“I came to you because of the name. Streaming Made Easy. But streaming isn't easy.”
Tom Chmielewski, VP EMEA, Testlio
He has a point. The name of this newsletter is aspirational. What it actually takes to deliver a working streaming service, across dozens of countries, hundreds of device combinations and payment methods, is anything but. That is exactly what Tom and I got into this week.
Testlio runs a managed crowd testing service which covers devices, operating systems, languages and payment methods at a scale no in-house QA lab can replicate. SkyShowtime used over 1,500 devices and OS combinations across 22 countries and 18 languages for a single launch. NBC Universal’s global streaming technology team (the same team that runs Peacock, Sky, Showtime, Now TV and more) relies on them across 80 countries.
The insight that stuck with me was what Roku’s localisation lead Nicole Kittle described as the difference between a service that appears “made for their market, not just translated for it.” That is a different bar entirely and most operators are not meeting it yet.
What Tom kept coming back to is a pattern I often see in this industry: operators invest heavily in content and distribution and then lose the consumer in the last meter. The payment method does not work, the interface feels wrong or the app behaves differently on a device that has been on the market for four years and will stay on that wall for four more.
We discuss that and much more in this interview. Watch our full conversation above 👆🏻
Join us on April 14th at 4.20pm during StreamTV Europe (code: PORTUGAL gets you 20% off). We’re bringing Sylviane Lecomte (Bedrock Streaming) and Antonio Vieira (Sky Portugal) to understand how they make sure their platforms make streaming easy.
That’s it for today but before you go:
🗳️ Poll time
Comments, shares or likes come a long way 🙏🏻
Enjoy your week and see you on Thursday for another edition of Streaming Made Easy!
