Most Reliable OTT Solution Provider

WWW.THEENTERPRISEWORLD.COM | AMERICAS EDITION | JUNE 2022 Most Reliable OTT Solution Provider Marlene Kisslinger, Cover Story: Co-Founder & Director of Customer Care ...and how streaming changed the world







From Editor’s Desk “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” – Thomas Watson, Sr., Former CEO, IBM OTT (Over-the-Top) services have been prevalent for quite some time now. But the COVID-19 pandemic gave these services, and their respective companies an unmeasurable growth space. As the space grew with quite a lot of companies, the competition dropped down to not who provides the most affordable service, but who provides the most seamless experience and has the best-in- class expertise. This issue of The Enterprise World, Most Reliable OTT Solution Provider, features some of the most prominent names in the OTT service industry. These companies offer exemplary services, backed by expert teams that have been delivering successful solutions even when OTT was little known to everyone. They are the pioneers, and hands down one of the most reliable OTT solution providers. Featured on the cover story, we have Lightcast. Lightcast.com has been one of the leading names, showcasing its expertise via comprehensive and innovative multi-platform distribution and end-to-end OTT solutions. The company started its journey in 2010, with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. They aim to enable publishers to create and manage TV Apps, Mobile Apps, Web Apps, and Social Accounts in real-time. Grab an exclusive interview with AGK Karunakaran, President and CEO, MulticoreWare. MulticoreWare is a software development company that offers cutting-edge products and services on multicore and multi-thread CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, FPGAs, and various AI hardware accelerators. There is a lot more to read inside. Happy Reading! Shalmali Shalmali W.

The Enterprise World, 1985, Henderson Rd, Columbus, Ohio, 43220 Follow Us On: For Editorial Concerns: [email protected] For Sales & Branding Enquiries: [email protected] For Subscription: [email protected] Publisher The Enterprise World Creative Content Editor Shalmali W. | Adeeb Marketing Coordinator Peter J. PR & Marketing Coordinator James H. Business Development Executive Jessica S. Creative Design Head: Sushant K. Social Media Manager Narendra S. Digital Circulation Manager Amanda V. Digital Marketing Executive Prachi K. This list is NOT a ranking. The companies on listed in magazine serve different aspects of the market, making ranking them in any order except revenue impossible and unfair. We try to bring a perfect platform for business organization to showcase their valued products/ services. Copyrights © The Enterprise World | 2019. All Rights Reserved. The images and content included in this magazine should not be copied, transferred or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording, otherwise, without proper permission from The Enterprise World. The Enterprise World solely owns all the reprint rights.

Leaders in Spotlight The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the world of business to go digital. And this was a perilous time, but it opened a new door of opportunities. One of the services that has become highly relevant is OTT services. But as the space grew, a lot of companies came into the picture, aiming for the top spot. Featured in this edition are some of the earliest names and pioneers in the OTT industry. These companies, services, leadership, and standards are milestones for the whole industry. They offer an innovative, intuitive, and seamless service that makes sure your customers get an unmatched OTT experience! On the cover story, we have Lightcast. Lightcast.com has been one of the leading names, showcasing its expertise via comprehensive and innovative multi- platform distribution and end-to-end OTT solutions. The company started its journey in 2010, with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. They aim to enable publishers to create and manage TV Apps, Mobile Apps, Web Apps, and Social Accounts in real- time. Grab an exclusive interview with AGK Karunakaran, President, and CEO, MulticoreWare. MulticoreWare is a software development company that offers cutting-edge products and services on multicore and multi-thread CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, FPGAs, and various AI hardware accelerators.

10. Lightcast

CONTENTS 26. MulticoreWare 20. OTT & Smart TV App Development Trends to Watch Out for in 2022 30. Are OTT platforms turning into garbage cans, providing a way for not-so-good content?

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YOUR PLATFORMTTHOE WORLD! VER Marlene Kisslinger | Co-Founder & Director of Customer Care ORY www.theenterpriseworld.com | 11

Lighting up your life - Lightcast! Lightcast.com has been one of the “We were not built as leading names, showcasing its expertise an overnight wonder via comprehensive and innovative multi- platform distribution and end-to-end to exit quickly at OTT solutions. The company started its inflated valuations. journey in 2010, with its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. We built Lightcast.com to T They aim to enable publishers to create service customers for and manage TV Apps, Mobile Apps, many decades. In a Web Apps, and Social Accounts in real- sense we are anti- time. To achieve their goal they offer an inflated but focus on award-winning CMS, the Media Cloud, intrinsic value, deep enabling publishers to upload, transcode, underlying tech, and store and manage all on-demand contents, live-streams, gallery long-term thumbnails and image files, metadata, sustainability. If we language versions, subtitle files, and other sidecar files, for real-time had to choose publishing across websites, mobile apps, between explosive web apps, TV apps, and social media growth during 12 platforms. months or 12 years of The recent years have brought a lot of Let's get to know the initial challenges consistent and challenges to the world of business, but faced by Lightcast, from Marlene sustainable growth, it also paved the way for a lot of new Kisslinger | Co-Founder & Director of we would pick 12 industries, fostering innovation and Customer Care years of consistent vision. One of the major fields that growth every single grew manifold in terms of demand and “We always knew that we would need innovation was the OTT industry. to invest into marketing and sales, but time without always kept anything which drives hesitation.”, Lightcast is one of the pioneers of revenue on the backburner. For the multi-platform distribution and end-to- first ten years, we were way too much in -Marlene Kisslinger, end OTT. They have been in the love with the product and process. For Co-Founder & Director industry for more than a decade, us it seemed like building the product perfecting their services, and creating was easy, but marketing was no priority of Customer Care comprehensive yet scalable solutions of ours. for their clients. We focused on refining the products Their services are advanced, backed and services, invested into with immense experience and expertise infrastructure and product of Lightcast's talented and handpicked development. For many years, our CEO team. Together the company forms a was the only sales rep. He consulted service and support mix that is highly and closed every single customer. sought-after, making them one of the most respected and reliable OTT We went to two or three trade shows per solution providers. year and customers accidently stumbled across us. Others found us online 12 J U N E 2 0 2 2

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because our website ranked well with “That is why our As a SaaS company with long-term search engines. After a decade of decision process contracts for recurring business organic, all inbound growth, is quite simple: services, they can project primarily through customer referrals, continuous growth with we decided to launch our first little take our comparatively high accuracy. online ad campaign on Facebook.” innovative ideas, Judging by the recent growth mix them with acceleration, they expect YoY Factors aiding the growth of our customers' growth in the mid-double-digits Lightcast, establishing their long- over the upcoming years, without standing success requests and any investment into marketing or feedback and sales, into acquisitions of smaller Customer referrals and organic search schedule them streaming providers, or strategic traffic brought consistent inbound according to the partnerships. growth of solid long-term customers. value they add to our customers' Services offered by Lightcast, and The past 3 years boosted their growth operations and what sets them apart which was due to a mix of timing and the launch of online marketing. Also, goals” The majority of Lightcast.com's the pandemic and lockdown proved to customers seek to launch TV Apps be a blessing in disguise, helping them -Marlene Kisslinger, across the main device platforms to grow their company, as Co-Founder & Director and app-stores, including AppleTV, organizations rapidly pushed for an FireTV, Roku, and online presence and footprint. of Customer Care AndroidTV/GoogleTV. Many of their customers either have no TV It is their management's unshakeable Apps yet, or only a few such as determination and longevity that Roku, and seek to extend their established their long-standing success. portfolio of publishing properties. Lightcast.com's sustainability and The majority of Startups and dominant presence in the market over Vloggers come to Lightcast.com to the past decade, built a rock-solid launch TV Apps and/or Mobile reputation and trust among clients that Apps for streaming. makes them one of the most sought- One of the key factors why content after companies in their field, creators and media publishers establishing a dominant position in the choose Lightcast.com is the cost- market and the hearts of their clients. efficiency and opportunity to save on valuable financial resources What establishes their success is their because Lightcast.com is usually focus and dedication to perfecting their less expensive than other “patch- services. Back in 2012, they accepted a work-solutions''. An increasing handful of clients, working with their number of large media corporations feedback and evolving their services in are going away from building and their development phase. They maintaining a patchwork system in- officially started accepting clients in house with an expensive workforce 2014, which received a staggering and infrastructures. response, owing to their indomitable services and support. This allowed Such an expensive patchwork setup Lightcast.com to record a 1600% rise requires service contracts with in monthly recurring revenue within multiple vendors, extensive in- seven years. house staff on payroll with all of the necessary experience and skillsets, and an increased need for overhead 14 J U N E 2 0 2 2

COVER STORY management. Lightcast.com simplifies What's new in the service arsenal of but she feels that the most important OTT and multi-platform publishing for Lightcast? thing is to remain focused and to sift organizations of all sizes – from the through ideas. “It is like a funnel smallest to the largest. Lightcast and its team are always which narrows down the most looking to expand and evolve their valuable ideas with the greatest Aside from the financial savings, one core software service and award- potential for success. of the key reasons that set Lightcast winning media management and Coming from a small country in apart is that they allow them to “get distribution system, the Lightcast which reliability has often been more done faster” through the “Media Cloud” ®. Works are valued over lofty ideas, quality over proprietary Media Cloud real-time underway for innovative Media quantity, and understatement over content and app management system. Cloud® features and new euphoria, has sometimes been a check All connected publishing properties, functionalities, that include more and balance for me. I prefer the such as apps, players, podcasts, social automation features for media euphoric can-do attitude over media channels, can be managed in workflows, new monetization features, skeptical hesitation, but the focus on one place, with syndicated workflows, as well as extensions of the Analytics reliability and quality can be and all user/viewer data and reporting Suite in the Media Cloud®. powerful”, Marlene adds. is in one place. Their new app framework development Views on the responsibilities of an All these factors mixed with partner MEGASTREAM has entrepreneur comprehensive and precise support numerous new app templates and and services allow clients to get the feature sets ready for integration into Marlene feels entrepreneurs should be maximum out of Lightcast.com, and the Media Cloud®. They are also in the passionate about the solutions they grow. This makes Lightcast one of the works of launching the next level of provide to their customers and have a foremost and pioneering companies in their real-time App Builder and other strong sense of responsibility to providing multi-platform distribution real-time app controls in the Media contribute towards society and the and end-to-end OTT solutions. Cloud® over the course of this year. greater good. They also need to be a good listener to best understand their How Lightcast is planning to go Pillars of Lightcast.com customer, their problems, and their ahead with the changing times and needs. trends To run such a company that is highly vested in providing foolproof and “On an operational level, an Lightcast.com considers its customers comprehensive solutions requires a entrepreneur needs to listen, evaluate to be the most important stakeholders team that is dedicated, strives for and absorb in verticals: mentors, in the company, regarding their client's perfection, and fires up innovation in investors, customers, and employees”, feedback as valuable as revenue. Their everything they do. Much more than Marlene adds. goal is to make sure that their that it requires a leadership that can not customer-facing teams always listen to only effectively channelize their These are all focus groups for an their client's challenges, needs, goals, potential, foster creativity, and lead the entrepreneur, people who provide and requirements. company. valuable feedback and input to shape, sharpen and improve all products, They use all of this knowledge to form Lightcast has been bestowed with services, systems, and processes. their roadmap accordingly and tweak great, talented, and highly capable their service and support strategy, leaders leading its direction and The team of Lightcast allowing clients to influence priorities. growth. They believe that the greatest idea, the Lightcast is a micro-multinational loftiest technology, does not do any Marlene Kisslinger, Co-Founder & company with small offices and teams good if it does not solve a problem, if Director of Customer Care, is in multiple locations. This has taught it does not contribute enough value to passionate about media and them to be mindful of good processes customers. technology, but also about design and and communication, and a great sense customer experiences. She is a of trust. Multiple teams and offices, powerhouse of ideas and innovation, and many young hires, have www.theenterpriseworld.com | 15

COVER STORY automatically required a high It's a rat race out there. How do you cope level of trust towards their with that? employees, long before the year 2020 that marked the launch of “Stepping off the treadmill periodically and the work-from-home trend. letting the momentum continue to turn the They have implemented remote- wheel”, Marlene Kisslinger says. “Then step working processes from the start back to accelerate the wheel again. For me, of the company over a decade those moments of recharge are best enjoyed ago as managing multiple in the Austrian Alps and on the water, offices automatically requires together with the people I love the most. I communication over distances believe nature is God’s gift to mankind, because certain offices and designed for us to draw fresh energy from. I employees will always be can listen and hear best in the quiet serenity “remote”. This gave them an of nature.” edge, especially during the lockdown and the pandemic “But most importantly it is necessary to times. The team knows that they know how to step back into the rat race to can work self-directed and that continue the race”, Marlene continues. they are an integral part of “And to quote my favorite book, the Bible, I shaping the company and its want to “run the race in such a way that I future. may finish it\", not just to be a winner, but most of all to be an accomplisher, the one Since the company never took who saw it through to completion (1. on external capital, never Corinthians 9:24). formed a large board with glamorous outsiders, never sold To me this simple scripture sounds much to investors or sought more like a marathon than like a sprint, it advantages from other people's sounds more like finding the rhythm and influence and network, the team stamina to endure a long, steady run, rather and the company's customers than rapid exhaustion on a short sprint. And became, and remained, their that is how we build our businesses as well. most important stakeholders. In That is how we built Lightcast.com.” that respect, Lightcast.com was built quite differently than the common model of tech startups. All of these factors add to the core values of the company, establishing a sense of oneness within the team towards the company and its services. Also, the expertise and decades of combined experience with successful implementations and extraordinary results, make the team of Lightcast indomitable, striving for perfection, working in unison to push Lightcast.com as the pioneer and leader in multi-platform distribution and end-to-end OTT solutions. 16 J U N E 2 0 2 2







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BY THE ENTERPRISE WORLD 2. Predictive Analytics Streaming movies and television shows on smart TVs have Predictive analytics helps to collect data and use it to been on the rise, especially during the COVID-19 global identify trends and forecast future events. An example of pandemic. This presented a challenge for app developers to this can be found in the specific movies or shows that smart design apps that would keep viewers entertained and TV apps may now suggest, based on your streaming history. engaged. Many app developers don’t focus specifically on This feature is found in smart TV apps like Netflix & Hulu. smart TV app development, as they launch apps for well- However, predictive analytics is expected to be known streaming devices/platforms and mobile devices like implemented on a mainstream level in 2021 for most, if not smartphones and tablets. all, smart TV app development. However, viewers have been streaming more OTT content 3. Customization from smart TVs than other avenues in the post-COVID landscape. These OTT media services directly provide Customization is a popular feature in apps developed for content to consumers, without the need for traditional smart TVs. While it is great to have an app with predictive broadcast, cable, or satellite television platforms. Many abilities regarding shows or movies you may be interested consumers are now slowly moving away from traditional in, it is even better to customize your viewing experience pay-TV providers. based specifically on what you desire. Many apps allow you to set up your own custom notifications when specific Most smart TVs with built-in OTT apps offer an all- inclusive package. They claim to deliver crisp video features like 8K Ultra HD and advanced audio capabilities. The unified app-based platforms need to enable viewers to access various content from different OTT platforms easily with no more than a few clicks. Despite promising many positive benefits, most interfaces for smart TV apps leave a lot to be desired. OTT media services are starting to take advantage of the opportunity to shift to smart TV app development new trends. The following are some of the best trends for smart TV app development. 1. 5G Technology 5G is one of the major rollouts that will have a significant impact on TV apps development in 2021. The technology is assured to change how apps are created and used by resellers, developers, and creators. There will be approximately 3.5 times more 5G connections in 2021 compared to 2020. This will influence the speed and drastically improve it. It’s expected that 5G will provide a 10x times decrease in latency. It will also boost traffic capacity and network efficiency. 5G is expected to be 100 times faster than 4G, depending on the app developer. The functionality of smart TV app development will be boosted by the penetration of 5G. Performance won’t be affected when smart TV app development adds new features. 22 J U N E 2 0 2 2

movies you are looking for, are available on the app. You 5. Voice Control can also set notifications for when new episodes of your favorite TV shows are available for streaming. The days of typing out lengthy movie or show titles via remote control will soon come to an end. Voice control is a Many apps also allow individual profiles to be created for feature being incorporated into a growing number of smart each viewer. This allows each individual within a household TV app development. Voice control features will also allow to have their own individualized viewing experience. you to start, stop, and pause a movie or TV show. You can also sort through viewing options with commands like 4. Competition is rising in the OTT Hosting Industry “Show Horror Movies” or “Show New Releases.” As voice Authority in the OTT industry is typically held by a few control technology becomes more integrated into homes, large companies. However, a handful of small, yet growing smart TVs will continue to provide even more options that OTT streaming services are beginning to make a name for can be controlled simply using your voice. themselves. All those platforms need support from online video platforms to operate at an optimal level. Currently, Conclusion there are many viable OTT hosting solutions. People use them for content management, distribution, and support. OTT & smart TV app development is constantly improving They have several amazing features, including live- and getting better by the day. App developers who fail to streaming capabilities. evolve or maintain the use of the latest technological advances, will not be able to remain competitive in the current marketplace. However, those who do will gain an edge in the smart TV app development market. This is a benefit to consumers who can watch a wider variety of high-quality content for lower prices due to the steep competition. The continuously changing viewing habits of modern society will continue to create opportunities for businesses with the courage and foresight to lead the way into the future. www.theenterpriseworld.com | 23





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Last year when we all got locked in the home, we all legs, people’s hunger for good content went on increasing were in a continuous quest for some good and they shifted to OTT platforms. When we get hungry, we entertainment to pass the crucial time. To have might think of having anything eatable. And as the audience some good time without stepping out, people preferred says, content creators and OTT platforms served them watching content like movies and shows on their mobile anything that just consumed data but failed to make their phones, laptops, and TV screens. As the lockdown stretched moments. 32 J U N E 2 0 2 2

The closed theater doors inspired people in the In India, the mainstream film industry is called Bollywood, entertainment business to think of new platforms to present regional film industries like Tollywood are the main areas their ready content. In the last few years, OTT platforms where films get produced. It is said that the production (Over the Top platforms), started taking place of DTH due houses having a strong network in the industry, publish to their large library and freedom to access it at any time their content on popular streaming apps regardless of and most importantly at an affordable cost. People in the content quality. When we talked with some young film entertainment business took the opportunity created by enthusiasts, they said, some Hindi web shows are getting lockdown, presented their content on OTT’s with win-win popular just because of the trending web series wave, if the deals, and tried to save their business. People say some same shows get released as a film franchise, they will face movies or shows are so pathetic on OTTs that if they were huge losses. released in theaters, there might be a hard-hitting silence at box offices. Entertainment is a huge business, more than 9 million people in India earn their bread and butter by working hard to entertain people. The pandemic closed theaters and stopped the production of content making all these people jobless. In this context, if projects get released on OTT platforms, it can help all those workers financially and morally too. The harder getting business equations in the film industry are unfortunately forcing production houses to ignore the content quality and think of profits only. But as we know, content is king! OTT’s productions called Originals are ahead in the content race as they work on analysis, keep an eye on viewers changing mindsets, etc. Are OTT platforms turning into garbage cans? Are OTT platforms turning into the trash cans providing a way for the content that can’t mark its good presence on the box office? This question has many answers as an audience have different taste of the content. OTT Platforms in India, there is no such classification as masses and classes as masses turn into classes if they got served with good content and in a celebration mood, classes turn out into masses and enjoy their life at fullest. A real question that arises here is, if originals from these OTTs have better content quality, why do they publish not- so-good content from different production houses? Don’t they care about their brand identity? If we dig deeper, the marketing strategies for Originals are much advanced and innovative than the partnered content, ensuring that the platform will remain in talks and crack major profitable deals with bigger production houses for their not-so-good content. In our previous article on OTT platforms, Online entertainment platforms, a new king in the entertainment business. readout how OTT businesses took over traditional film businesses and how! www.theenterpriseworld.com | 33