Music video service Vevo said it hired Telus as its direct ad sales representative in Canada.

The move will enable Vevo to bring its extensive music video content and enhanced advertising opportunities to the Canadian market, where it already reaches 10 million Canadians monthly.

“Telus’ extensive reach and expertise in the Canadian market makes them an ideal partner for Vevo. We have been expanding our distribution footprint in Canada, especially on CTV, where we see continued growing viewership,” said Rob Christensen, executive VP, global sales at Vevo. “Vevo’s library of over 800,000 music videos provides advertisers with both an engaging environment and access to hard-to-reach, coveted audiences, such as Gen Z and cord-cutters.”

Telus is a communications technology company with $20 billion in annual revenue.  It operates in 32 countries. 

“Our direct ad sales partnership with Vevo marks an exciting entry into Canada’s advertising space, with a focus on providing exceptional value for local brands and media agencies,” said Dwayne Benefield, chief product officer at Telus. “Leveraging this collaboration, advertisers can connect with viewers in a meaningful way through Vevo, and maximize the impact of their advertising strategies in the Canadian market."

While Comcast has netted some key tier-1 providers for its X1 syndication program, suppliers that are more focused on the independent, small- and mid-tier portion of the cable industry have been locking in on new devices that are powered by Google’s Android TV platform.

Under an apps-based approach, those Android TV devices are being made to support a cable operator’s pay TV service alongside integrated access to over-the-top content from sources such as Netflix, and woven together via a unified interface.

The offer of these Android TV-based devices — either for rent or for outright sale — is also becoming more prominent as pay TV providers continue to migrate to IP-based video platforms.

Android TV has clearly become an attractive option for several service providers, or vendors that support them, in the U.S. and in Canada, including TiVo, Evolution Digital, MobiTV and Telus. Even Dish Network is getting into the Android TV act for its hospitality business.

Among them, Evolution Digital just launched the eSTREAM 4K, a device based on Android TV that uses voice navigation and can support the pay TV provider’s service (via an OTT app or a managed IPTV service) and integrate with other premium apps offered via Google Play.

That device can be branded by the multichannel video programming distributor and offered for sale or for rent, or be presented as a managed device, whereby the box boots up directly into the provider’s video application.

Android TV is attractive in this instance in part because, “it essentially brings all of the key components on the OTT side,” Brent Smith, Evolution Digital’s president and chief technology officer, said in a recent interview. “Access to the high value OTT world is one of the compelling reasons for Android TV.”

Related: Evolution Digital Debuts App-Based OTT-TV Platform for Smaller Cable Ops

Colin Dixon, chief analyst and founder at nScreenMedia, said: “It makes a lot of sense for operators to look into [an Android TV option]. It gets them where they need to be, and very quickly.”

Dixon said Android TV also makes business sense, given its lack of license fees, though suppliers and MVPDs will still need to outlay the costs for the back-end services, content encryption, customer management and other components that make up the overall solution.

On Board With Android TV

Among the pay TV tech suppliers that have developed or are working on Android TV-powered platforms:

• Evolution Digital: Last month, the company introduced the eSTREAM 4K, a product that can be deployed in different modes, including as a managed device from the pay TV operator, or to be sold outright.

• MobiTV: Its Connect platform is designed for an operator-managed, IP-based, app-based platform. MobiTV, which recently announced a deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative, said it supports several platforms, including Android TV devices such as the Nvidia Shield.

• TiVo: The company is pushing ahead with a device-agnostic approach that will help its MVPD partners migrate to an IP-based multiscreen platform. That work includes a client that will run on an MSO-managed Android TV device expected to be launched by mid-2018.

• Telus: Pik TV, Telus’s new slimmed-down IPTV package, runs on smartphones and tablets, and also works with an Android TV-based “media box” that is being sold for C$100.

• CenturyLink: CenturyLink Stream — a virtual MVPD service that’s in the process of being shut down as the telco instead seeks out partnerships with other OTT TV providers — had been offering the CenturyLink Player, an Android TV device made by LG Electronics, for $89.99.

• Dish Network: Last June, Dish launched Evolve, a 4K-capable, Android TV-powered “set-back” box and interface that is tailored for hotels and other partners in the hospitality market.
• Update: As a reader helpfully pointed out, AT&T/DirecTV also has Android TV on its radar. Per FCC documents, DirecTV is developing an Android TV-powered box that will rely on OTT distribution and support voice search/navigation and the 4K video format.

--This story also ran in the March 5 edition of Multichannel News (subscription required)

Ericsson said Telus is using the vendor’s new cloud-based MediaFirst platform to enhance and augment Optik TV, the Canada-based telco’s full-freight, managed IPTV service.

Among those enhancements, MediaFirst will add personalization features across devices (including TV and mobile) and enable Optic TV subs to watch TV, set recordings and watch VOD content on the Optik TV app using a unified interface. Those additions are now reflected in the Optik TV apps for iOS and Android.

The updated platform also taps into advanced analytics tools that help the service provider target relevant content and promotions to viewers, they said.

In the first phase, Telus has launched the enhanced version of the Optik TV app to almost 1 million customers in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec.

Optik TV was originally developed on Mediaroom, the IPTV platform that Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in the fall of 2013.

Telus is also using Ericson’s MediaFirst platform to power “Pik TV,” an IP-delivered skinny bundle service that was introduced in April that runs smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box sold by Telus for C$100.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

Other announced MediaFirst customers include J:COM, Japan's largest cable operator, and Canada's SaskTel. 

RELATED: J:COM Taps Ericsson for New Multiscreen Service 

Canadian service provider Telus has soft-launched a slimmed-down IPTV service/package called Pik TV that runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box.

That service, which relies on Ericsson’s cloud-based MediaFirst interface/experience, complements Optik TV, Telus’s full-freight, managed IPTV service that currently uses Mediaroom, the IP video platform that Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in 2013.

Update:  The original version of this story characterized Pik TV as an “over-the-top” service. Telus stressed that Pik TV is not OTT, and that the new offering “fully complies will all Canadian CRTC Broadcast Distribution Undertaking licensing requirements and qualifies fully as a pay-tv service the same as our existing Optik TV service… or any other CRTC licensed pay-TV service.” An official also stated that Pik TV is also “onside of all of our content licensing deals.”

The Pik TV FAQ also notes that watching the service live or on-demand using the Pik TV media box at home does not count against the customer’s monthly Internet data allowance. However, use of apps such as Netflix on the Pik TV media box will count toward the user’s Internet data plans. Likewise, usage of the service away from home will be subject to data usage charges, Telus noted.

Pik TV appears to have debuted last week, as apps for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets went live on April 19. A web site dedicated to the Pik TV service notes that Telus customers can purchase the associated 4K-capable Android TV box for C$100.

Pik TV has some a la carte-like aspects. The core $20 service includes 23 basic local and regional channels and a VOD library, and gives customers the ability to add five more channels from a selection that includes AMC, Comedy Network, Space, Food Network, A&E, Discovery Channel, Bravo, TLC, Much HGTV, CBC News Network, CTV News Channel, E!, CNN, and Slice.

Pik TV subs can add other channels for $4 each, and can also add several premium-level options, including Sportsnet ($15 per month), Crave TV ($7 per month), TSN ($15 per month), or a bundle of Crave TV, HBO Canada and The Movie Network for $20 per month.

Ericsson was showing off Pik TV at this week’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, and people familiar with the product expect Telus to follow with a full-launch of Pik TV in May.

Customers can buy and self-install the Android TV box for Pik TV, and also use the device to load apps such as Netflix. It’s not clear yet when or if Telus will extend access to retail devices under a bring-your-own-device model.

According to the FAQ, Pik TV is for Telus Internet customers and currently available in limited areas, including Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Saanich and Prince George, and not have a subscription to Telus’s Optik TV service

Though Pik TV is not an over-the-top service, subscribers are required to have an IP broadband connection that delivers at least 15 Mbps and a Google email address. Notably, Pik TV customers can bring the box to another house to watch their subscriptions, though access to some channels are geo-restricted.  

Those customers can remove and add channels once every 30 days. To prime the pump, Pik TV’s first 30 days of service is free.

Telus has also outlined how Pik TV and Optik TV are tailored to fit the needs of different customers. Pik TV, for example, is for customers who want to pick their own channels, are comfortable “self-managing” their technology, watch TV on one screen at a time, and don’t record shows. The higher-end Optik TV offering has a bigger bundle of channels, supports multiple outlets and has DVR options.

Ride TV said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) determined that the equestrian-focused programmer will be added to the list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution in Canada. The channel said it will be "the first network of its kind in Canada" and will be available to subscribers across the country.

“This is groundbreaking for Ride TV and it proves that the popularity of horses transcends the globe. Canada is a vibrant horse market, and we look forward to making Ride TV available to subscribers on every cable, satellite or IPTV platform in the country,” Michael Trujillo, the network's SVP of international distribution, said in a release. “We are extremely grateful to our sponsor TELUS for their extraordinary vision in recognizing the need for a unique, entertaining and compelling network like Ride TV in Canada.”

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Ride TV carries original programming, such as the musical profile series Unbridled Song, plus live equestrian sports.

Telus of Canada has joined a growing number of service providers that have integrated Netflix with their leased set-top boxes.

Telus, which delivers pay-TV services under the Optik TV brand, said it will provide access to Netflix on its boxes “over the coming weeks.” It appears that Netflix will retain the billing relationship with its subscribers.  

"The addition of Netflix is yet another demonstration of TELUS' commitment to making our customers' entertainment experience better and simpler," said Blair Miller, Telus’s VP-content, said in a statement. "Nearly half of TELUS' Optik TV customers are also Netflix subscribers, and making Netflix accessible to them via their Optik set-top box is a simple but powerful innovation providing access to all their home entertainment in one place.”

Telus, which relies heavily on Cisco-made boxes, joins other MVPDs that have arranged for direct integration with Netflix. Among recent moves, Cogeco, which launched its TiVo offering last October, became the first Canadian provider to announce plans to tie in the Netflix service, following in the footsteps of U.S.-based corporate cousin Atlantic Broadband. 

Other MVPDs that have  integrated Netflix on leased boxes or have plans to do so include WideOpenWest, Virgin Media, ComHem, Suddenlink Communications, Cogeco, GCI, Grande Communications and RCN, among others, already do so on their TiVo-powered platforms.