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04Freizeit Media

FZ OTT.

An OTT ecosystem for Freizeit Media: streaming apps for iOS, Android and TV, backed by a platform for content, search, secure playback and access control.

Industry
Entertainment
Services
Apps · Platform · Delivery
Platform
iOS · Android · TV
FZ OTT streaming apps on a TV and a phone, with search, a watchlist and signed-in access

The project

One catalogue, every screen.

FZ OTT is a streaming ecosystem rather than a set of apps: native experiences on iOS, Android and television, a backend and CMS that run the catalogue, and a delivery layer that carries video to all of them.

Discovery, watchlists, authentication and DRM sit across the whole thing, so what a viewer can find, save and play stays consistent on whichever screen they pick up.

The challenge.

Three screens, one catalogue, and no room for any of them to feel like an afterthought.

A phone, a tablet and a television are different products with different input, different attention and different conventions. Building the same interface three times produces two bad ones; building three disconnected apps produces a catalogue that drifts apart. The catalogue, search, filtering and watchlist had to live in the platform, with each app presenting them the way its screen expects.

Licensed content adds the other half of the problem. Video has to be protected in transit and at rest, playback has to be tied to an authenticated account with the right level of access, and none of that protection can be felt as buffering. Delivery, DRM and access control were design constraints from the start, not a security pass at the end.

  • Three screensPhone, tablet and television, one catalogue.
  • LicensingProtected content, on every device.
  • DeliveryProtection that never reads as buffering.

Approach

How we approached it.

Decide what belongs to the platform and what belongs to each screen — then build both sides to that line.

  1. 01Model the catalogue

    One content model, managed once in the CMS, consumed by every app.

  2. 02Build per screen

    Native experiences for iOS, Android and TV, each following its own conventions.

  3. 03Make it findable

    Search, filtering and watchlists carried across devices.

  4. 04Deliver and protect

    CDN delivery with DRM, authentication and access control around it.

Design & architecture

The architecture.

Apps at the edge, one platform in the middle, delivery and protection underneath.

01Apps

  • iOS
  • Android
  • TV

02Platform

  • Backend services
  • CMS
  • Search & filtering
  • Watchlist

03Delivery

  • CDN
  • Cloud infrastructure

04Protection

  • DRM
  • Authentication
  • Access control

Solution

What we shipped.

The ecosystem: the television experience, the phone app and the platform they share.
01The ecosystem: the television experience, the phone app and the platform they share.
The big screen: a featured title, then rails to browse from the sofa.
02The big screen: a featured title, then rails to browse from the sofa.
The same catalogue on a phone, with search and filtering to hand.
03The same catalogue on a phone, with search and filtering to hand.
Finding a title in a few keystrokes, wherever the viewer is.
04Finding a title in a few keystrokes, wherever the viewer is.

Technology

The system.

Everything between pressing play and watching, grouped by the job it does.

01Apps

  • iOSA native streaming app for iPhone and iPad.
  • AndroidA native streaming app across Android devices.
  • TVA big-screen experience built for the living room.

02Platform

  • BackendThe services every app talks to.
  • CMSCatalogue management and what appears where.

03Discovery

  • SearchFinding a title in a few keystrokes.
  • FilteringNarrowing the catalogue down to what fits.
  • WatchlistTitles saved for later, on any device.

04Delivery & protection

  • CDN & cloudVideo delivered close to the viewer, infrastructure that scales with the audience.
  • DRMProtection for licensed content.
  • Authentication & access controlSecure sign-in, and the right content for the right account.

Outcome

What it delivers.

  1. 01

    One catalogue across three screens

    iOS, Android and TV apps presenting the same content, search and watchlist.

  2. 02

    Content that stays protected

    DRM, authentication and access control around every stream.

  3. 03

    Built for the audience it gets

    CDN delivery on cloud infrastructure that scales with demand.

Gallery

Project gallery

  • FZ OTT — Television experience Television experience
  • FZ OTT — Phone app Phone app
  • FZ OTT — Search Search

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