Editor’s note: In this interview with Frans Blommestein, CCO of MwareTV, we talk to them about their innovative TV-as-a-Service product, their vision, roadmap, and the features that they have in store for display at NAB 2023.
If you are at NAB 2023 in Las Vegas, you can set up a meeting with the MwareTV team in booth W1367 by clicking here.
Frans Blommestein was born and is living in the Netherlands and is one of the founders of MwareTV in 2011. Currently, his role is Chief Commercial Officer. After his MBA, he worked for companies in investment banking (Media and Telecommunications focus), media (Nethold/Filmnet, Canal Plus), and the technology service industry (ISPs, data service). He was on the board of directors of several companies in the mentioned industries. He is married, has 3 kids studying at university, loves to sport (jogging, cycling, skiing), and enjoys having dinners with family and friends. He is a big fan of the books, ’The Culture Map’ written by Erin Meyer and ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan Holliday.
Thank you, Frans, for joining us for this interview. Can you tell our audience about MwareTV and what solutions you provide?
MwareTV makes TV simple.
We offer all the technology behind the screens, from apps for customers to the management of your TV and Video on Demand service.
Of course, apps on mobile, tablet, smart TVs, media players, and webTV, the heart of the service, the TV Management System (to manage the content, product, subscriber management, billing, and access management), and solutions for content delivery/streaming.
MwareTV is the one-stop shop for ISPs, MVNOs, other companies in the telecommunications market, MDUs, and companies that would like to monetize their video content catalog.
You recently announced plans to expand to the US market by partnering with a US content provider. How many national and regional television channels are available through this partnership, and how does this benefit customers?
Yes, indeed, the managed IPTV service offers more than 200 national and regional channels. This partnership allows us to offer a very viable feature to our customers. The big advantage is that just one contract must be signed instead of negotiating with each broadcaster. This allows our customers to go live quickly with a large content library.
The managed IPTV service runs on the MwareTV platform. Apps, streaming, and management of service are all covered. With this combination, the service can be launched in weeks.
It really is a “TV as a Service.”
Can you explain how MwareTV’s new platform will rapidly enable ISPs to launch their TV service? What’s the estimated time to market you provide for launching such a service?
With the TV-as-a-Service approach, ISPs could launch their service in a couple of weeks after signing the contract.
The service itself is ready in about a week. Publishing of the Apps and, if needed, integration with the ISP’s billing system takes a bit more time.
Our experience has also shown that preparing & planning marketing campaigns is key to successfully launching.
Can you tell us some more about the multi-tenant TV platform? What is it about, and who are your target customers?
How to manage many projects on one platform?
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) working together in, for example, a Cooperative (which you see a lot in Latin America) need a platform to deploy and manage many services. With a unique approach for each ISP in a single platform, they benefit from the shared systems and support.
The same platform interests large telecom companies with a multi-brand strategy and service providers with customers with a TV or VoD service.
What new products and features can the market expect in the near future?
We are about to launch our next-generation TV platform, completely rebuilt, based on the latest technologies, and more than 10 years of experience in this market.
It will include a WYSIWYG AppBuilder that gives operators and designers the tools to design their user interface. Structure, branding, and cultural preferences can all be optimized for each project.
We will also introduce the support for podcasts and courses as we see growing customer demand to enrich their service with more content.
A billing system will also be part of the new platform. TV and Video On Demand (VOD) services are offered in several ways. Management of subscription and transactional-based business models, integration with payment gateways, web shops, and freemium and advertisement offerings all ask for their approach to interacting with subscribers.
If you are at NAB 2023 in Las Vegas, you can set up a meeting with the MwareTV team in booth W1367 by clicking here.
Thank you, Frans, for joining us in this interview. Certainly, the concept of TV-as-a-Service is very interesting, and bundling 200 channels should enable your customers to launch faster with fewer hassles. We look forward to seeing you at NAB 2023.
Sponsored by: MwareTV