HBO Europe has enlisted ActiveVideo’s CloudTV StreamCast platform to bring the HBO Go TV Everywhere service to the full footprint of existing set-top boxes.
The new service will be targeting existing HBO Go affiliates in 14 territories in Eastern and Central Europe and the Netherlands, The service will initially launch with two or three operators before the end of the year.
ActiveVideo will be demonstrating HBO Go on existing STBs at IBC (Hall 3, its stand 3.A27).
“The marriage of libraries of the very best online content and the 10-foot viewing experience of television holds tremendous potential for pay-TV – online video collaboration,” said Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ActiveVideo.
“Virtualising STB functionality in the cloud is the key to creating partnerships that can drive audience reach and content expansion for the benefit of both parties.”
Murali Nemani, CMO at ActiveVideo, added: “HBO can now deliver its HBO Go service to the whole STB footprint without the need for upgrades.” The customer of the platform can access the service on the same set-top where he receives his linear channels without changing inputs, or devices.
The cloud–delivered service also accounts for the right content protection, “A set-top box is usually CA based, and we handle this via what we call our DRM-bridge.”
The system that HBO has chosen is basically the same as UPC Hungary has rolled out for its YouTube on the set-top box service, “but now this is for premium content.”
