Free TV streaming platform launched in South Africa

14 Nov, 2018, 1 comment

TV2GO, a free streaming TV platform with “over 100 channels”, has officially launched in South Africa.

The TV2GO platform – available at www.tv2go.co.za – was first punted for South Africans by Infinivy SA and Cast-TV in October.

TechCentral has now reported that the platform is officially live in the country, and is backed by Infinivy SA and Cast-TV. Jomo Sono was listed as the current president of Infinivy SA.

“TV2GO offers an extraordinary user experience to watch their favourite programs anywhere, anytime, and on any device,” stated the release.”

“TV2GO content lineup features movies, documentary, fashion, martial arts, gaming and kids channels, which can be watched on the SPI network of channels. It also offers live streaming news channels from Euronews and Africanews as well as numerous independent thematic channels and live streaming of local radio stations.”

Duplination, Nov. 9, 2018

Netflix, DStv face Jomo Sono TV2Go, free trial

14 Nov, 2018, No comments

South African football legend plans to become a world hero.

The retired footballer, a single national coach and club owner, Jomo Sono, helped launch a new streaming service in South Africa, which he believes will be the answer to the relatively high data and entertainment costs.

TV2Go is officially launched on November 9th with more than 100 channels including movies, news and music. The free airplane platform reached a deal with Vodacom that would limit the cost of the data and allow Vodacom to upload some of his custom content and ads. Channel revenue comes exclusively from advertising, says Sono.

Sono came across the TV2Go platform in Israel and teamed up with Israel's cast TV to bring the concept of "free TV" in South Africa. He launched Infinivy, the platform for digital entertainment early this year. Infinivy owns 26% of South African TV2Go, while Cast TV owns the rest.

Cast TV already has a presence in Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic. With Sono, they plan to launch TV2Go in Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia. But first, their goal is for the next few months 100,000 subscribers to the South African Republic.

Even with VodaCom partnership, the enthusiasm of Sono and TV2Go can be influenced by the reality of high data costs. For several years, South Africans have complained about the cost of mobile data in the country, setting up social campaigns in the dark and even approaching parliament.

Then there is a problem of content. TV2Go can be free, but it goes against DSTV that has monopolized television and film content, the rapidly growing presence of Netflix and the well-established Amazon Prime and Hulu libraries, all starting to play for the African market.

Quartz Africa, Nov. 9th, 2018

https://www.facebook.com/tv2goza/

www.tv2go.co.za

Jomo Launches Free TV Streaming Service Called 'TV2GO'

14 Nov, 2018, No comments

According to www.702.co.za, the service is said to have more than 100 channels, and will get its revenue from advertising.

It’s also been reported that Infinivy SA, a company the "Black Prince" is the owner and president of, owns 26% of the channel, while an Israeli company called Cast-TV owns the rest of the services stakes.

TV2GO are also reportedly targeting 500 000 viewers within a year, with users needing only an internet connection to access the service.

Check it out!

Soccer Laduuuuuma! Nov. 9th, 20118

How Jomo Sono plans to change the game with free TV streaming service

14 Nov, 2018, No comments

Should DStv, Netflix and Showmax be worried about Jomo Sono's latest business venture?

Local soccer boss and popular football veteran Jomo Sono is going where no other has dared to go before.

Teaming up with Israeli business Cast-TV, Sono has launched a free TV streaming platform called TV2GO, which will give viewers access to over 100 channels of free content, ranging from movies, educational material and kiddies’ movies, to gospel music, sports, and religion, spirituality and reality shows, among others.

Speaking to Talk Radio 702, Sono said the business venture had been two years in the making and had come about following a business trip to Israel where he was first introduced to TV2GO. Given the many layers of costs involved in broadcast TV – whether through a traditional TV set via paid-for satellite TV through subscription, to a service like DStv or Open View (where you also have to pay for an annual TV licence) or online streaming services that require you to pay a monthly subscription fee, TV2GO is different because it’s completely free.

“There is no subscription. You just have to buy data, get a link and watch whatever you want,” he says.

Sono’s Infinity SA owns a 26% stake in TV2GO and he says the business makes its money strictly from advertising revenue.

His bigger vision for the streaming service is to introduce a focus on local sports and music legends to ensure that our local talent and heroes aren’t forgotten once they retire.

In its testing phase, TV2GO garnered 30 000 viewers during its soft launch period and the target is to reach 500 000 viewers by the end of 2019.

Visit: www.tv2go.co.zo to check it out and let us know your thoughts.

DESTNYMAN, Nov 12, 2018

5 things you need to know about SA's new TV streaming platform

14 Nov, 2018, No comments

TV2GO, South Africa's free TV streaming platform has gone live, and is ready to compete against industry giants DStv and Netflix for a slice of the broadcast audience pie. And the best thing about it is that it's free.

Here are 5 things you need to know about TV2GO

Jomo Sono - the media mogul

Football club owner and entrepreneur Jomo Somo's company, Infinivy SA, holds a 26 per cent stake in the TV2GO streaming service with the remaining 74 per cent belonging to Cast-TV, an Israeli entity.

Though Sono has cemented his place in the South African history books as a bona fide football genius, there's clearly another side to him.

His businesses and investments include shares in Paint and Ladders, which manufacture paint and scaffolding material, and a 30 per cent ownership of Midas, a well-known car parts supplier.

"I'm not scared of taking chances. I'll take a risk on any business," he has previously said.

It's a freebie!

Speaking to 702, Sono explained: "You don't have to subscribe. You just buy data, click on the link and watch whatever you want."

He added that this new-kid-on-the-block venture would only generate revenue from advertisers.

Channels galore

The platform offers more than 100 channels, including African Truth and SA Chronicles,which boast locally produced content.

The Iscathamiya and Umbhaqanga music channels prioritise showcasing African talent.

People with an appetite for current affairs but have had enough of the sad stories can click on the Good News channel, which is dedicated to positive stories.

Anytime, anywhere viewing experience

One does not need to buy a decoder or any other connectivity device to enjoy TV2GO.

Viewers can simply tune into the platform on any device they use to access the internet including mobile phones.

If you use a cellphone to surf the net, TV2GO is literally like carrying a TV in your pocket.

30,000 people already choose TV2GO

Prior to the official launch in Sandton on Thursday, TV2GO tested the waters with a soft launch with garnered 30,000 viewers.

The aim is to reach 500,000 viewers within the next twelve months.

With a promise to add more content and refresh content regularly, TV2GO looks set to make a lasting mark in the media and broadcast industry.

Sunday Times, Nov. 12, 2018

Jomo Sono to honour SA legends via online TV

12 Nov, 2018, 1 comment

Jomo Cosmos owner and coach Jomo Sono has entered into a joint venture with an Israeli company in a bid to help preserve the stories of South Africa’s football icons.

This week, Sono launched TV2GO, an online free television streaming service, complete with 100 channels carrying diverse content ranging from sport, fashion and news to music, gaming and finance – and a lot more besides.

“The idea came about two years ago, when I was in Israel looking for business opportunities,” Sono (63) told City Press during a low-key launch of the platform in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Thursday.

TECHNOLOGY IS CONTROLLING THE WORLD THESE DAYS, SO IT WAS A GOOD DECISION TO VENTURE INTO THIS MARKET.

Jomo Sono

Sono is president of Infinivy SA, which is a part owner of the platform, together with Israeli firm Cast-TV, which provides the technology.

“When I joined this company, it gave me an idea: ‘Why can’t I create a channel for our sports legends, where their stories can be told and their history preserved?’ The sad thing is, when you retire in South Africa, no one cares about you any more,” said Sono.

Sono said the fact that his club, Jomo Cosmos, previously had a dedicated TV channel on pay-broadcaster SuperSport also influenced his latest business venture.

“Cosmos had its own channel, but when we got relegated [at the end of the 2015/16 season] it was stopped.”

There is already a Cosmos channel on TV2GO and there will soon be a separate platform reserved for our soccer icons’ stories.

I WANT TO HAVE ALL THE GREATS IN THIS COUNTRY FEATURED. WE WILL EVEN GO OVERSEAS TO TRY TO RETRIEVE THE FOOTAGE OF [THE LATE] ACE NTSOELENGOE PLAYING

Jomo Sono

“People still want to compare me to Ntsoelengoe, but there isn’t enough video material to show our history.

“I want to do the same for legends such as Mlungisi ‘Professor’ Ngubane because people in KwaZulu-Natal see him overweight these days and think he never played football.”

Sono said the project was not only about football: “We offer a variety of channels, including a music channel featuring the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, as well as a boxing channel featuring legendary fighters such as Jacob ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala and Peter ‘Terror’ Mathebula.”

The larger-than-life Sono said TV2GO did not have the rights to show live programmes as yet. And, although consumers do not pay subscription fees, they do have to fork out for data costs.

Sono’s business partner, Infinivy chief executive Yaron Chen, explained: “There are no hidden fees for all network customers on 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. It’s a new market, and it’s for free.

“When we met Jomo and showed him the TV2GO project, he said: ‘I can bring free TV to my people.’ Since last year, we’ve implemented a huge operation with more than 100 channels. We are affiliated with Vodacom, which will do all the marketing for us.”

City Press, Nov. 11, 2018

Free streaming service launched in South Africa

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

A new video streaming service has been launched in South Africa. Named TV2GO, the service is free and does not require users to subscribe.

Unlike its competition iSouth Africa, namely Netflix and Showmax, all a viewer needs to access TV2Go's 100 plus channels is an Internet connection, there is no need to sign-up, register or pay a subscription fee.

“Our goal is to bring free TV to the people," said Jomo Sono, President of Infinivy South Africa (the company behind TV2GO)".

How the video streaming service works

Firstly, the video streaming service features a variety of content like movies, documentaries, fashion shows, martial arts, gaming and kids channels. Added to that there is also live streaming news channels such as Euronews and Africanews as well as numerous independent thematic channels and live streaming of local radio stations.

The service free to view and all users have to do currently is visit the TV2GO website and select the channels they want to watch. You still have to pay for your data (Internet connection) costs the same way you would when streaming videos on YouTube or Vimeo. How TV2GO makes money is through advertising, viewers will be subjected to a mximum of 8 advertisements during every thre hour viewing period.

Furthermore, the company is involved in exploratory talks with South African telecommunications company, Vodacom, to explore ways it can offer the content through the Vodacom app. This will also include specific vouchers for TV2GO viewing on the Vodacom network, similar to what MTN is doing with Jay-Z's music streaming service, TIDAL, across Afrika.

Business model

As mentioned, the business model is nothing new but the age old ad-supported business model of many Internet media companies. Infinivy cites the IAB/PWC Report of 2017 which states that digital ad spending in South Africa grew by 36% over the last 12 months to R3,4 Billion with mobile driving this growth, posting a 60% year-on-year increase in online ad spending, and a 22% increase in search spending, as one of the main reasons they are launching the service.

"Infinivy believes in embracing the Free Advertising Generated Income business model for its maximum monetization and scalability capacity, while offering Freemium TV, an unnumbered quality of free diverse linear and non-linear channels to the users. Combined with its aggressive Revenue Sharing plan with its telcos partners, this model guarantees a Win-Win formula all parties."

Will it succeed?

"That's a difficult question to answer. Ultimately an ad-supported media business survives mainly on its ability to generate content that attracts enough people to receive enough advertising revenue to cover costs and make profit to grow".

iAfrican, Nov. 9th, 2018

Yet another video streaming service, TV2GO, launches in South Africa; free online streamer will try to compete with Netflix SA, Showmax and Amazon Prime Video.

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

Yet another video streaming service, TV2GO, plans to launch in South Africa and will try to succeed where several already failed as it will compete with other already-available subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Naspers' Showmax run by MultiChoice, Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video, and some smaller services.

The former South African soccer player Jomo Sono is behind TV2GO that is currently busy with a "trial broadcast", with his Infinivy SA owning a 26% stake in TV2GO and the Israeli company Cast-TV owning the other 74%, headed up by Yaron Chen.

Infinivy SA and Cast-TV has the ambitious target of wanting to sign up 500 000 TV2GO viewers within a year in a market where VIDI, the Altech Node and PCCW Global's disastrous ONTAPtv.com along with several others have already spectacularly failed.

TV2GO is streaming through the web without any app and is offering viewers around 100 linear TV channels and VOD content for free. Users are subjected to advertising as the service's only formof revenue. TV2GO plans to also launch in the African countries of Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia within months.

The content streaming quality will depend on the broadband speed of users, and will range from low to as high as 1080p, depending on what video quality a channel is available in.

No specific channels or channel list for TV2GO has been announced, but Infinivy SA says TV2GO will "features movies, documentary, fashion, martial arts, gaming and kids channels" and will include streaming of TV news channels like euronews and africanews.

On the TV2GO site at www.tv2go.co.za, the service lists a channels carousel under various categories.

It ranges from Entertainment (FilmBox Extra, FashionBox, DocuBox, Fast&FunBox, FilmArthouseBox, GameToonBox, Lit Lifestyle, Veggies R Us, Best Life Luxury Channel, Fashion, Foodies, VICE, Munchies, Movember, That's the Tea, Wow!), to Education (African Truth, SA Chronicles, Exploring Africa, Safe Haven, A Man's World, World Changers, A Doccie a Day, Conspiracy, Crime), and Fun (Motor Channel, Drag Racing, Fashion Hacks, LOL TV, LFF, Gaming, Christians Laugh, Halloween).

The channels carousel includes Indian channels (Venus, Songs Bollywood, Bollywood Bai), Kids (Kids Play, Happy babies, WYZE MINDZ, Family Channel, Creative Mindz), Music (Iscathamiya, Umbhaqanga), News (euronews, africanews, Current Affairs, Good News, World News, Global Business, Authentic News), and Religion (Evidence of Christ, Christianity Today, Kingdom of Heaven, Youth in Christ, Bible Stories for Kids, Faith on Film, Islam, Judaism).

Under Sport it lists Basketball Channel, RedBull, Off-Road, WorldTVSport, Boxing, Cricket, Golf Channel, FightBox, Rugby Channel, Jomo Cosmos Ezenkosi, Football Channel, Athletics, and under the Science header it has Gadgets and Science.

Spirituality channels on TV2GO include Serenity, Divinity and Motiv8!.

TV with Thinus, Nov. 8th, 2018

Tomorrow’s TV arrives today with launch of TV2GO

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

Touted as a free platform for everyone, TV2GO is a new amalgamation platform that sources content from various places, including linear channels, music channels, and several internet video sharing sites, including YouTube and Vimeo.

The channels cover a vast array of categories including news, finance, religion, sport, children, music, and more. The content is refreshed every two months and much of it has been adapted to the local market, including some Zulu language programming.

“The content is unique for this platform. We adapt the content and the linear channels to the people in the market,” comments Yaron Chen, CEO of Infinivy.

As long as the user has an internet connection and data to stream, they can watch TV2GO content on their laptop, smart television, tablet or mobile device, anytime, anywhere.

Soccer legend, Jomo Sono, president of Infinivy, was instrumental in bringing the platform to South Africa. He explains how TV2GO will change the local content market and why people will tune in to watch:

No subscriptions, only data costs

The platform is free in the sense that users don’t pay any subscription fees, but they still have to pay for data costs.

Vodacom has partnered with TV2GO and is exploring ways to bring the content to its customers in a more seamless way. These include affordable vouchers for viewing, and embedding the platform in the Vodacom app.

“The trick is to listen to the people and ask the question of what do they want to see. What is the channel that they would watch? It’s about opening up the communication with the people and asking them what they want to see and then putting it on the platform,” explains Sindy Snow, digital advertising project manager at Vodacom.

People can answer this question and give content recommendations on TV2GO’s Facebook page.

For the company and its partners, the platform will make money through pre-roll adverts, with four to eight slots planned per three hour viewing window. The team is taking aim at any brand that is a potential advertiser that has money.

No competitors

Chen believes there are no direct competitors to TV2GO www.tv2go.co.za as “there’s no free television in the South African market” and because “it’s a new concept all over the world”. But he sees pay-TV as an indirect competitor. He also admits that Netflix and Amazon have a huge library of videos and movies, and he sees them as complementary to TV2GO, rather than competitors, because the offerings are different.

How TV2GO arrived in South Africa

The journey began to years ago when Sono visited Israel on business. He saw TV2GO on the television, in the office he was visiting and upon finding out more information about it, believed it would be a perfect fit for South African audiences.

The technology behind the platform was developed five years ago by Israeli firm Cast-TV. Since then it has brought it to several markets outside of Israel, including Russia, Romania, Czech Republic, and now South Africa.

Plans are in place in the near future to introduce the platform to three other African markets, including Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Officially launched one month ago, TV2GO already has 30 000 users in South Africa.

The Media Online, Nov. 9th, 2018

Jomo Sono behind new South African free TV platform

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

South African soccer legend Jomo Sono, president of Infinivy SA, is behind a new free-to-air Internet streaming platform in South Africa called TV2GO, offering viewers over 100 linear channels and on-demand content.

Infinivy SA owns 26% of TV2GO, with Israeli firm Cast-TV, which provides the technology behind the system, owning the remaining 74%. The company is headed by Cast-TV shareholder Yaron Chen, who will divide his time equally between Israel and South Africa.

Cast-TV plans to launch in another three African countries “soon”. They are Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. It has already launched streaming services in Russia, Israel, Romania and the Czech Republic.

The TV2GO platform, which streams via the Web rather than dedicated apps, offers a wide range of programming, from general entertainment to sport and religion, tailored to South African audiences, Chen said at a media launch in Sandton on Thursday. Included is the Jomo Cosmos soccer channel, owned by Sono.

The platform has already been soft launched and has had 30 000 viewers to date. Chen wants to grow this to half a million within the next 12 months. The platform is supported with advertising, with viewers likely to see up to eight advertisements for every three hours of viewing.

It can be accessed via mobile phones, tablets and Internet-connected TVs and works on both mobile and fixed-line connections. Streaming bitrates are adaptive, so those viewing using a cellular connection will consume less data. Those with faster fixed-line connections such as fibre will get content streamed in either 720p or 1080p quality (depending on the channel).

TV2GO is launching with Vodacom, which has undertaken to market it. The mobile operator plans to offer entertainment “tickets” for customers to consume video, radio and streaming music on the platform.

Chen said TV2GO plans to add more content over time and will refresh its existing channels every two months. There is a plan to bring education channels to the platform, adapted for the local education system.

TechCentral, Nov. 8th, 2018

Free-To-Air TV Service ‘TV2GO’ Takes Off in South Africa, Set to Challenge Satellite TV Viewing

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

There has been plenty of discussions about the future of TV since the start of the year. As video streaming continues to stand on more solid ground, traditional TV and satellite providers are losing ground fast.

Now a new threat has emerged to increase that pressure even further. South African company, infinivy SA has just launched TV2GO, a free-to-air TV platform. The platform is completely web based, uses no decoder and has no app presently. The platform is accessible via mobile phone browsers, tablets, and even internet-enabled TV devices.

Currently, the completely web-based TV platform has over 100 linear and on-demand channels for viewing. Its channels range from general entertainment, sports and religion.

The platform currently has content for the South African market only. Nonetheless, Infinity SA plans to increase its offerings and expand the service to other African countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. These three countries represent not just some of Africa’s largest economies, but they also possess the continent’s highest populations.

Interestingly, unlike other internet TV platforms, TV2GO doesn’t use a subscription model for revenue generation. Instead, it plans to make money from advertising. It explains that for every three hours of viewing, users may see up to eight adverts. This seems like a workable plan, considering income levels across African countries.

Jomo Sono’s Infinivy SA owns 26% of TV2GO with Israeli company Cast-TV owning 75%.Included on the platform's channels bouquet is the Jomo Cosmos soccer channel, owned by Sono.

Jomo Sono takes on DStv, Netflix, Showmax with free TV streaming service TV2GO

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

Jomo Sono at a South African Football Associations meeting. Taurai Maduna/ Eyewitness News.

You don’t have to subscribe. You just buy data, click on the link and watch whatever you want to watch… We get revenue only from advertising.
— Jomo Sono

[When does it start?] Today!
— Jomo Sono

South African soccer legend-of-legends Jomo Sono is launching a free streaming service – called TV2GO - in South Africa with more than 100 channels.

Sono’s Infinivy SA owns 26% of TV2GO with Israeli company Cast-TV owning the rest.

Infinivy SA and Cast-TV are targeting 500 000 viewers within a year.

Ray White (in for The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield) interviewed Sono.

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

702 Radio, Nov. 8th, 2018

Free TV streaming platform with 100 channels launched in South Africa

11 Nov, 2018, No comments

TV2GO, a free streaming TV platform with “over 100 channels”, has officially launched in South Africa.

The TV2GO platform – available at www.tv2go.co.za – was first punted for South Africans by Infinivy SA and Cast-TV in October.

TechCentral has now reported that the platform is officially live in the country, and is backed by Infinivy SA and Cast-TV. Jomo Sono was listed as the current president of Infinivy SA.

“TV2GO offers an extraordinary user experience to watch their favourite programs anywhere, anytime, and on any device,” stated the release.

“TV2GO content line-up features movies, documentary, fashion, martial arts, gaming, and kids channels, which can be watched on the SPI network of channels.”

Radio channels and music are also listed on the platform.

When tested by MyBroadband, the platform groups channels into categories, with tiles showing the channel names. A player window is then shown in the top-right, and can be made fullscreen.

Some of the channels were also seen carrying YouTube watermarks.

Additionally, if users have an ad-blocker installed, the following message is displayed and access to the page is prevented.

Oops… looks like you haven’t removed your AdBlock. In order to enjoy your full free access, please have your AdBlock for this site removed. Then refresh this page or press F5 key

MyBroadband, Nov. 8th, 2018

Free TV for South Africa

18 Oct, 2018, 12 comments

The wait is finally over – South Africans can now access and enjoy FREE TV like never before. With over 100 channels of quality diverse content, TV2GO offers an extraordinary user experience to watch their favorite programs anywhere, anytime and on any device. And the best part is that it’s totally FREE 24/7/365, without any hidden fees for all network customers and on 3G, 4G and wifi.

TV2GO content lineup features movies, documentary, fashion, martial arts, gaming and kids channels, which can be watched on the SPI network of channels. It also offers live streaming news channels from Euronews and Africa News as well as numerous independent thematic channels and live streaming of local radio stations.

Led by Mr. Jomo Sono South Africa’s former football legend and current president of Infinivy SA, the technology company behind the platform and user interface, TV2GO presents a game changer that has the promise to break the mold of the current TV market in South Africa by delivering a FREE TV product. “Our goal is to bring FREE TV to the people”, said Sono. Get ready to be amazed with TV2GO Free TV www.tv2go.co.za.

IT News Africa, Oct. 25th, 2018

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2018/10/free-tv-is-here-for-south-africa/

IPTV Drives Multiple Devices

3 May, 2018, 2 comments

Consumers taking control and making their own prime-time schedule on multiple devices each night of the week is a theme being explored in an educational opportunity at NABSHOW. NABSHOW billed as the ultimate event for the media, entertainment and technology industry, taking place in Las Vegas between the 7th and the 12th of April, 2018.

The latest research from Parks Associates reveals that these video access devices include TVs, computers, tablets, and smartphones. Nearly 40% of broadband households now subscribe to multiple OTT video services.

Consumers have now elevated their streaming content expectations and demand access to their high-quality content on any platform, at any location.

IPTV integrators and solution specialists are now in a pivotal position to be delivering integrated services for the home or enterprise.

“Demand for connected AV experiences is opening new business opportunities for integrators and companies that can provide expert managed services across multiple platforms and locations,” advised Elizabeth Parks, SVP, Parks Associates.

Cast-TV offers a customizable OTT content to meet the individual needs of each user, formatted for multiple devices. Through its smart video crawlers deployed on OTT platforms (such as youtube), Cast-TV extract relevant video content for which it can create 24/7 thematic channels from various realms of interest, whether it be an extreme sports channel, Do-it-Yourself channel or a collection of documentaries related to certain topics, and more.

Demand for Richer Content Driving Telcos to Provide a Cloud Based server Solution

25 Apr, 2018, No comments

Content remains as one of the main differentiating factors and spend to secure exclusive rights continues to soar placing added pressure on operator's margins.

Consumer expenditure on entertainment content is poised to reach US$439 billion globally by 2021 according to research from Future source Consulting. The latest Global Entertainment Content Outlook report calculates that this would represent a 17% increase from 2017.

Video consumption patterns are rapidly changing. Consumers seek a more personalized experience with greater control of when, where and on what devices they view video entertainment and information. These shifts in video consumption are altering the dynamics of the industry and opening up opportunities for service providers to offer subscribers a unique and unified experience.

The emergence of IP connectivity as a dominant video delivery path puts telcos and IPTV providers in an optimal position to ascend the video distribution value chain. Large subscriber bases, established billing and service infrastructures and – in many cases – existing IP-based video services naturally position telcos as next-generation distributors of linear, time-shifted and on-demand content.

Cast-TV can help telcos and IPTV operators expand and enhance their video distribution capabilities. Our cloud-based video aggregation and distribution solutions, along with advanced advertising management capabilities, allow telcos to expand existing service portfolios and explore new monetization opportunities. By Cast-TV solution can drastically reduce capital, operational and service expenses associated with home-based solutions, enabling telcos to offer subscribers access to all of their video content from inside or outside the home. In addition, our market-leading and standards-based compression technologies and video head-end solutions enable telcos to improve bandwidth efficiency and realize dramatic reductions in operational overhead.

Transforming Pay-TV with IPTV Security Solutions

4 Dec, 2017, No comments

Next-generation Pay-TV customers expect more flexibility in their Pay-TV services and are increasingly cutting the cord to save money.

To be successful in today’s market, operators must offer a rich user experience with a variety of ways to consume television content with time-shift TV, VOD, search and recommendations, third-party streaming services and PVR delivered to a multitude of devices. Adapting quickly to market changes and launching new services ahead of the competition while keeping costs under control is increasingly important.

As operators are seeking to capitalize on the revenue opportunities presented by IPTV, one of the challenges they face is content protection. Content security is still hugely important when acquiring the most attractive content, protecting the service from ransom attacks and ensuring the quality of service. To safeguard against content infringement, Cast-TV offers a three-layer security solution:

1) Network - DDOS Security

2) User Identification

3) Content Encryption

Cast-TV is the leading expert in developing customized IPTV technology solutions for telcos and providing and end-end solution encompassing a customizable platform, a wide variety of live streaming and VOD content, a CRM system designed for synchronized billing, as well as first level 24/7 maintenance and support.

Viewers Will Stream 47 Minutes of Video Per Day in 2017

20 Nov, 2017, No comments

Streaming time will shoot up this year, and a dramatic increase in mobile viewing is the reason why. Viewing time for non-mobile devices is flat.

Global viewers will average 47.4 minutes of online video viewing in 2017, forecasts media buying agency Zenith. That's up from 39.6 minutes the previous year. Nearly all of that increase will come from mobile devices, where online video viewing will grow from 35 percent to 28.8 minutes per day. Looking ahead, it should grow another 25 percent in 2018 and 29 percent in 2019 thanks to an increased use of mobiles, better screens, and faster mobile connectivity.

Viewing time on non-mobile devices (including connected TVs, desktop computers, and laptops) will grow only 2 percent in 2017 to 18.6 minutes per day. Within that area, Zenith sees connected TV streaming time rising, while desktop and laptop viewing times are decreasing. Viewing times on non-mobile devices will actually shrink by 1 percent in 2018 and 2 percent in 2019.

This data comes from Zenith's Online Video Forecasts 2017, and includes all online video sources such as video sharing sites and subscription services. In 2019, mobile devices will make up 72 percent of all online video viewing, Zenith says, up from 61 percent in 2017.

IS TV DEAD?

16 Oct, 2017, No comments

IPTV is making a name in Broadcasting

August 1^st, 2017

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is expanding yet not harmful typical broadcasters. The electronic transformation will certainly be led by businesses that look past the conventional service design and also by those that doubt the current electronic broadcasting status while concentrating on their target markets. Also conventional program media is making a strong impact, in spite of the stamina of IPTV streaming and also the acceleration of the linked globe.

Mark Wilson-Dunn, Vice Head of state of BT Media and also Broadcasting Enterprises stated merging is everything about adaptability. “The fact is that IPTV, of web as well as internet TELEVISION is an extremely tiny component of exactly what broadcasting is as well as constantly has actually been.

“Nonetheless, it is expanding as well as extremely rapidly. Broadcasters need to place frameworks in position, which permit you to adjust and also accept the brand-new innovations. TELEVISION is still most likely to be the favored technique of seeing the excellent films and also showing off occasions, however if you’re stuck on a train someplace or in a flight terminal lounge after that you’re viewing tablet computers or phones” he claimed.

Many telcos today require custom IPTV systems that are fully integrated with their own custom billing systems, custom IPTV offerings, and multiple packages for subscribers.