The team behind Nine’s BVOD streaming platform 9Now has rolled out a complete overhaul of the service, which the company says will provide the simplicity of television with “an unparalleled streaming experience.”
Placing the live experience front and centre, when viewers now access 9Now they are presented with live TV playing seamlessly in full HD 1080p in the background. According to the company, this retains the familiar, broadcast-like channel experience of television, while empowering users with the control of starting over from the beginning with a single click. The functionality is currently live on 9Now via desktop, iOS and Android apps, with other connected TV apps rolling out in the near future.
Further upgrades towards a seamless user experience include a new interaction model to quickly and efficiently navigate the breadth and depth of 9Now’s content catalogue. The simplified interface allows audiences to quickly jump to the content that best appeals to them – reducing the “choice paralysis common with other streaming services.” The experience is paired with enhanced show imagery, rich metadata and the ability to preview show information from the homescreen.
9Now says it will continue to innovate with a focus on the live TV experience as it heads towards the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In addition to the 40 Olympic Games 9Now channels, the platform will also roll out new channels and commit further resources to the NBN Newcastle and Northern Rivers and 9News Gold Coast bulletins, which will soon be available to stream live, free and in full HD on 9Now.
Director of Programming and 9Now, Hamish Turner, said: “The power of free-to-air has always been its ability to consistently deliver curated, premium content in a live environment and a strength of appealing to a broad audience. We’re leaning into these unrivalled strengths to ensure the new 9Now user experience is a game changer for streaming audiences.”
Nine’s Chief Product Officer, Bec Haagsma, said; “Last year we told you about some of the 9Now roadmap features we had prioritised. This year we can say that we’ve delivered them, and are now hitting another major transformation milestone that is focussed on meeting our customers’ desire to find and watch more live content.
“Our roadmap continues to prioritise our audience with the rollout of the new homepage bringing them live sport and entertainment in full HD, 50 frames per second quality simply by opening the 9Now experience. And there is even more to come before Paris 2024.”
Other key features being rolled out this year include: enhancement of the live player, an all new TV guide, a suite of new ad products and a gold medal experience for the Olympics. The company says it aims to ensure every Australian has access to the same, best in class experience by rolling out these new experiences across the breadth of connected TV devices including Samsung, LG, Hisense, Foxtel, Roku & Fetch TVs.