Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco began Monday, June 13 and wrapped up today. As always, Apple didn't disappoint with their announcements and gave us some sweet new treats to look forward to on the Apple TV!

Here’s a breakdown of this year’s top tvOS 10 updates and how those will significantly improve the end user experience and create new opportunities for content owners on Apple TV.

Improved Siri search to increase discovery and build new audiences

The new tvOS 10 update makes everyone’s favorite AI more universal and relevant. With this new release, Siri will be able to search through all content on Apple TV and deliver results across the entire library of available content.

From the official release : “There are over 6,000 apps to enjoy on your Apple TV including over 1,300 video channels, which are even more fun to watch with the new Siri features combined with single sign-on,” said Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services at Apple.

With a much larger database of content combined with Siri’s new ability to search by topic or theme, results will be more precise and comprehensive across the entire library of content available on Apple TV. Users can ask for “Business ideas and trends” and find Entrepreneur Network or search for “live polo games” and discover Chukker TV. Think of this as the new video SEO.

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="http://www.zype.com/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Discovery-Entrepreneur-Network.mp4" loop="true" autoplay="true"][/video]

How does Siri know how to find your content? When Zype works with our customers to submit their app to Apple TV, customers fill out a questionnaire that allows them to create keywords (containing up to 100 characters) for their channel. Once the app is live, when a user asks Siri for certain topics or themes like “crossbow” or “hunting”, Siri will pick up those keywords and show results for relevant channels like Above The Game. This allows Apple TV content owners to reach specific target markets without having to spend money on marketing.

This new opportunity for organic discovery via video search optimization helps strengthen video businesses. Just like with Google, potential fans now have the chance to find or stumble upon your custom Apple TV app. And with more accurate answers, suggestions, and recommendations from Siri, dwell time increases along with the opportunity to increase paying subscribers, build awareness, and protect against churn.

Single Sign-On marks the shift toward TV Everywhere

The tvOS 10 update will also make setting up an account hassle-free with single sign-on (on behalf of those who misspell their complex passwords due to strong authentication, thank you).

Gone are the days of typing the same username and password credentials for each and every network or cable TV app. The new Video Subscriber Account framework allows users to enter their cable or satellite subscription credentials once for immediate access to all streaming video channels that support single sign-on. That’s right, it now takes just one authentication to unlock all participating pay-TV apps.

This new single sign-on feature marks the shift toward TV Everywhere, which is when you authenticate with your cable subscription credentials to access cable content online or through streaming media players like Apple TV. This is a huge milestone in Apple’s attempt to move users away from “regular TV viewing” and towards viewing everything via Apple TV. By cutting the traditional TV cord, customers will spend more time with their devices, hence increasing the likelihood of them discovering new content (like yours!).

Apple Push Notification Service for direct communication with your customers

Though it’s been available on iOS, the Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) framework is will be added to tvOS 10. Content owners should be excited about APNs because it is a powerful and efficient way to communicate with customers. Whenever content owners have new content or an update to their service, they will be able to send notifications informing all their customers at once. Even if the app is not running, the device will still alert each user that there is something new waiting for them.

Notifications can be sent to your primary app (Apple TV) as well as services associated with that app (your other Apple devices ex. Apple watch). An extension can be used to identify the topics of your alert.

It’s easy for viewers to miss content they don’t know about. The ability to notify your customers will help keep them in the loop about your content and keep them engaged with your channel. Now you can worry less about keeping existing users and concentrate on growing your subscriber numbers!

HomeKit for access to and automation of Smart Home devices

Just to further ensure that Apple TV users won’t want to leave the couch, Apple has turned the Apple TV into a universal remote control for your house. HomeKit allows users to control home appliances and electronics without having to get up and divert attention away from the TV.

Want to dim the lights before a movie and make it chilly so you can bundle up in your blanket? Just tell Siri. Not only will the new tvOS 10 updates turn the Apple TV into an all-in-one controller, but it will also open up more opportunities for new apps (not to mention make our lives easier).

With these new perks over other platforms, Apple TV may convince new users to make the switch, which might encourage content owners to relocate in turn. But why decide between the devices? Zype partners with Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku, enabling our customers to publish their entire library anywhere from one dashboard!

Developers can begin previewing the new tvOS 10 updates this week, while consumers will have to wait for the update in the fall. Just in time for your viewers to “Apple TV and chill” to your new content as winter approaches.

What the tvOS 10 Update Means for Content Owners

Media RSS sync, Kaltura import, new customer SVOD services, subscriber management improvements and more

Summer is nearly here. To celebrate, our crack team of engineers and code artisans cranked out these recent updates to our OTT video distribution platform:

Customers coming from Kaltura, Ooyala, and Brightcove who wanted to use Zype to set up a new OTT service requested the ability to plug in a Media RSS (MRSS) feed for video ingestion so they could use Zype while keeping their existing video library in place.

The new MRSS Sync and Kaltura Import helps content managers use Zype for easy OTT publishing and monetization without needing to rebuild their entire video library that’s already managed in another platform. This approach is ideal if you want to keep your original platform as a video host but use the full Zype platform for video monetization, publishing, and analytics.

Legacy Kaltura, Brightcove, and Ooyala videos can now be easily published to the devices of your choice - Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV - with the monetization options of your choice - subscription, transaction, advertising. No transcoding necessary.

Learn more about the MRSS Sync and Kaltura Import.

Customers are now alerted when transcoding starts, completes or fails by email. There is also additional information available on transcoding status in the dashboard.

Some quick improvements to subscription management were released:

Monetization Links : Plans, subscriptions, and consumers are now directly linked to payment provider URLs (eg. on stripe.com). This makes it even easier to manage your subscribers in Zype and in your payment provider account.

Subscriber Account Management : Your subscribers can now update their credit card information themselves using the new account management widget.

Ad timings are now easily accessible via the main video details page for any Zype-hosted video. Simply click on any Zype-hosted video title in your Video Library to go to the main details page, then click on Ad Timings in the right section under Video Sources:

Essentially, ad timings give you an offset from the start of the video to where your ads should appear. In a 30-minute video, you could set an ad timing to appear at 00:00:00 (right at the start), and then a few more at 00:05:00 (5 min in), 00:10:00 (10 min in), and so on.

Redemption code support for monetized embeds

We added redemption code support for monetized embeds. Learn more about setting up monetization with subscription or purchase and rental.

NightFlight SVOD service launched on Web and Roku

Relive those late night memories! Night Flight, an eclectic late night show that ran on USA Network for the better part of the 80s, is back with Night Flight PLUS, a new SVOD service from the original creators of the show.

With a Night Flight subscription, subscribers get access to thousands of classic stereo remastered music videos from the 1980s and hundreds of hard to find full-length films from the cult, comedy, horror and B movie genres. AV Club said it well: What streaming services can learn from Night Flight's curated rabbit hole.

Night Flight uses Zype to organize, publish, and monetize their video library with monthly and annual subscription plans. Night Flight is now available on web and Roku.

Learn how to quickly create your own video paywall using Zype and the Stripe payment service.

Team Zype P.S. Want to build industry-changing VOD and live streaming software with us? We're hiring!

What's New at Zype - June 2016 Edition

Zype now makes it easy to ingest your Kaltura-hosted videos using MRSS. MRSS is short for Media Really Simple Syndication and is used for merging multimedia files such as audio, video and images in RSS feeds.

Simply set up Kaltura to export your videos as an MRSS feed ( Kaltura help doc here), connect the feed to Zype, and your videos will be instantly imported into your Zype video library.

Gives you instant access to the Zype ecosystem with your entire video library. Get your legacy Kaltura videos onto the devices of your choice with the monetization options of your choice.

Allows your content to remain on Kaltura.

Syncs daily with the Zype platform so any new content added on Kaltura will appear in Zype.

Automatically imports categories, keywords, thumbnails, and other metadata.

No transcoding necessary! Simply copy and paste the URL and you’re done.

1. Head to the Import & Upload page in the Zype Dashboard and choose Kaltura.

2. Choose your desired Kaltura feed settings on the "Import from Kaltura" screen.

Click Continue to review the import details for accuracy, including metadata, descriptions and video.

For more details, please visit our help page to learn How to Import Kaltura MRSS Feeds into Zype.

Not using Kaltura? The “generic” MRSS import option offers the exact same features, making it easy to import any MRSS feed into Zype. Read the MRSS Import blog post to learn more.

Simply arrange your MRSS feed into the Zype-compatible MRSS import format, import following the instructions above (but choose “MRSS” in Step 1), and just like that, your videos appear in your Zype video library.

How to Easily Import Your Kaltura-Hosted Videos with MRSS

Content owners and creators want to make more money from their video, but navigating the world outside of YouTube and Vimeo can be daunting.

How do you quickly roll out a video paywall without losing your brand identity or handing over your data and revenue stream to another middleman?

In this post, we’ll explain in just three steps how to quickly create a video paywall to put on your website. This video paywall will be the gateway to your new subscription video network (think Netflix) or storefront for individual titles and playlists to sell as single transactions (think iTunes store).

To build the paywall, we’ll use the popular, PCI-certified payment gateway Stripe. Stripe connects directly to your bank account, which ensures you’ll have direct control of your revenue stream.

This tutorial requires some limited knowledge of basic web technology, but you don’t need to be a coder. If you’ve ever pasted a URL into a website or done basic web publishing, you’ll be fine.

Setting the stage for a new video business

We created a fictitious video business, Time Machine, that locates and curates high quality classic films in the public domain. Time Machines uses Vimeo to host those videos, but wants to create their own video website and offer unlimited access to their videos with $3.99 monthly / $29.99 annual subscription plans.

We’ll go through step by step how Time Machine can launch their subscription video network, starting with videos in their Vimeo library and culminating in a brand new website hosted on Wix.

Video. Can be hosted anywhere (including YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo Pro) or on your hard drive. For this example, Time Machine's videos are hosted on a Vimeo account.

Website (can be hosted anywhere, including Squarespace, Wix, or Wordpress.com)

Head to the Import & Upload section of the Zype dashboard and choose from a list of video sources. For the sake of this post, we are going to use our videos on Vimeo. Copy and paste the URL of your Vimeo channel and click "Import from Vimeo" to import your video into the Zype platform.

To start making money with your videos, set each video to require purchase, rental, or subscription as applicable. Make sure the embed's “Paywall” toggle is set to "ON" to enable the purchase, rental, or subscription paywalls in the player.

How much money do you want to make? Decide whether you want to offer subscriptions (like Netflix) or transactions (like the iTunes Store). For this example, Time Machine wants to offer $3.99 monthly and $29.99 annual subscription plans. To create your subscription plans, go to the Make Money section of the Zype dashboard and click on “Subscription Settings” to set up a subscription plan. If you want to sell individual videos or playlists instead, then you will click “Purchase and Rental Settings” to create transaction options. Follow the prompts to connect Zype to your existing Stripe account or set up a new Stripe account directly within the Zype dashboard. Set a price and make sure to save your changes.

The final set is to add your paywall-enabled videos to your website using Zype embed codes.

From your Zype dashboard, go to your Video Library. Click the name of the video that you want to publish and then click on the Embed Code tab at the top right of the menu. Click on the “Copy to Clipboard” button to grab the embed code.

Next, open your webpage editor. In our case, it’s our Time Machine page hosted on Wix.

In Wix, select the Add (+) Button on the menu. When the Add options drop down, click More and select HTML Code . Click Enter Code and paste your copied embed code. Update the setting and you are good to go! You can resize and relocate your paywall according to your preference.

Instructions vary for Squarespace, Wordpress, and others, but it truly is as easy as copy/pasting the embed into your web editor.

That’s it! Wasn’t that simple? With this solution, you can sell your videos at whatever price you want and have direct access and ownership of all audience data and revenue streams.

P.S. Each of the videos in this blog post was added using a Zype embed code.

I know we promised a three-step blog post. But the fourth step is all about building your media empire: Promotion, audience development, and new content acquisition and production.

Then you just need to sit back and watch your bank account grow as new audiences discover and pay to watch your video!

Sign up for a Zype account here to get started with your own video paywall using your Vimeo and YouTube videos.

For more info, check out our documentation on Subscriptions, Purchase and Rental, Subscription API, and Transaction API.

3 Easy Steps to Build Your Own Video Paywall with Stripe

Just like RSS is used to syndicate blog posts, Media RSS (MRSS) is used to syndicate media files in RSS feeds. Media files like, you know, your entire video library and its rich metadata.

Many of the legacy online video platforms (OVP) like Kaltura, Ooyala, and Brightcove offer the ability to expose an existing video library via MRSS feeds for distribution to external channels. This means that MRSS feeds can be used as an ingestion source by a video distribution platform like Zype.

Customers have requested the ability to plug in an MRSS feed and use Zype to set up a new OTT service. So we’ve made it possible for these OVP users to have their cake and eat it, too. With Zype’s new MRSS Import, OVP users can keep their existing library in place along with the metadata they’ve so carefully tended and take advantage of Zype’s monetization tools and fast OTT distribution to Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire.

How do you do it? Simple. Just connect your MRSS feed to Zype and you’re off to the races:

1. Navigate to Import & Upload and choose MRSS.

After you click continue, you'll be able to preview your whole video library and the associated metadata. From there, you just save all of your data, and voila, you're done.

It really is that easy. Zype will absorb your MRSS metadata and your videos will be playable through our platform, which receives the videos directly from your original source endpoints. As if it couldn’t get any better, the MRSS feed will also sync nightly to pull in any new additions to your OVP’s video library.

Instant access to the Zype ecosystem with your entire video library. Get your legacy Kaltura, Brightcove, and Ooyala videos published on the devices of your choice with the monetization options of your choice.

Content syncs daily with the Zype platform so any new content will appear in Zype.

Ask for a demo to see for yourself how seriously easy it is to connect your existing video library to Zype via MRSS feed.

For more details, please see our help page to learn How to Import MRSS Feeds into Zype.

Using Media RSS to Import Videos into Zype

Introducing Redemption Codes, a new way for your customers to access your content! Redemption codes are the latest tool in your arsenal of tactics to build your audience and grow your customer base.

Redemption codes provide one-time use codes for your customers to unlock access to your entire video library, specific playlists, or individual titles. Redemption codes can be printed, emailed or distributed online.

This is an important feature for physical media and DVD distributors who need a way to transition their in-person DVD customers to online streaming customers. Simply insert a printed code into the physical media package, and your customer can go to your website to redeem access to your digital content.

Redemption codes can also be used as a gift, a trial period, or a contest incentive -- however you want to offer limited-time access to your content, redemption codes make that possible.

At the bottom of the ‘Make Money’ dashboard, you can now implement Redemption codes within your existing monetization structure.

Request up to 10,000 codes at once, specify an expiration date and choose which content the redemption codes will grant access to: an individual title, playlist, or your whole library.

The Zype platform will generate codes automatically for you, or you can upload your own codes using our CSV upload tool.

If you distribute physical media and DVDs, have been looking for a way to build a direct relationship with your customers, and would like to transition your video business to digital media, redemption codes can be a great way to bring your customers to your digital video library and build your independent brand. Simply print out the redemption codes and insert them into your packaged media.

Want to gift a valuable customer with a free playlist? Redemption codes can also be emailed.

A redemption code is simply a series of numbers and letters and can be printed or shared digitally - whatever works for your business!

All redemption code usage is tracked in the activity stream and analytics dashboard.

The code will give the user access to any videos that are available at the time of purchase even if the videos are deactivated one day after purchase. Additionally, any new content that is added to the playlist or library is available for access with the redemption code as well.

One of your customers having trouble entering the code? Our dashboard allows for automatic processing in case of user difficulties.

Use Zype's open API for easy integration to your own website through our Redemption Code API.

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What the tvOS 10 Update Means for Content Owners

What's New at Zype - June 2016 Edition

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