Telekom Romania opts for Viaccess-Orca

The newly named Telekom Romania has selected Viaccess-Orca’s Voyage TV Everywhere solution for its upcoming IPTV and multiscreen service Telekom TV.

The service will also use technology supplied by Cap Gemini, Friendly Technologies, Broadpeak, Harmonic, Accedo, and Zenterio, with the latter’s operating system served on KAONMEDIA’s set-top boxes.

According to Nikola Beckers, CEO of Telekom Romania, “To provide a superior multiscreen service to potentially millions of subscribers across Romania, we needed a TV Everywhere solution that offers unparalleled levels of interactivity and personalisation. Unifying the service delivery across different networks by using a single converged system was also important.

“Viaccess-Orca’s Voyage solution enables us to offer a compelling personalised television experience on every screen. Our customers can create favorite channels lists, bookmark movies or channels, set up reminders, and record preferred content on all connected devices.”

Prior to deploying Viaccess-Orca’s Voyage, Telekom Romania was using multiple infrastructure silos for its TV offers.
Voyage supports all types of TV and video service delivery modes on all devices with any business model.

François Moreau de Saint Martin, CEO of Viaccess-Orca, said: “Utilising our Voyage-TV Everywhere solution, Telekom Romania can provide subscribers with a personalized television experience that flows seamlessly from one screen to another, regardless of device type.

“As Telekom Romania grows, our Voyage solution will enable the operator to further enrich its customers’ journey into content experience.”

Telekom Romania is the new brand name used by Romtelecom and Cosmote.

yes launches multiscreen TV in Israel with Viaccess-Orca content discovery

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 

‘yes’ Launches Israel’s First Multiscreen TV Service With Viaccess-Orca’s COMPASS Content Discovery Platform

• Relying on Viaccess-Orca’s COMPASS, yes Go Will Deliver Personalized Content and Recommendations to Subscribers Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Screen

PARIS, FRANCE — Viaccess-Orca, a global leader in the protection and enhancement of content services, announced today that Israeli-based satellite provider yes is using the Viaccess-Orca COMPASS content discovery platform to support its new yes Go TV Everywhere service. Through COMPASS, yes Go will recommend content to viewers based on their personal tastes and viewing habits. The groundbreaking new service will be the first multiscreen TV offering in Israel, delivering personalized video streams to TVs, PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

“After successfully powering recommendations for our ‘My TV’ service in March 2013, Viaccess-Orca continues to be a trusted content discovery and recommendation partner,” said Dovev Goldstein, head of business development and products department, at yes. “By enabling us to learn and understand viewer tastes and demands for content, and recommend personalized content that keeps subscribers loyal to our service, Viaccess-Orca’s COMPASS will increase subscriber satisfaction and revenue streams. COMPASS simplifies content consumption for our subscribers, making it a much more rewarding experience.”

yes Go will deliver more than 50 live TV channels and thousands of hours of VOD content to subscribers — anywhere, anytime, and on any device — transforming the pay-TV scene in Israel. During the launch period, the yes Go service will be provided free to all customers of yes VOD and at 19.90 NIS per month for customers without VOD.

Several COMPASS recommendation engines have been implemented in yes Go, including an advanced semantic engine, a collaborative filtering engine (e.g., people who watched this, also watched that), an operator promotions engine, and a most popular engine. The engines are embedded throughout the UI, enabling yes to understand subscriber preferences and create a truly personalized experience. By reducing the time it takes to find desirable content, COMPASS drives subscribers’ engagement.

yes Go subscribers will receive real-time recommendations and updates of popular and interesting content being aired live, both from the electronic program guide (EPG) and from VOD.

With COMPASS, yes can easily manage yes Go subscriber profiles as well as live and on-demand promotions. Extensive reports and analytics are designed for ongoing status monitoring and business optimization. Leveraging a user’s personal profile, yes can deliver better recommendations for content and more effective promotions and advertisements. This helps build customer satisfaction and loyalty.

“yes is the most innovative TV provider in Israel. We are privileged yes chose Viaccess-Orca as the driving force behind content discovery and recommendations for its new multiscreen service, and we’re proud to announce that COMPASS will now power more than six million video subscribers around the world,” said Haggai Barel, deputy CEO at Viaccess-Orca. “COMPASS brings yes Go subscribers closer to the content they really want, allowing yes to differentiate itself in the market, offer subscribers a next-generation user experience, and take advantage of new and increased revenue streams.”

Viaccess-Orca names Chem Assayag EVP, sales

Viaccess-Orca has announced that Chem Assayag has joined the company as its new EVP, sales.

Assayag takes up responsibility for global sales strategy and business development, driving business in new markets, managing the expansion of the sales force, and feeding into the product development process.

“With the introduction of our latest comprehensive range of products, the company is poised to rapidly expand its client base throughout the world,” said François Moreau de Saint Martin, CEO at Viaccess-Orca.

“Chem’s combination of expertise and experience in helping companies grow in the digital space, especially with his knowledge of multiscreen and cross-platform content distribution, makes him the perfect person to help us achieve our goals.”

Assayag has strong experience in the world of digital television and content services. During his tenure at OpenTV he managed operations in Europe and the Middle East, growing revenues to 60 million Euros in the company’s largest business region.

He also led the worldwide sales, marketing, and business development functions for the MediaHighway product line at NDS (now part of Cisco Systems). In the late 2000s he was also a key figure in Europe’s developing mobile TV and mobile broadcast industry, leading Qualcomm’s MediaFLO division in the region.

Aside from his corporate sales and business experience, Assayag is an entrepreneur who founded, managed, and sold his own company, and has also driven a number of business startups.

Assayag graduated in management from EM Lyon, and holds a postgraduate degree in media management from ESCP Europe. He will be based in Paris and will report to Saint Martin.