Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 9615 |
| Work Detail | In the battle for market share in the cable television industry, Halifax-based Eastlink’s latest weapon is a new, slicker app that lets customers watch live TV anywhere on their computers, tablets or mobile phones. “We’re in a very competitive industry, where customers swap between carriers,” said Dan MacDonald, Eastlink’s vice president of marketing, in an interview Thursday. “This is about acquiring customers and retaining others.” Although several other cable television providers already have apps to let their customers watch TV, including Rogers Anyplace TV and Bell Mobility’s Bell Mobile TV app, the new app launched Thursday by Eastlink is being promoted by the company as something qualitatively different, an entirely new, second-generation technology. It’s being dubbed Eastlink Stream. Certainly, it’s a major upgrade from the company’s first foray into the provision of TV programs through an app which went under the name of Eastlink To Go. “We have leapfrogged times 10 since that generation,” said MacDonald. Both apps are free for Eastlink customers to download to their devices. But while Eastlink To Go only gave users access to TV on demand, essentially archived shows, Eastlink Stream allows users to watch live shows. The search function on the new app is also more intuitive, suggesting terms to users as they type, much like Google does. According to MacDonald, the app is also easier to use since Eastlink has learned a lot about how people use apps on their phones since 2012 when Eastlink To Go was launched. “The navigation is dramatically different,” he said. “In Eastlink To Go, there was a lot off tapping and drop-down menus. With Eastlink Stream it’s all swipe and go.” The Eastlink Stream app also provides a smoother viewing experience because it determines what format and speed is best for any particular user’s device. “It knows the size of your screen and speed of connection and it adapts to that to give you the smoothest connection,” said MacDonald. Eastlink is hoping the app will be a hit with all its customers regardless of their ages. That’s what came out of a market trial the company conducted. But likely the heaviest users of Eastlink Stream, based on that same market trial, will be 35 to 54-year-olds. Their main reasons for using the app were because they wanted to watch TV where there was no TV set or when someone was already watching something else. A private company, Eastlink does not divulge its financials and MacDonald declined to say exactly how much the Eastlink Stream app, which had been in development since January this year, cost the company. The Eastlink vice president of marketing would only say the investment was “significant.” The new Eastlink app was developed in partnership with San Jose, California-based Cisco Systems and uses that company’s Infinite Video Platform, a cloud-based way to securely distribute and monetize video. |
| Country | Canada , Northern America |
| Industry | Advertising & Media |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1395312-eastlink-launches-mobile-tv-app |
