Simplestream: 2023 in review

2023, what a year you’ve been! Objectively, it’s been a great year at the Simplestream HQ. An intense 12-month run that will be remembered for the innovation, new challenges, and new products it brought. Most importantly, it’s been a year that celebrated the success of the 40+ team working daily to make the delivery of OTT streaming video services simpler, and better.‍

Channel Studio, going down under‍

We kicked off our 2023 with the announcement of a new project undertaken with Australia and New Zealand’s leading teleshopping channel, TVSN. It was the perfect stage to deploy our brand-new product, Channel Studio, which over the past few months grew to become the ideal destination for content providers to distribute (and monetise) their video content on virtual channels.

Don’t just take our word for it, the product was crowned as one of the ‘Best of Show’ at IBC in September, an Award for the TVB Europe category. And that’s not all, as its continuous enhancement now offers the option to add live events to the pre-scheduled 24/7 virtual channels.

‍‍Livestream Scheduler and Sports Video Platform‍

Research and development for new products and features never stops. Our teams also brought Livestream Scheduler to life, which sat at the heart of the work done with TELUS, for their Optik TV proposition. This product also won the prestigious Streaming Media Europe Innovation Awards. A testament to the effort of a team of engineers and developers that really want to make a difference in today’s streaming landscape.

The relaunch of our Sports Video Platform – the proposition specifically designed for sports brands, rights owners and holders – coincided with the announcement of our GAAGO project, rapidly followed by the release of a new set of OTT services for the United Rugby Championships. Not to forget, the announcement of a new business alliance with Globecast, integral to the deployment of our proposition focused on elevating the brands of sports properties, leagues, and clubs globally.

Media presence‍

Simplestream has been making the headlines throughout 2023, with several announcements to cover the launch of new projects: TVSN, GAAGO, TELUS, QVC on Sky Glass, National World, the business alliance with Globecast. Multiple projects were unveiled for clients in the teleshopping, news, sports, and broadcast space in general. With a growing portfolio of brands, we’re proud to work with content owners from all over the world and contribute to innovating the user experience in millions of households through reliable OTT services.  

Events

We’ve been busy travelling around the globe to attend the most important events in our industry. From Las Vegas’ NAB Show, to London-based shows, and CABSAT in the Middle-East, our Sales and Marketing teams have been constantly on the move to present the latest addition to our value proposition for hungry audiences. Our CCO and Co-Founder, Dan Finch, spoke at the DTG Summit back in May, discussing with Together TV, ITVx, and Roku the ‘great streaming revolution’ across engagement, retention and growth of viewership.

As always, IBC represented the most important moment in our ‘season’ of events. The team attended the flagship event in Amsterdam, receiving the awards mentioned above, and exhibiting with a dedicated booth. Simplestream’s Technical Director, Ashley Reynolds-Horne, also spoke at a panel focused on monetisation and Connected TV fragmentation, as part of a prestigious line-up comprising of FX Digital and Zattoo.

IBC was also the perfect stage to unveil our very first piece of consumer research, the report titled ‘Consumers in the modern age’, which analysed video consumption habits and trends in the UK across a sample audience of 300 end-users.

Beyond the Stream

We had time to launch our new podcast, Beyond the Stream, an unmissable monthly appointment for fine thought leadership. Our host, Edward Norton, had some fun interviewing prominent leaders in the OTT space, namely Peter Dennehy, Evan Shapīro, and Alan Wolk, who contributed to analyse the hottest topics in our industry today.

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Facts and stats

It’s nearly time to wrap it up and press ‘pause’ for some well-deserved holiday time. Before we do that, let’s have a look at some numbers (we love them):

• 26 issues of our Unboxed bi-weekly newsletter were issued from January, with a variety of stories and insights presented through the voice of our staff.
• Our newsletter on LinkedIn now counts over 800 subscribers! Thank you.
• 6 episodes of our Beyond The Stream video podcast released.
• Our solutions powered over 22 million hours of playtime across the entire portfolio of projects including the full range of devices.

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That’s all (for now)! We’ll be back, refreshed and ready, for a blasting 2024, with much more.

Now it’s the time to recharge ahead of a new year, which will mark another for growth and innovation. In the meantime, happy holidays, from everyone at Simplestream, and best wishes for a roaring 2024.