Claro Colombia, the largest mobile operator in its country, has deployed a direct-to-TV solution for its Claro tv+ service that provides consumers with access to a Pay TV experience as the default ‘application’ they see on Samsung television sets, without the need for set-top boxes (or any other external device). The company is using TVkey Cloud, the solution that was jointly defined by NAGRA and Samsung and which harnesses silicon built into the TV set. TVkey Cloud supports an operator-defined UX with integrated security.
The key point about TVkey Cloud is that the Pay TV operator brand is placed front and centre – this is not the operator appearing as one amongst many connected TV apps that are accessed via the app store every time you need it. This is, in effect, a virtual set-top box experience, as if Claro (and other TVkey customers like VTVcab in Vietnam) did have an STB plugged into HDMI1. The programme guide you see is the one belonging to the Pay TV operator. The solution takes full advantage of the Smart TV’s remote control and other built-in features.
Customers of the Claro tv+ service can launch the initial activation process from the Samsung TV app store. But as NAGRA explains to Pay TV providers on its TVkey product page, the app then becomes the primary UX for the Pay TV customers. “Your brand remains visible at all times. Your app will be the first one consumers see when the TV is turned on. Pick the features you want to activate for your subscribers.”
TVkey Cloud takes care of the content security that would normally be managed from a set-top box. The solution complies with the MovieLabs requirements for Enhanced Content Protection of 4K Ultra HD, HDR and early release content.
“We are working together with Samsung and NAGRA to facilitate access to our customers who have Samsung TVs without the need for additional devices. In this way, we reinforce our purpose of enabling customers to watch TV how and when they want, in a simple way and without the need for a receiver,” confirms Rodrigo de Gusmao, Executive Director of Claro Colombia’s Mass Market Unit.
The direct-to-TV launch is the latest part of a multiscreen offering supported by NAGRA that gives access to all Claro entertainment content on a wide choice of devices, including via Android TV.
In Vietnam, VTVcab, one of that country’s largest Pay TV providers, has been using TVkey Cloud to expand subscriber reach by harnessing Samsung Smart TVs as a set-top box replacement. These companies are not the only ones who have been focused on how to provide a Pay TV experience where the operator remains in control of the user experience but without supplying a set-top box.
As we reported recently, Deutsche Telekom is weighing up its options, with Pedro Bandeira, Vice President Product and New Business, Europe, adamant that the company cannot become one app among many on the TV screen, so can only remove the set-top box if it can remain the primary application and UX.
At Connected TV World Summit in March he outlined a vision to become a virtual STB on third-party Smart TVs, in collaboration with the TV makers, or follow the Sky Glass path and design and retail its own television sets. The decision to appear directly on the ‘glass’ is driven by the need to ensure the Pay TV UX sits in front of any other UX on a Smart TV.