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TV Connect Africa

Join Minerva Networks at this year’s TV Connect Africa in Cape Town, South Africa!

TV Connect Africa, is the leading platform to discuss the future of broadcasting in Africa. TV Connect Africa brings together the growing number of Sub-Saharan Africa’s major broadcasters, content owners, cable companies and pay TV providers to discuss the ever-changing digital consumer in Africa and changes that need to happen in order to make digital migration a success across the region. Come visit Minerva at stand #TV32!

The Wee Demographic

Maybe you experience it in your own home: When it comes to screen viewing, kids would rather be on an iPad. According to a research report from Miner & Co. Studio, televisions are no longer the screen of choice for kids who have ready access to tablets and smartphones. More than half (57%) of parents surveyed said their children now prefer to watch video on a handheld device rather than on TV.

I can tell you firsthand that my kids like the flexibility of switching from a show over to a Minecraft game or a YouTube video on their OWN tablet – so they don’t have to argue with their sibling about the switch in programming. As of 2015, it is becoming rare that a family all watches the same TV show at the same time.

According to Ad Age, the impact on the traditional TV business in the distant future is hard to say. The near-term impact is already apparent in the Nielsen ratings. Year-to-date, every ad-supported kids channel but Turner’s Cartoon Network is weathering significant C3 ratings declines. Thus far, Nickelodeon is enduring the roughest stretch of ratings turbulence, falling more than 30% among the kids 2-11 demo.

How can programmers and operators reach this “diminutive” demographic? Programmers are trying by offering their content through standalone over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions. For example, Nickelodeon is offering their Noggin OTT service for $5.99 a month, heading off entrants like Amazon and Netflix who are developing their own children’s content. According to a recent report by Ooyala, OTT streaming video market in the United States will grow from a $4 billion business in 2014 to $8 to $12 billion in 2018. The report also points out that opportunities to attract subscribers with targeted programming such as sports, kids, foreign content, etc. will represent part of this growth.

What does this means for operators? Operators have the opportunity to offer bundled broadband solutions that will enable personalization and ease of content discovery that will attract and retain current subscribers, while enticing new viewers with a compelling user experience and broad device flexibility. These wee consumers unknowingly are now expecting compelling relevant programming available across Linear, VOD, Catch Up and DVR content sources on any screen, anywhere. They want complete personal control at internet speed.

Minerva’s Solution

Minerva’s service delivery platforms enable operators to offer a highly personalized television experience to a broad set of devices, while minimizing deployment costs through its open framework and flexible distributed architecture. By moving functionality into the network, operators can deliver a compelling experience to a wide range of devices, while insuring a consistent and responsive user experience.

Minerva 10 features a powerful analytics sub-system that enables operators to collect more data and gain deeper insights on their subscribers’ behavior to better segment their customer base and tailor their offerings.

With this insight, operators can offer relevant content across multiple sources to keep these young subscribers coming back for the content they care about most. With Minerva’s Back Office and Analytics, this content can be monetized. By capturing and analyzing subscriber and device usage data through Minerva 10’s cloud-based analytics platform, operators can gain the insights they need to tailor service offerings, identify and respond to emerging customer segmentation opportunities, and optimize their agreements with content partners and advertisers.

To find out more about how operators better reach their subscribers, engage them with a compelling experience, and improve customer satisfaction, visit www.minervanetworks.com/minerva-platform/.

Eric Freund, Minerva’s Vice President of Product Marketing

Nex-Tech Deploys OTT Pay Television Solution Powered by Minerva

Nex-Tech now can cost effectively reach additional customers with a TV product that leverages Roku and Amazon Fire TV

July 19, Boston, MA – NCTC The Independent Show — Minerva Networks, a leading provider of software platforms for connected entertainment, announced today that Nex-Tech, a subsidiary of Rural Telephone has deployed their OTT TV solution to offer a cost effective pay TV product delivered over Nex-Tech’s managed broadband network. The turnkey solution features Minerva’s robust service management back-office, and Minerva’s clients for Roku and Amazon Fire TV. By supporting consumer electronics devices like Roku and Amazon Fire TV, Nex-Tech is able to eliminate expenditures associated with set-top boxes and truck-rolls to deliver a cost effective television experience allowing them to more effectively compete with emerging OTT entrants.

“While increasing competition and changing consumer habits have placed pressure on traditional Pay TV packages, operators who are able to more effectively offer a range of pay TV products that meet the needs of different consumer segments in their markets will enable operators to retain and grow their subscriber base” said Eric Freund, Minerva’s Vice President of Product Marketing. “We applaud operators like Nex-Tech who are taking an aggressive stance against OTT competitors in their market, while providing increased consumer choice.”

Nex-Tech will be offering the new service to all of their Broadband services as Nex-Tech Streaming TV. The new product will be offered alongside Nex-Tech’s existing premium pay TV service that is also powered by Minerva’s iTVFusion Back Office.

“We saw a need in the markets we serve to offer subscribers with a lower cost option that we could make available to all of our broadband subscribers” said Scott Roe, Product Manager at Nex-Tech. “Platforms like Minerva’s that support delivery of services across a range of set-top boxes and consumer electronics devices provide the tools that we needed to offer different products to meet the needs of all our customers.”

Minerva will be demonstrating the new OTT Pay TV solution at its booth (#814) at NCTC’s The Independent Show.

About Nex-Tech

Nex-Tech connects thousands of people and businesses through a robust broadband network and cutting-edge technology. Nex-Tech’s powerful fiber-to-the-premise technology delivers the highest quality Internet, with speeds up to 1 Gig, Digital TV, home security, and local and long distance phone service. Nex-Tech also provides an array of enterprise IT solutions including cloud services, Hosted PBX, network security, physical security and surveillance, networks operations monitoring, help desk services and managed services to business clients nationwide. Nex-Tech focuses on providing the best technology and support with the best people. With stores in more than 20 locations and a full-service help desk and 24-hour Network Operations Center, Nex-Tech customers are ensured unsurpassed technology and support. Headquartered in Lenora, Kansas, Nex-Tech has been delivering exceptional service for over 60 years. For more information, please visit www.nex-tech.com.

About Minerva Networks

Minerva is a leading provider of software platforms for connected entertainment. By supporting a best of breed open ecosystem, the Minerva platform has been deployed by over 300 operators worldwide to offer next-generation entertainment services.

For more information, please visit www.minervanetworks.com.

Contact:

Bina Mirchandani
bmirchandani@minervanetworks.com
(408) 240-1204

TIM Brasil deploys “Live TIM Blue Box” Service Powered by Minerva

Leading Brazilian mobile and broadband service provider goes live with next-generation entertainment solution that combines off-air digital content with premium linear and over-the-top services

July 14, 2015, Alviso, CA — Live TIM Blue Box combines an ISDB-Tb broadcast tuner with a client that allows access to premium Pay TV channels as well as OTT services such as Netflix and YouTube, enabling subscribers to enjoy a unified entertainment experience across multiple content sources. The Live TIM Blue Box service is available in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo for R$ 9,90 per month. Optional premium Pay TV and OTT subscriptions (e.g. Netflix) are acquired directly from the providers.

Minerva collaborated with MTEL, a leading provider of outsourced hardware and network services in Brazil, Verimatrix, a leader in DRM solutions, and Entone, an innovative set-top box vendor, to assemble a robust and cost-effective solution for TIM Brasil. In addition to offering many advanced features such as local DVR and time shifting, TIM tapped into Minerva’s open API’s to integrate custom features such as an intuitive set-up wizard designed to simplify self-installations.

“We wanted to offer a unified and intuitive entertainment experience that included off air content, premium TV channels, and OTT services from Netflix and YouTube,” said Flavio Lang, CEO of TIM Fiber. “Minerva has allowed us to deliver a compelling service that we are confident will be very appealing to our subscribers.”

About TIM and Live TIM

TIM is the second largest carrier in Brazil, and the prepaid segment leader. It currently has more than 75 million customers, and holds a 26.5 percent market share in the country. Live TIM was launched in August 2012 and offers broadband access plans ranging from 35 Megabits per second to 1 Gigabit per second. The service, aimed at both residential consumers and businesses in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias and Nova Iguaçu, currently passes more than 2 million households.

For more information, please visit www.tim.com.br

About Minerva Networks

For more information, please visit www.minervanetworks.com

Contact:

Bina Mirchandani
bmirchandani@minervanetworks.com
(408) 240-1204

Content Discovery: The Key Differentiator

Digitalsmiths said in its latest “Q1 2015 Video Trends Report.” 32.4% of current cable, satellite and IPTV subscribers say they’re “on the fence” about keeping their service and would need enticement to stay. In addition, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the expanded OTT options available to them.

The threat: The number of dissatisfied viewers is growing as well as the awareness of OTT services. According to Digitalsmith’s research: Over the course of the next six months, a total of 15.3% of respondents said they plan to either switch (3.1%), change (7.4%) or cut service altogether (4.8%), and 32.4% are on the fence and might need to be enticed to stay. Added together, 47.7% of respondents need immediate attention to save them from cord-cutting, cord-cheating or switching providers, the firm said. How can operators reverse this trend?

Viewers enjoy having intuitive recommendations delivered to them based on their interests and are willing to pay for it. As operators compete to be the gateway to home entertainment, this personalized television is a key service differentiator. This is done though content discovery. Content discovery enables users to quickly and easily find the most relevant content available to them.

What is Content Discovery?

Content Discovery is the interaction between software and the subscriber to facilitate simple access to relevant content and programming. Through recommendation software, well thought out user interfaces, and properly indexed search tools that sifts through content metadata from various sources, subscribers are able to discover relevant content.

Minerva 10 was developed based on this premise. The Minerva 10 Landing Page provides subscribers with personalized recommendations for programming available across Live, VOD, Catch Up and DVR content sources. Users can also apply filters to narrow down large VOD libraries, significantly improving content discovery. The Landing Page, in combination with the Minerva 10 Filter engine, enables a significant reduction in time spent by subscribers searching for relevant content while enhancing overall content discovery. Testing performed against a VOD library containing 18,752 titles showed that the application of just three filters reduced, in less than 1 second, the available assets presented to the user to 82 unique titles. Equally important, however, is that by taking a program-based, rather than source-based approach to subscriber navigation, Minerva 10 helps to improve the perceived value to the subscriber of the TV bundle or package they are subscribed to. How? By exposing content from channels and VOD categories that the subscriber otherwise would not have chosen to explore on their own.

This integrated multiscreen experience allows consumers to search, discover and quickly view the content they care the most about from whichever device they prefer.

To find out more about how operators better reach their subscribers, engage them with a compelling experience, and improve customer satisfaction, visit www.minervanetworks.com/minerva-platform/.

Eric Freund, Minerva’s Vice President of Product Marketing

SCTE Cable-Tec Expo

Join Minerva Networks at this year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans!

SCTE Cable-Tec Expo® is the cable telecommunications engineering show of the year. In one cost-effective setting nearly 10,000 attendees annually seize the opportunity to discover and learn first-hand about the latest in telecommunications technology, products and services. For more than 30 years the industry has relied on Cable-Tec Expo to provide the most energizing, technical knowledge exchange of the year. Come visit Minerva at booth #2110!