Vidiator® empowers eRama mobile TV service
Malaysian TV provider eRama was faced with a challenge; How to target the rapidly growing percentage of the country who were buying smartphones and tablets and turning away from traditional TV services. The company had no existing video on demand offering and needed to set up a fully-fledged mobile TV service from the ground up.
Vidiator® was able to provide a full, service-ready solution including its Xenon™ technology, consulting, professional services and content brokering. The end results saw subscriptions go from 10 requests per hour to 10,000 in the first week of the service going live.
“Malaysia is one of the most ‘cyber-social’ countries in the world and so we knew we had to evolve our service to reach customers on their tablets and smartphones. Without this we could have been left behind by our rivals and so not only did we need to develop something, but we needed to do it quickly,” said Datuk Md Afendi Bin Hj. Hamdan Chairman and CEO, eRama.
The Choice
Representatives from eRama first met Vidiator at MWC 2011, impressed by the demonstrations on the stand and Vidiator’s in-depth knowledge of the industry. The company’s experience in working alongside network operators and content providers, as well as advising on how to monetize the content, made them the ideal partner for eRama.
The solution
1Malaysia TV was launched just before Christmas at an official event that featured Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, together with senior representatives of eRama Creative Sdn. Bhd, and Vidiator CEO Mr. Tae Sung Park. The new service is running on Vidiator’s market leading Xenon™ encoding and streaming platform, which enables multiplatform streaming with only one encode.
1Malaysia TV provides information and allows people to watch movies and news, as well as listen to music for free. The programmes are available on iPad®, iPhone®, smartphones and laptops, as well as Android® and BlackBerry® devices.
The launch was a spectacular success, with demand higher than eRama had predicted.
“We recorded a significant increase in the usage coming from all platforms after the launch of the service. What used to be 100 requests per hour increased to up to 10,000 requests/hr during the first week post launch and has now levelled out to around 1000 requests/hr – an increase of 1000%,” said Adillah Bin Abu Samah CTO, eRama. “The mobile platform accounts for 25% of total usage with Android devices leading the way, with around 14% of total requests followed by iPhone and Blackberry with nearly 3% each. 1.7% of users accessed the service via Apple’s iPad.”
At the launch event, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak explained the importance of engaging the country’s youth and how the government had to take advantage of this. “Technology is the only language they understand,” he said.
New Straits Times reported that 1Malaysia TV has a lot of potential for the country:
“This will help youths understand the direction that we are heading. They will also get correct and accurate information.”
He (The Prime Minister) said 1Malaysia TV had the potential to engage with youths and shape their minds, but “the content must be attractive to engage them continuously.”
The details
With no existing business model or infrastructure in place, Vidiator® had to work on a full solution from the ground up – one that included everything from encoding technology to brokering content deals and advising on other aspects of the business. Through its Xenon™ platform it was able to help eRama go from initial discussions to a full rollout in just 6 months. The network also needed to be upgraded to deliver the capacity that would be needed with thousands of new users accessing content. It also needed the redundancy built in to offer a reliable service that people wouldn’t lose faith in.
Vidiator® also needed to work alongside those developing content and eRama who were developing their own iPhone and Android apps.
“With so many different aspects needing to come together so quickly, we needed a partner that was not only dependable but one who understood the bigger picture,” said Datuk Md Afendi Bin Hj. Hamdan Chairman and CEO, Erama. “Vidiator was able to help us through challenges not just involved with their area of the project, but advising us on best practice and drawing on their vast experience to ensure the rollout of 1MalaysiaTV was a great success.”
The future
With existing infrastructure slowly being phased out as demand continues to increase, Vidiator is continuing to work closely alongside eRama on improving equipment and monitoring usage patterns.
“Working with eRama on the launch of 1MalaysiaTV has been a fantastic and exciting project to be a part of,” said Tae Sung Park CEO, Vidiator. “To go from a first meeting to a full deployment of a brand new service in just 6 months is a great testament to Vidiator and everyone else involved in the launch. The number of subscribers to 1MalaysiaTV has been very impressive and continues to grow, we’re looking forward to continuing our work with eRama to help the service grow and evolve.”
About Vidiator
Vidiator®, a Hutchison Whampoa Company, is a complete solutions provider for the creation and delivery of OTT and mobile video streaming services. Founded in 2002 Vidiator® helped create the mobile video streaming market and for over a decade has been an industry pioneer working in partnership with operators, broadcasters and content owners to revolutionise the delivery of video content to multiple screens.
Vidiator®’s blend of innovative technology and unrivalled industry expertise alleviates the business, technical and content challenges involved in the successful deployment of OTT and mobile video streaming services, allowing operators and broadcasters to mitigate risk, focus on their core competencies and successfully monetise the multi-screen revolution.
The company’s flagship “Xenon™” products and solutions have now been deployed in more than 40 countries around the world. Vidiator® has offices in Europe, Hong Kong and Korea.
Vidiator contact:
Mark Lewinson
Head of Marketing
markl@vidiator.com
+44 207 350 5689
About eRama Creative Sdn. Bhd.,
Malaysia’s 100% home grown and uprising Internet & mobile TV services provider eRama offers a mega selection of premium music and video entertainment for purchase, including new releases mostly not available in the stores.
Associated & Affiliated Companies:
Erama Records Sdn. Bhd.
1Media IPTV Sdn. Bhd.
Fantasy Films Sdn. Bhd.
Raffcomm Sdn. Bhd.
Raffcomm Technologies Sdn. Bhd.
www.erama.tv and www.erama.tv/mobiletv
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