The Broadband television business news website
Broadband TV News is reporting that Nickelodeon is now available for Swedish fans and viewers to watch on the new cloud-based TV operator
Magine, which recently launched in Sweden. Broadband TV News is also reporting in the same article that Magine is also preparing to launch in Germany and Spain later in 2013, with the company wanting to eventually offer the service across Europe, however, a UK launch is not expected before the first quarter of 2014:
Disruptive cloud TV service Magine plans euro launch
After its launch in Sweden, cloud-based TV operator Magine is preparing to launch in Germany and Spain later this year.
The company eventually wants to offer the service across Europe. A UK launch is not expected before the first quarter of 2014.
Magine launched in Sweden last week with a bouquet consisting of national Swedish public broadcaster SVT and private broadcaster TV4, as well international channels including CNN International, BBC, Eurosport, National Geographic, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, with more agreements on the way.
The launch of Magine First Edition comes after months of testing the service. During last year’s MIPCOM, Magine started its pilot.
A subscription to the service, which brings live TV and cloud PVR across a number of device, costs 99 Swedish kroner (around €11.50) a month.
Magine claims to be “a pure TV service that has removed the complicated installation of set-top boxes, dishes and cables by engineering a secure cloud-based architecture.”
Magine also addresses the fragmentation in mobile TV, where currently there are different catch-up services on tablets and smart phones, by providing both live and catch-up in the same place across all devices.
Magine is the result of two years work by a group of pay-TV experts, internet professionals and technology specialists who asked themselves the fundamental question: “If TV was invented today what would it look like?”
Commenting on Magine’s Swedish launch chairman Michael Werner said : “Magine re-defines TV by combining cloud-based live TV, catch-up and on-demand programming in the same place. The company has pioneered technology that has never existed before and we are proud to have been accepted as a service that both viewers and content providers consider excellent.”
Turner Broadcasting System’s director of distribution in the Nordic countries, Ramon Zwartkruis, added: “We have been testing the service for almost six months and we are delighted with the result – the service at launch looks really high-class and this seems to be the viewers perception of Magine as well.”
For broadcasters and content providers: Magine creates value for broadcasters by providing greater reach, a route to content discovery that really works and social interaction among viewers. This will lead to increasing returns on the vast library of content which broadcasters already have rights to. Magine enhances distribution by providing a viewer-designed experience which is supported by the TV value chain.
For viewers: Magine is a subscription service that offers the ultimate freedom of watching live and recorded programming from all your favourite channels on all devices: TV screens, smartphones,
tablets or computers. It has a slick design, enviable speed and delivers a high-quality picture which adapts to the available internet connection. A phone or tablet can be used as a stand-alone viewing device and also as a remote control for the TV set or PC, guiding the viewer in content discovery and ‘second screen’ interactions.
Magine is currently available on Apple devices and in Samsung smart TV’s. More TV platforms and Android tablets are on the way.
Also, from
Broadcast Engineering:
Magine cloud TV aims for set-top box kill
Europe’s established pay-TV providers may be confident they can see off the Netflix threat but are more concerned over potential disruption from much lesser-known Swedish cloud TV start-up service Magine, which plans to extend across the rest of Europe over the next two years.
Magine offers live-TV services with a decent content catalogue and full catch up services from cloud based PVR, streamed to Samsung smart TVs or iOS devices without need for a set-top box. Support for other target device platforms, notably Android and leading smart TV brands other than Samsung, will be added later this year.
There are other cloud TV services in Europe offering good linear content, but these require a set top box, which increases deployment and ongoing costs. Spanish Telco Jazztel is one such service, having switched in 2012 from IPTV to cloud based OTT delivery using an IP set top via adaptive bitrate streaming secured by Nagra’s Conditional Access system.
Magine is actually a cable operator so its subscribers will access the cloud based service via its broadband HFC (Hybrid Fiber coaxial) infrastructure, with delivery secured by the Widevine DRM technology acquired by Google in December 2010. Widevine is widely supported by smart TV makers such as Samsung and so is a natural choice for any streaming TV provider seeking to bypass set top boxes.
Magine has been running a trial service for six months in Sweden, accumulating 12,000 beta users in the process, and claims to have 40,000 more names on its waiting list. Having now launched commercially in Sweden with its “First Edition” for 99 Swedish kroner, around $14, a month, Magine says it is preparing to launch in Germany and Spain later this year and plans to hit most of the other major European markets in 2014, starting with the UK early on.
While the attention has focused on avoiding the set top, Magine believes its principle differentiator lies in its content catalogue, with a bouquet comprising national Swedish public broadcaster SVT and private broadcaster TV4, as well international channels CNN International, BBC, Eurosport, National Geographic, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, with more agreements said to be on the way.
The big test though will come in the major European markets, especially the UK and Germany, where expensive premium sports and movie content are the drivers of subscribers to the main TV services. In the UK for example rights for English Premier League football were sold for £3 billion ($4.5 billion) for the three seasons 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 to Sky and BT, with a startup such as Magine only likely to be able to scoop up crumbs like recorded highlights.
