancia, altavoces inteligentes y teléfonos inteligentes habilitados para voz; y aplicaciones externas (soporta integraciones 3PP como Netflix y YouTube para expandir la experiencia del consumidor en la plataforma).

Several Mediaroom operators already have the client in their labs, plan to launch friendly user tests and bring the new client to their markets soon. The first MediaFirst Client for Mediaroom will launch its service in 2019.