Live Streaming The Super Bowl On Roku
Live Streaming The Super Bowl On Roku
FOX is an American Multimedia company focusing on politics, technology, and culture. Along with FOX News Media, the brand also consists of FOX Business Network, FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment, FOX TV, Tubi and Credible.
Features
- A single channel that supports all the FOX brands
- Live-stream capability
- Risk Analysis and mitigation
- Load testing
- Strategic Plans
Technologies
- Native BrightScript application
- SceneGraph
The Project
The Superbowl is one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year and many "cord-cutters" without cable subscriptions are still seeking a straightforward way to watch the game. With this in mind, FOX reached out to Ensemble to help find a solution. Having an already well-established working relationship and a foundation of trust with Ensemble, the FOX team were familiar with our work and incredibly happy with previous results. Ensemble had already created Roku Channels for two of the FOX brands and determined that a Roku-based solution would be the best way to have the cleanest live experience for viewers.
Ensemble was able to build a live-stream Roku app prototype quickly and efficiently for FOX, demonstrating the look and feel of the final product.
Our Solution
With so many eyes on this live sporting event, an ever-present thought during the project was, "what technical issues can arise during a live event and how can we prevent them?" Ensemble created a strategic plan that involved intense regular audits and testing of the product. Each audit and test identified and responded to risks to ensure there were no bugs or issues on the day of the Super Bowl.
Planning and Risk Identification
Ensemble built an application that mirrored the FOX cable experience onto the Roku Platform and provided live support during the game to ensure everything went off without a hitch. Giving the viewer a clean live stream of the Super Bowl was the primary objective and Ensemble worked closely with FOX to supply recommendations and best practices regarding user experience and video quality to ensure the best viewing experience possible. As we began planning the app, our team decided that the best way to deliver flawless visuals of the live event was to make sure the app was as lean as possible. One concern we identified was the potential for other content on the app to interrupt the game. To prevent this, we made it so that only the live stream would be playing on Super Bowl Sunday with no other content available.
App Development and Execution
Ensemble also reviewed all other add-ons within the existing app and took out any features and modules that were unnecessary. This resulted in a much leaner app than anything FOX had before and meant that there was less potential for technical issues during the event. Throughout the entire development process, Ensemble also tracked the backend analytics of the app to determine where any potential breaks may be, predict where weaknesses may arise, and resolve these issues before game day.
Our team worked alongside FOX up to and including the day of the Super Bowl, with members of the Ensemble team providing onsite support during the game to ensure a smooth operation from kick off to the final whistle.
In the end, FOX was able to achieve their objective of a smooth streaming experience of the Super Bowl using the Roku app designed, developed, and supported by Ensemble.
