What IPTV middleware does
- Subscriber management: accounts, packages and entitlements
- Channel line-up and electronic program guide
- On-demand catalog, catch-up and recording features
- Device management: provisioning and updating set-top boxes and apps
- Integration with billing, conditional access or DRM, and the operator's other systems
- The interface the subscriber sees on screen
Who uses it
Middleware is built for operators: telecom companies, internet providers, hotels and hospitals that distribute many channels to a known set of subscribers and devices. It is typically bought as one component and combined with separate transcoding, storage and delivery systems.
Middleware vs a managed OTT platform
Middleware assumes you are assembling and running a system. You choose and integrate the other components and operate the result. That suits an operator with engineers and existing infrastructure.
A managed OTT platform delivers the whole service as one product, with encoding, delivery, apps and monetization included and operated for you. That suits a content owner who wants a branded service rather than an operator's stack.
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