Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot discussed with regard to consolidation of TV OS Platforms. This is primarily because there is a view that it is a market in deep need for consolidation. Taking a look at the TV OS platforms out there, we currently track 25 different platforms. This is obviously a lot from an integration perspective for any service provider with an SVOD or live streaming channel.
Of course, the reality is that none of these are Operating Systems in the strictest sense. They are software platforms upon which applications need to be integrated. They do make use of common technologies. They do use the same OS (Linux) or the same SDK (Android or RDK or Browser etc.) or Frameworks. The differences are not that great but significantly different enough to require targeted integration. This does look like a huge integration effort, but I would like to re-frame this.
20 years ago, the world was operator based STB driven. We had many proprietary STBs being produced for each individual operator, or even each operating country of each operator. This was a time of middleware – software aimed to make deployment of customisation as easy as possible with the operator that had many other technology differences. The middleware offered the approach of standardising or pre-integration, however this never really worked.
Eventually evolved into creating platforms like RDK and Android TV. At the same time though, the world pivoted towards a retail market IP based content delivery – the rise of streaming.
This pivot also changed the world in a way that few directly refer to. It has changed who the operator is. It is no longer the network operator upon which you build a content delivery stack, it is now the retail display and device manufacturer.
The new operators are the TV manufacturers with ad supported streaming services, providing the distribution for applications as the new channels. In addition they provide their dedicated user interface, content discovery and advertising infrastructure as a platform package which is really what the TV OS is.
From that perspective, having 25 separate operators for the entire world is not one that looks fragmented, it looks actually like a very small collection of operator competitors. Not all of them are global either, with some of these being targeted regionally or even only being single countries. A very healthy and competitive market in fact.
What do you think?