How India’s Top News Network Forayed the TV App Space with VPlayed
News is a dynamic sector that is evergreen and something that is always anticipated for mass viewing. From print to digital, the means of distributing “happening content” has come a long way and today’s businesses are rapidly adopting the same.
Furthermore, cord-cutting continues to surge, leaving viewers to look forward to streaming as their prime source of content consumption making TV apps increasingly popular among Indian households.
In line with this, a go-to name and the country’s only 24*7 live news providers made one of the smartest moves to bring their service to TV apps by partnering with VPlayed to deliver the best news streaming experiences to its 150 million + weekly viewer base.
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More About the Country’s Renowned News Network
Incepted in 1998, this crowd-favorite was greatly welcomed across the length and breadth of the country within years, leading to the network further launching 5 other sister channels in a number of regional languages like Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali besides English.
A few years down the lane, the broadcast firm stepped up its offerings on the Internet with its own web channel. Today, the network broadcasts content from a wide range of sectors; business, entertainment, politics, and cryptocurrency, to name a few.
This eventually turned a once free-to-air channel into a digital corridor of news updates, both live and on-demand.
A Leap into TV Apps with VPlayed
The “connected smart TV” penetration is peaking across wifi-backed consumer households in Pan India and it was highly vital for our client to step foot into television apps.
Moreover, with audiences increasingly looking for digital mediums to consume news and entertainment content, the business expansion called for a secure and reliable solution in video streaming and monetizing, VPlayed, to expand its legacy on different platforms to ramp up viewership quickly and effectively in the online streaming space.
Swift integrations were made, ferrying their services into Android TV, Firestick TV, Apple TV, LG TV, and iPad.
Feature Wise Inclusions:
Phase I: Aesthetics & Viewer Experience Was Focused Upon
Considering the importance of a befitting first impression, we began by including the “logo splash screen” (app launch animation) for a smooth transition into the app.
Further, to choose from the different regional news channels available, language selection options were included in the frontend design.
Moving on to the home screen, we incorporated Live Linear TV for 24*7 broadcasts followed by segmented categories that lists the latest videos, TV shows, and Platform Originals/ Specials, from the APIs shared with us.
Additionally, for enhanced viewer experience, features like
- Continue Watching
- My Favorites
- Watch History (Based on device activity)
- Platform Switching
- Theme Changing options were built-in in the most compelling manner.
Phase II: Monetization & Platform-Specific Customizations
Ads have always been a highly rewarding means of monetization for our client and in the next phase of integrations, we implemented provisions for pre-roll ads. This was done keeping in mind increased engagement and high ad visibility in the different TV platforms delivered.
Secondly, for increased engagement, one of the most popular attributes in modern OTTs and social media forums, the “Video autoplay” option was introduced wherein videos play automatically upon scrolling. This was customized specifically for iPad in addition to the landscape orientation feature for full-screen viewing.
India’s News Conglomerate X VPlayed:
With significant customizations and inclusions over VPlayed’s default streaming solution integrated over a diverse range of platforms, our news patron has effectively penetrated the TV app market, adding another feather to its cap.
Business Outcomes:
- 50K+ app downloads across platforms
- Increased viewership in the TV app segment
- Amplified engagement with a growing user base
- Secure streaming experience for its thousands of TV app audiences
News broadcast is a competitive landscape and conventional distribution channels are discovering new ways to reach the fastly-digitizing audience base. In this line, the alliance with VPlayed to enter the TV app segment is a highly cognitive move that has resulted in delivering minute-by-minute happenings and updates reaching a wider base of news enthusiasts.