Aferian plc (LON:AFRN), the B2B video streaming solutions company, in collaboration with its technology partner Amagi, has announced that UK telecoms, media, and internet company, Virgin Media, has used its 24i integrated solution to launch and monetise a new line-up of themed Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels on Virgin TV. 24i worked in partnership with Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, on the project.
An initial selection of 14 channels have been rolled-out to Virgin Media’s V6, TV 360 and Stream set-top boxes (STBs), allowing customers to instantly access an extended range of attractive content, monetised through advertising.
Harnessing the Appstage application framework within the 24i Mod Studio streaming platform – which is pre-integrated with Amagi’s playout solutions – the project introduced the FAST channels into Virgin Media’s Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) without making any changes to existing STB configurations.
The app was configured to perfectly align with Virgin Media’s UX, facilitating a seamless integration of channels into Virgin Media’s EPG, providing an enhanced user experience for their customers on V6, TV 360 and Stream STBs running the RDK and Opera operating systems.
Donald McGarva, Chief Executive Officer of Aferian plc, said: “This has been a real team effort to give Virgin Media’s customers access to a range of exciting new streamed content with a great user experience. The successful and seamless roll-out to a variety of device models already in the field is a testament to the powerful and flexible combination of 24i’s Appstage Big Screen client, cloud-based Backstage content management system, and Amagi’s unrivalled FAST solutions.”
Srinivasan KA, Co-founder and CRO at Amagi, said: “Our collaboration with Virgin Media has been an excellent opportunity for us to showcase our technical prowess. Our achievement in integrating multiple FAST channels into Virgin Media’s STB environment through a unified gateway has significantly enriched user choice and paved the way for incremental revenues.”
