Viacom 18’s video-on-demand streaming service VOOT, has won the coveted International Broadcasting Convention 2017 (IBC 2017) Innovation Award for content distribution for its progressive web app (PWA) product- VOOT Lite.
IBC, which annually awards the latest innovations in media and technology, recognised VOOT’s pioneering initiative in giving mobile web users an app like experience in consuming digital video.
VOOT was the only online video service that was shortlisted for the awards, along with other leading organisations, amongst 190 plus entries from around the world. VOOT won the award at a prestigious ceremony in Amsterdam yesterday.
VOOT is the first video platform in the world to have launched a progressive web app (PWA) product and that includes offline page caching functionality, fast loading, responsive interface and push notifications. VOOT was an early adopter of this technology which led to a huge jump in users and video watch-time on its mobile web. The Add To Home Screen feature of PWA allows the user to launch the page from their home screen like a native app and a service worker decreases load times.
Speaking about the awards, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi added, “To win the IBC 2017 Innovation Award for content distribution is a huge honour for us at VOOT. In the video steaming business, both content and technology play an equally important role. While Viacom 18 is well known for pioneering efforts and leadership in the content business, it is indeed great to have our company feature on the global technology leaderboard as well. In this business particularly, partnerships and alliances are key to achieving big milestones and we would like to thank the team at Google for providing us support in our PWA.”
VOOT by Viacom 18, launched in 2016 currently hosts over 40,000 hours of content on its streaming service and has over 25 million monthly active users. It has a plethora of popular content—including blockbuster movies, largest library of premium kids’ shows, VOOT originals, online-only features, and a huge library of popular TV shows across languages made available for streaming across India. The ad-supported VOD service, besides being the singular destination for the Viacom 18 network content, also has a big focus on digital originals, besides being the leader in the kids’ digital video space.
