European OTT streaming technology supplier Backscreen launched in April. Based in Riga, Latvia, it was spun out of telco TET. The Backscreen App is built around a live-centric TV UX which immerses the viewer into non-linear video assets presented in the context of live TV. Jan Frelek is Backscreen’s chief commercial officer. [BTN] You’ve come out of TET. How does it feel to be an independent company. [JF] When you transform part of a corporation into a relatively small agile organisation, it becomes so apparent what culture of organisation means and is. Also changing the perspective from single to multi customer and the respective processes and solutions. Add to this all the endeavours to set up brand identity from zero. It is a fascinating experience of transformation. Also, you can see clearly why a certain pace of innovation can be achieved in smaller structures.
[BTN] Do you have a different perspective because of your operator history? [JF] Of course. Our market claim is “You made it”. It expresses our empathy and understanding of the buyer side. Our operator experience puts us relatively easily into the operator’s shoes. And only walking in somebody’s shoes can make you understand the pains and gains of this person. The direct implication of our origin is our unique and original cross-gen OTT product which addresses operators’ pains with churn, customer satisfaction and Gen-Z beyond the reach. But as importantly our origin funds our service culture of being subsidiary to our customers.
[BTN] What’s the premise behind Backscreen TV? [JF] In many countries most of the population prefers live TV. At the same time operators need to comply with portal experiences strongly driven by the majors of the video world ie. Netflix, Disney, Warner Discovery. And last, but not least it is the acknowledgement that so far operators have failed to secure the Gen-Z audience whose eyeballs are focused on Instagram and TikTok. Out of these three premises Backscreen comes to the market with its unique and original cross-gen OTT TV.
[BTN] Many operators give their customers apps and the traditional linear channels – but they don’t seem to be joined up. Is that something Backscreen can fix? [JF] Exaclty. Traditional linear channels are lean back experience. Whereas apps seduce with their lean forward clickability. So lots of vendors and operators fall for it and end up in uber-clicking. And it contradicts with consumer expectations. The Backscreen solution does not push a lean back consumer into leaning forward. Instead in a single app consumer may find its sweet spot from simple single-channel watching down to fully fledged portal. Operator needs not make the UX choice for consumer. Have we made TV too much like a giant mobile phone? [JF] It’s a very fair parallel. Smart TV akin to smart phone. And it’s OK as long as there is a balance to fit different preferences, different use cases. It is a major UX challenge. Which companies have got it right? [JF] TV vendors have got it not bad. Yet the flow from linear to on-demand is not smooth due to fragmentation of technology and content providers. Operators delivering TV service with OTT STB by design must combine live and on-demand. The results differ where the level of control over technology and resources for product design correlate with the end result. In the OTT app universe the overwhelming majority is portal centric. For sure there are single cases combining live and on-demand in some way. No cases were noticed which embrace the Gen-Z way of video consumption. And this is what makes Backscreen unique: consistent and systematic approach to cover all the three generations with its OTT app product. Not to make operator compromise on any fraction. Because, Dear Operator, you made it!