CTAM announces universal TV Everywhere sign-in solution

Friday, June 10th, 2016
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Industry Collaborative Announces Universal TV Everywhere Sign-In Solution

  • New Technology Will Enable Simple, Seamless TV Everywhere Experience for All Pay-TV Customers

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — CTAM today announced the support of key TV Everywhere (TVE) business and technology leaders around a solution that will dramatically improve the sign-in experience for pay-TV customers across platforms, both in and out of the home. Developed in collaboration, with Adobe, this new, non-proprietary industry standard features two key capabilities. Home-Based Authentication automatically signs in a user when in the home, and Single Sign-On asks a user to provide their credentials once to be signed in across multiple pay-TV and programmer-supported TVE apps, outside the home.

“This collective is yet another example of how our industry is leading innovation to deliver best-in class customer experiences,” said Vicki Lins, president and CEO, CTAM. “It’s exciting to see how marketers and technologists are working together to solve shared challenges through a consumer-first lens.”

The solution, portions of which will be available this year, is an outgrowth of a CTAM and OATC (Open Authentication Technology Committee) TV Everywhere collaboration. Currently, A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, Disney/ESPN, Fox Networks Group, Mediacom, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner and Viacom are among the CTAM member-companies supporting deployment in the next six to twelve months. In turn, CTAM and the OATC plan immediate and on-going outreach to all pay-TV providers, programmers, and authentication companies.

“Today, our customers can stream thousands of hours of the newest content, live or on demand, across more than a dozen platforms,” said Matt Strauss, executive vice president and general manager, video services, Comcast Cable and co-chair of the CTAM TV Everywhere Initiative. “This advanced solution will simplify the experience, giving customers faster and more seamless access to the content they want to watch in the moment.”

“Adobe Primetime is committed to unlocking the power of TV Everywhere for consumers,” said Jeremy Helfand, vice president, Adobe Primetime. “Home-Based Authentication and Single Sign-On capabilities are crucial to expanding TV Everywhere adoption and delivering a frictionless viewing experience across screens.”

In addition to supporting this sign-in project, CTAM is leading development of a standardized approach to marketing TV Everywhere, including a new unified consumer messaging strategy, alignment with proven best practices, and collaborative research to best understand and further enhance the consumer experience.