Typical D2C Streaming Service Requirements & Technologies

Kauser Kanji
March 27, 2023
Typical D2C Streaming Service Requirements & Technologies

What front-end features – and related backend technologies – do you want for your OTT services? 

The answer here has changed over time as products have evolved in sophistication, technology and in catering to customer expectations.

In 2013, for example, Holly Knill, the then Head of Sky Go in the UK, told VOD Professional that:

Two years ago people came to IBC [the International Broadcasting Convention hosted annually in Amsterdam] armed with a big toolbox - they knew they needed to build a whole range of things. This year, it feels like they’ve come only with a screwdriver – they know, very specifically, what they want to do.

For Matt Westrup, SVP Technology & Operations at A+E Networks EMEA, at the outset of the broadcaster’s project to launch a new D2C for their Crime + Investigation brand in 2021, 

We needed, amongst other things, a player, an OVP (online video platform), a CDN (or multiple CDNs), analytics, a payment gateway and, of course, the user interface…

Here’s a list of the most common technology (front and backend) requirements, that we've seen in various RFIs / RFPs over the past couple of years. It’s fairly comprehensive and may serve as a foundation for your own thinking.

Note: for each option, and especially when evaluating end-to-end or white-label solutions, we usually ask whether the capability/feature comes a) straight out of the box, b) from a pre-integrated vendor partner, c) or from a NON-pre-integrated vendor partner. 

This then allows us – and you - to create weighting models to help compare solutions.

Section 1: Content

Asset Management

CDN

CMS (incl. Workflow)

DRM

Encode / Transcode

Ingest

Live-to-VOD

Metadata enhancement (manual / automated)

QA / QC

Scheduling

Security / Watermarking

Simulcast

Storage & Servers


Section 2: UI / UX

4K

Analytics

Automated / scheduled carousels

Auto-play next episode

A-Z

Charts

Content recommendation (collaborative-based filtering)

Content recommendation (content-based filtering)

Content recommendation (hybrid incl. human curation)

Content recommendation (incl. social networks)

Customisable layout (rails, hero banners, featured content etc.)

Download to device

Favourites

HD 

In-app notifications

Media Player

Playlists

Search

Sync across devices (SSO)


Section 3: Monetisation

AVOD (Ad Management & DAI)

Payment Provision

PPV (one-off payment)

Premium VOD

PVOD / TVOD (variable rental)

SVOD


Section 4: Multi-Tenant

Local Controls

Multilingual support

Sub-brands based on primary product


Section 5: Subscriber Management

Basic CRM (contacts database)

Advanced CRM (includes CRM reqmts above and lets us communicate directly with customers)

Analytics

Customer Service - via email

Customer Service - via live chat

Customer Service - via telephone

D2C billing

D2C marketing

Data sharing

Intermediate CRM (allows us to identify cohorts by customer type, country, subs status etc.)


Section 6: Platforms

Channels (B2B2C e.g. Amazon Fire Channel)

Games Consoles (PS4, 5, Xbox 3, 4)

Smart TV (Samsung, Sony, LG)

Smartphones (iOS, Android)

STB (Amazon Fire stick, Chromecast, Roku, NOW TV)

Tablets (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire)

Web

Source: https://www.vodprofessional.com/

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This blog marks the second blog post of a five-part series. Keep an eye out for future posts covering the ins and outs of planning and constructing D2C services!

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