At the end of last year, T-Mobile announced significant changes to its television service, followed a few months later by the PPF group (O2 and Nova) with its Oneplay service. Now it is Vodafone's turn. Similar to Oneplay and France's Canal+, it has decided to launch its own brand of thematic channels.
According to information from MediaGuru.cz, Vodafone plans to launch three programmes under its own brand for the time being. The first two so-called FAST channels have already been launched - these are the Vodafone Comedy channel on channel 42 and the Vodafone CZ SK channel on channel 43. The third channel will follow in the coming days. Starmax is responsible for the content, while Tivio is providing the technical solution. This is a continuation of cooperation with long-standing partners. For example, Tivio recently offered Vodafone a technical solution for a special programme called StarHouse, based on the reality show of the same name broadcast by Prima television. The operator placed this exclusive product in the EPG at programme position 0.
Vodafone launches FAST channels
The pioneer of FAST channels among operators was the internet service Sweet.tv, which expanded to the Czech Republic several years ago from Ukraine. The advantage of these channels is that anyone can watch them, even viewers who are not direct customers. Sweet.tv now has more than forty free channels, but not all of them are in the FAST category. These include, for example, all channels of Česká televize and some programmes without localisation.
FAST channels are a phenomenon of today, which, however, has so far largely avoided our market, although anyone can test them on their smart TV, for example, in services such as Rakuten TV or Plex. FAST channels are purely the domain of internet services because they contain online advertising. Such a station is then beneficial for both sides – the customer gets it for free in exchange for watching ads, and the operator can generate additional revenue or, for example, leverage its own video library.
Magenta TV also ‘sells’ content from its video library
"We have found something that we call synthetic channels to be very successful. It is not a television station in the true sense of the word, because it is not a broadcast, but a video library playlist that is displayed in the programme guide. The station looks like a television programme, but it is our selection of programmes on demand that we show to customers. When viewers click on a programme, they see that they are in the VOD environment and that the content is being played from the video library," she recently described in interview with Digitalk Daniela Zahradníková, head of television content at T-Mobile, how the Kino in Magenta TV programme position works.
The content offered in this form can teach viewers how to use the video library and make it easier for them to enter the world of pay TV. This will naturally be welcomed by older audiences in particular, who have so far been accustomed to using only the basic free terrestrial broadcasts. Exclusive channels have been offered to customers for many years by the operator O2 Czech Republic, now part of the PPF group, which has moved away from the long-standing O2 TV Sport brand and introduced a new brand, Oneplay Sport, this year. Oneplay is now also linked to the service itself and the Oneplay Original titles.
New Vodafone TV environment
Vodafone TV is also set to get a facelift, according to a press release from 3 Screen Solutions (3SS). The Vodafone Group has chosen 3SS and its 3Ready platform to create a new generation of user experience across all markets where Vodafone TV operates, including the Czech Republic. The new platform will deliver better personalisation and easier content addition from various sources, including third-party applications such as Netflix. Thanks to 3Ready, it will be possible to innovate faster and offer users a unified experience across devices and operating systems. The transition to this platform will affect millions of customers in seven European countries.
The advantage of the new platform is not only its scalability, but also the ability to manage content, features and branding in real time from a single location via the 3Ready Control Centre. Users will be able to better tailor the Vodafone TV environment on all devices to their needs and preferences. Super-aggregators such as Vodafone will gain a competitive advantage by being able to offer a personalised experience for different user segments across all screens. The change is seen as a major step towards the future of entertainment, where users will be able to tailor content offerings to their own preferences.
Source: mediaguru.cz