PBS America launches with Simplestream, expands to TV apps with Freeview Play

London, 27/10/2022 - PBS America – the British television channel from America’s Public Broadcasting Service – has chosen Simplestream to create its first UK on demand service, launching the PBS America player on Freeview Play devices. Factual entertainment and documentary fans will be able to enjoy award-winning content from the service, accessible via the Explore Freeview Play interface, at Channel 100.

The project encompasses Simplestream’s Hybrid TV solution, which leverages the proprietary Media Manager and App Platform products, which combine to provide a powerful framework for the seamless delivery, presentation, and monetisation of premium content, cross-platform.

• Media Manager provides a fully automated OTT content workflow, deeply integrated with Amagi, PBS America’s cloud playout provider.
• App Platform offers a comprehensive set of out-of-the-box UIs and functionalities to aid content discovery, as well as best-in-class on demand consumption for end-users.
• Monetisation is supported via both client- and server-side ad insertion workflows.  

Simplestream has integrated with PBS America’s existing tech stack to create a free-to-access service which brings hand-picked content from PBS America’s extensive archive to British viewers, offering a variety of content types, from history series to general documentaries. The combined solution will support PBS America in delivering brand new content to over 10 million Freeview Play users across the UK.  

Commenting on the successful launch, Simplestream’s Head of Sales, Josh Harrington, said: ‍

Freeview Play offers remarkable reach to UK content distributors, and our objective at Simplestream is to facilitate the launch of new services in a frictionless and time-sensitive manner. We’re especially pleased to have been able to work with PBS’ existing playout and ad serving partners, allowing PBS America to build upon their previous investments to obtain incremental reach on time and within budget.

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PBS America’s General Manager, Richard Kingsbury, said: ‍

PBS America on Freeview Play is our first streaming catch up service in the UK and Simplestream have been impressive in terms of their expertise and collaboration in working with us and our other tech partners.

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Freeview Play’s Chief Commercial Officer, Deep Halder, commented:

We are thrilled about the launch of PBS Player, it’s home to an incredible array of content that’s currently available exclusively to Freeview Play viewers. We want to thank both PBS America and Simplestream for their work in launching the player.

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To arrange an in-person briefing or to find out more about this project, please contact Marco Lorenzi at marco.lorenzi@simplestream.com or +44 (0)20 7 930 7809.

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