La Xarxa+ App
La Xarxa+ App is a customized streaming solution for Catalan media, providing a platform for accessing local TV channels and radio stations.
What: La Xarxa+
Platforms: Web, Android, iOS, Android TV, Apple TV, Smart TV (LG WebOS, Samsung Tizen), Roku, Fire TV
Release date: 2022
About our client
Xarxa Audiovisual Local (XAL) is a media producer and distributor in the Catalan audiovisual market. It is recognized for its unwavering dedication to promoting and safeguarding the Catalan language and culture.
XAL has a wide-ranging network of local TV channels and radio stations that serve as a crucial medium for the distribution of regional content and programming.
Project Goal
The goal was to create an OTT application dedicated to streaming content of more than thirty local TV channels and radio stations in Spain. Our partner – Vidneo (a Spanish company specializing in advanced audiovisual technology) hired us to deliver a customized front end of the platform.
Roles in the project
- Better Software Group: Front-end customization
- Better Media Solutions: Better Media Suite Platform (white-label OTT platform)
- Brightcove: Video Cloud Platform
- Konodrac: Analytics, Recommendation Engine
- Vidneo: Product Deployment
Solution: modern streaming service for Catalans
As a result of cooperation with our partners, we created a platform that provides a blend of Appointment TV, VOD and PPV models. The solution allows its users to watch their favorite content online in real-time, as well as pick it up to six days back.
The front end was based on a white-label application (Better Media Suite) delivered by Better Media Solutions. In Better Software Group we prepared and implemented a customized design adjusted to a wide range of platforms, including Web, Smart TVs (LG webOS, Samsung Tizen), Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Mobile and Tablets (iOS, Android).
To fulfill individual user preferences, we implemented a feature that allows users to add their favorite channels, so they appear first on a dedicated section on the home screen. We also added rotating icons of other channels in a random order to encourage the discovery of new content.
Since the solution gathers many local TV operators, we couldn’t miss adding the “categories” tab to the platform’s menu. This function allows TV operators to upload videos from local events such as college basketball games, castells, and other sports or cultural events and assign them to the relevant category. That’s why in this section we included an advanced sorting option, so platform users can find the content based on the day when a certain event had place, its location, and other relevant parameters that enhance the searching process.
In the platform, we implemented various types of lists and visual elements, showing the suggested content on the home screen, such as TV Channels, a list of ongoing live channels, landscape-format movie posters, square podcast covers, and sliders. We also couldn’t miss adding the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) – an easy to navigate scheduling information for current and upcoming programming.
Having in mind making the UX as friendly as possible, we also implemented the option to list all episodes of all seasons of a chosen series at the same time. From the user’s perspective, the solution provides flexibility of choice, and easy access to a variety of local content from any device. For our client – Xarxa Audiovisual Local (XAL), our new platform is a crucial medium for the dissemination of regional content over the most valuable distribution channel in recent years – the internet.
