CASE STUDY

URC TV – an award-winning, global OTT sports streaming service created as a partnership initiative between the United Rugby  Championship and RTÉ – chose Simplestream as a technology partner to power its new offering on the back of a reliable, flexible architecture, and new applications for Android and iOS, distributed globally. The OTT services provide fans with live and on-demand viewing access to the United Rugby Championship games through a paid subscription model.

Simplestream created a flexible infrastructure to migrate multiple components into a single service, namely authentication, and distribution of content both live and on-demand.

The proprietary Media Manager was deployed as part of the backend for the solution, while the apps for Android and iOS were built on the foundation of App Platform, the powerful framework for app development and distribution of premium content across multiple devices.

Simplestream integrated a variety of sources for the authentication of subscribers, consolidating multiple backends under the same roof, including URC TV's existing platforms Mindhut and Fanscore. Additionally, Simplestream integrated the URC's content providers too, from the migration of incumbent CMSs, to the development of new workflows for content ingest, and intake from existing APIs.

The project also included new enhancements in terms of branding and customisation of the apps' frontend, to enhance the URC's visual identity on multiple devices.

This work with URC TV builds on the successful revamp of Simplestream’s Sports Video Platform. The successful delivery of the project became integral to URC TV to keep innovating and and delivering a top-quality product to international rugby fans.