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Service

Internet television platform development

For online broadcasters, streaming brands and organisations launching a video channel who need a platform designed around programmes, schedules, rights windows and viewer access rather than a video-sharing page with a logo on it.

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The problem

What goes wrong today

Where it usually starts

A channel that has grown out of a video-sharing account finds the same limits every week.

  • Episodes live on a third-party player with the host's branding, adverts and recommendations for other people's content.
  • The schedule is a graphic posted to social media, so when a live stream slips by twenty minutes there is no way to tell viewers except another post.
  • Catch-up is a playlist that nobody prunes, so a programme whose rights ended last month is still watchable and the rights holder notices before the channel does.

Where it gets harder

Behind the scenes, the content manager uploads each master file to three places by hand, a sponsor's bumper is cut into the file rather than inserted, and a viewer who stops halfway through an episode starts from the beginning on their next visit.

  • There is no idea who is watching beyond a view count.
  • When the channel wants to charge for a premium series or restrict a programme to one country, the only answer the hosting account offers is a private link that is shared within a day.
  • The channel has an audience and a schedule but no platform that understands either.

Scope of the service

What the build covers

A custom internet television build normally covers the catalogue, the schedule and the viewer. The catalogue holds channels, programmes, seasons and episodes with artwork, synopses and credits, so a series is a series and not a tagged playlist. Ingest takes a master file into a transcoding pipeline run by a configured provider, producing the renditions the player needs, and publishes the result to the on-demand library. The schedule module builds an electronic programme guide with an "on now" marker, drives the live stream embed, and handles slips without editing a graphic. Catch-up windows and expiry take a programme out of the library automatically when its window closes. Geo and age restrictions are set per programme and enforced at playback. Ad-insertion markers or sponsor slots are defined on the timeline rather than burnt into the file.

On the viewer side, accounts carry watch history and resume points across devices; subscription and pay-per-view run through the membership and orders engines, with entitlements checked before a stream is served. Reporting covers plays, completion and concurrent viewers per programme.

Deliberately out of scope

  • The encoding and content delivery network itself, which comes from a provider chosen with you and connected to the platform
  • Video production and editing
  • Rights negotiation, which the platform records but does not conduct

When the scope grows

Scoping scenario

A specialist sports broadcaster streams four live events a week, wants catch-up for seven days only, must block two territories for one competition, and sells a season pass alongside single-event tickets. That combination of short windows, territory rules and mixed payment models is what makes a custom build the right route, and the scope document says which parts drive the work.

Deliverables

What you receive

  • Discovery notes from walking through a broadcast week with the scheduler and content manager
  • A written scope document naming the catalogue, schedule, rights and entitlement stages and what is left out
  • Designs of the programme guide, the player page and the viewer account on television-sized, desktop and phone screens
  • The build, connected to your chosen encoding and delivery provider, deployed to your hosting or ours
  • Import of the existing library with artwork, metadata and rights windows
  • Training for schedulers, content managers and the rights manager
  • Handover material and full ownership of the source code and your catalogue data

Process

How a project runs

Each stage maps onto the project view in your client panel. Durations are set in your proposal, never on this page.

  1. Onboarding

    Access to your current video hosting, a sample of master files, the rights schedule and any existing viewer list.

    Project stage: Onboarding

  2. Planning

    Discovery with the scheduler, content manager and rights manager; the provider choice, windows and payment model go into the scope document.

    Project stage: Planning

  3. Design

    Programme guide, player page, series page and account designed for the screens your viewers use, including large screens.

    Project stage: Design

  4. Development

    Built in layers: catalogue and ingest, then schedule and live stream, then restrictions and expiry, then accounts and entitlements.

    Project stage: Development

  5. Client review

    Your team runs a trial broadcast week on the new platform with real files and a test audience and reports what does not fit.

    Project stage: Client review

  6. Revisions

    Changes from the review are made and re-checked against the scope document and the rights schedule.

    Project stage: Revisions

  7. Ready for launch

    Library imported, provider connection load-tested, entitlement checks verified, launch checklist signed off.

    Project stage: Ready for launch

  8. Delivered

    The channel broadcasts from the new platform; hosting and maintenance continue under their own agreement if taken.

    Project stage: Delivered

Integrations

Commonly integrated

Systems this kind of business usually asks us to connect. Each integration is confirmed during discovery; none is assumed.

  • Video encoding, transcoding and delivery providers
  • Live streaming ingest services
  • Payment providers for subscriptions and pay-per-view
  • Ad servers for video ad insertion
  • Email platforms for schedule alerts and account messages
  • Analytics platforms for playback and audience reporting
  • Subtitle and caption services

How we would approach it

Worked example

Concept demo

A sports broadcaster with short windows and territory rules

In this scoping scenario, a specialist sports broadcaster streams four live events a week and needs catch-up to expire seven days after each event, one competition blocked in two territories under its rights deal, and a season pass sold alongside single-event tickets. The scope we would propose: a schedule-driven live module with the stream embed switching per event, catch-up windows set per competition with automatic expiry, geo rules attached to the competition rather than to each file, and an entitlement model where a season pass and a single ticket both unlock the same stream through the orders and membership engines.

The custom route is needed because the rights rules sit at competition level while the schedule sits at event level, and the two have to agree before a stream is served.

Concept demo: a scoping scenario written to show how we would approach the work. It is not a delivered client project.

Pricing

What affects the price

Every proposal is priced on scope. These are the factors that move it most for this kind of build.

  • Live, on-demand or both, and the number of simultaneous live channels
  • Hours of video per month and the size of the existing library to import
  • The encoding and delivery provider and whether one is already in place
  • Rights windows, territory and age restrictions and how granular they are
  • Viewing model: free, subscription, pay-per-view or a mix
  • Expected concurrent viewers at peak events
  • Ad insertion or sponsor slot requirements
  • Hosting choice and the screens the player must support

Start from a package

Video channel package

Programme catalogue, schedule with live stream, on-demand library with expiry, restrictions and viewer accounts with subscriptions for online video channels.

Custom build
View the package

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do you provide the video hosting and streaming?

No. Encoding, storage and delivery come from a specialist provider chosen with you during planning and connected to the platform. The platform manages the catalogue, schedule, rights and viewers around that provider.

When is the package the better choice?

If your channel runs a standard catalogue, one schedule and a single subscription model, the video channel package is usually the right fit. Rights rules that vary by competition or territory, mixed payment models, or several live channels point to the custom route.

Can viewers resume where they left off on another device?

Yes. Watch history and resume points are stored against the viewer account and read by the player on any signed-in device.

How are expired programmes handled?

Each programme carries a catch-up window or a rights end date. When it passes, the programme leaves the library automatically and its page shows that it is no longer available, so nothing has to be removed by hand.

Who owns the platform and the catalogue?

You do. Source code, catalogue data, viewer accounts and reporting are handed over at delivery. The relationship with the delivery provider is yours. Hosting and maintenance are optional and separately agreed.

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