Premiere Interactive

European Premium TV Operator Gives Soccer Fans New Choices for Top Games

Premiere, the leading pay TV operator in Germany and Austria, supplies premium TV programming to 3.4 million subscribers in the region. Interested in appealing to a bigger section of the 40.6 million German and Austrian TV households, Premiere developed a model offering individual premium content on a pay-per-view basis via the Internet. Premiere, in cooperation with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Axinom, used the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Vista™ to create a personalized and flexible Internet Pay TV solution, providing consumers with more choices and availability in premium programming. The rich user experience facilitates one-stop shopping for consumers to browse, buy, and watch live sporting events, movies, and series.

We want to participate in forward-looking technologies at an early stage to gain a competitive advantage while reaching new target groups and increasing awareness of our premium content. Steve Wysocki, Managing Director, Premiere Interactive

Situation

Operating in Europe’s largest TV market, Premiere’s core business is based on premium TV subscriptions. Premiere offers the most attractive pay TV programming—from soccer games to Hollywood movies. Premiere enjoys exclusive premium entertainment rights, secured long term, with exclusive contracts with Hollywood majors and excellent connections with independent producers worldwide. Premiere also offers a wide variety of top sports like UEFA Champions League games. Premiere also secured the rights to top European soccer leagues.

Pay TV in Germany is still at an early stage. Premiere wanted to take part in introducing innovations that allow viewers to watch TV through different distribution channels and on different devices. The company wanted to offer this premium programming on a pay-per-view basis as a new line of business separate from subscriptions to both increase revenue and empower consumers.

Solution

Premiere and Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Axinom, created a pay-per-view Internet TV site

Fast Facts
Number of developers	10 (5 developers, 1 architect, 2 testers and 2 project managers)
Months to complete	3 months
Programming languages	Microsoft Visual C# MCML
Programming model and technologies	Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Windows Media Center Windows Vista

by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows® Media Center in Windows Vista™. The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 is the managed code programming model for Windows, which Axinom used for communication with the server through the Windows Communication Foundation. By using the .NET Framework 3.0, Axinom developers and IT staff can more easily manage, deploy, and integrate applications with networked systems.

The Windows Media Center serves as the channel delivering the Internet Pay TV service. The presentation layer of Windows Media Center enables dynamic layout capabilities and integrated animation support, as well as rich text and graphic support. The application programming interface (API) of Windows Media Center allowed Axinom to automate features and experiences of Windows Media Center, including streaming media playback, queue management, tuning to live TV events, and navigation to Windows Media Center features.

Dynamic Design Capabilities
Using the XML declarative language, Windows Media Center Markup Language (MCML), Premiere created dynamic layouts and integrated animation with rich text and graphic support for the Internet Pay TV site (see Figure 1). MCML allowed Premiere to create animated carousel objects to display available content. “Our carousel object, created through MCML, is a great showcase for our offerings,” notes Steve Wysocki, Managing Director, Premiere Interactive.

The presentation layer of Windows Media Center offers three distinct architectural components. First, the user experience framework makes complex user interface problems manageable and allows the creation of rich and compelling user experiences with custom animations. Next, a portable rendering engine delivers composited user interface and video at high and stable frame rates. Finally, the Windows Vista messaging system connects the two, enabling a high-performance, queued-command interconnect.

Collaboration Made Easy
To facilitate the pay-per-view purchase of the Internet Pay TV programming, Premiere developed an innovative, interactive e-commerce solution based on Windows Vista. To

Figure 1. The Internet Pay TV site

develop the e-commerce solution, Premiere turned to Microsoft Visual Studio® Team System, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server, and the ECM Application Framework (AxCMS.net) from Microsoft Partner Axinom. Visual Studio Team System is a collection of tightly integrated software development tools that change the way software development teams work together. By using Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server together, ten members of the development team completed the solution in only three months. The team gained enterprise-grade source code control and integrated work item tracking and reporting as well as fast access to big picture views of the project to enable better collaboration and drive predictable results. By facilitating this collaboration, the team expedited development time while ensuring the reliability of the development process. “Microsoft Visual Studio Team System is, I would say, one of the best development environments available,” remarks Steve Wysocki.
 

Content protection is extremely important. Microsoft is a really strong partner in terms of content security. Steve Wysocki, Managing Director, Premiere Interactive

Security
Windows Media® DRM 9 Series is used for content protection. Windows Media DRM 9 Series is a proven platform to protect and securely deliver content for playback on computers, portable devices, and network devices. Windows Media DRM 9 Series offers increased flexibility to support a wide range of business models that provide even greater access to protected audio and video content. According to Wysocki, “Content protection is extremely important. Microsoft is a really strong partner in terms of content security.”

Benefits

Premiere’s Internet Pay TV is liberating the German and Austrian consumers by offering popular sporting events and movies on a pay-per-view basis without requiring a monthly subscription. Windows Vista enabled developers and designers at Premiere and Axinom to create user-experience breakthroughs that improve usability and increase relevance. Damir Tomicic, Managing Director and Enterprise Architect at Axinom, says, “With this new solution, Premiere can ensure secure online transactions while providing a reliable, cost-effective infrastructure and rich user experience tightly integrated into Windows Media Center.”

Extend the Brand and Acquire New Customers
Premiere chose Windows Vista and other cutting-edge Microsoft technologies to be innovators in the premium TV industry. “We want to participate in forward-looking technologies at an early stage to gain a competitive advantage while reaching new target groups and increasing awareness of our premium content,” notes Wysocki. “Internet Pay TV is an extension of our core business. Some target groups may only be interested in certain programming rather than a full subscription. It could be the first step in getting people in contact with our premium content without having a subscription. And some users may decide to subscribe to Premiere after all.”

Increase Revenue
Existing and new subscribers perceive new pricing and packaging as better value for the money. Internet Pay TV also offers a new source for advertising revenues and cross-marketing. “Although this endeavor is still very new, initial reactions from consumers have been positive and encouraging,” says Wysocki.

Retain Current Customers
Subscribers to Premiere premium TV can buy most of these pay-per-view programs at half price. They also enjoy the option to watch premium programming on their televisions and select programming on their computers. Future plans include extending the offerings even further with a remotely accessible download manager.

With this new solution, Premiere can ensure secure online transactions while providing a reliable, cost-effective infrastructure and rich user experience tightly integrated into Windows Media Center. Damir Tomicic, Managing Director and Enterprise Architect, Axinom

 

About Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center, now an integrated feature of the premium Windows Vista experience, is showcased in Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Home Premium. Enjoy your entire digital entertainment library in full glory on your PC or even on your TV with Windows Media Center. View your photos in a cinematic slide show, browse your music collection by cover art, easily play DVDs, watch and record TV shows, download movies, and project your home videos—then pass the remote to let friends and family join in the fun!

Windows Media Center in Windows Vista features some great advancements over previous versions, including an improved user interface with easier navigation and breakthrough media visualization. Windows Media Center also offers built-in support for archiving TV shows directly to video DVDs, faster overall performance, and an improved platform for content owners to deliver new online entertainment services and experiences.
 
For more Information about Windows Media Center, visit the Windows Media Center page on the World Wide Web at:
www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter

For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about Premiere Interactive products and services, call (49) (0) 899 95875 50 or visit the Web site at:
www.premiere.de

For more information about Axinom Deutschland products and services, call (49) (0) 911 801090 or visit the Web site at: www.axinom.de

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.