New Zealand’s digital
terrestrial TV provider Freeview NZ has developed an HbbTV service and app that
allows viewers to connect from any device at any time.
Switch Media was
commissioned to facilitate the creation and delivery of an end-to-end HbbTV
service, allowing users to watch live streaming and on-demand content.
One of Freeview NZ’s
requirements was that content from every channel on the platform could be
viewed via one app rather than switching between individual broadcaster apps,
creating a huge catalogue of content that can be accessed and viewed on any device.
To aggregate the
data, Switch Media ingests the EPG schedules from each broadcaster on the
platform, then associates the catch-up on-demand metadata and programme imagery
via its content API (CAPI).
Broadcasters are
given access to CAPI in order to publish their VOD catalogues. The app then
directly interfaces with the CAPI public interface to present the catalogue as
a unified library, displaying the content by popularity, featured shows, genre
and channels.
The details for
each show are displayed in a “Show Page”, featuring a description, the hero
image, seasons and episode carousels.
Content carousels are a key component
of the HbbTV app interface. They implement complex business rules to enable
agreed distribution of broadcaster content amongst programmatically driven
carousels.
Prior to Freeview
NZ, Switch Media launched Freeview Australia’s award-winning app called
Freeview Plus, allowing Australian viewers to watch live streaming of 16 TV
channels and catch-up content from the free-to-air networks.
What
differentiates the two is that when the users turn on their TV, the Freeview NZ
app loads automatically and replaces the TV’s built-in EPG.
Since the launch of the Freeview NZ app, Switch Media has also continued to roll out new features. The company has just completed a reference app for HbbTV 2.0 specification, which TV manufacturers will use to test their devices to ensure quality and feature compliance.