The importance of Building Quality Partnerships in the Entertainment Industry

On the 9th of February 2021, a very riveting webinar from Rethink took place. Proximus, Synamedia, and 3SS were the companies responsible for guiding the audience through the main success factors to get a great Android TV service to the market.

The event lasted about an hour, and they discussed a vast number of relevant topics. The main focus -or an inevitable redirection- was the importance of finding and building quality partnerships in the Entertainment Industry. Making or being in business with the right partners means improving your product and focusing together on driving customer-centric innovation. 3SS has a broad network of partners -over 60- and multiple successful projects with them. That is why we know the impact of choosing the right partnerships to build great solutions, which was exactly, what Jim Casteele, CCMO of Proximus, highlighted, who praised the collaboration between Proximus and 3SS.  

Jim pointed out that he was proud of the collaboration with 3SS before, but that he knew he made the right choice partnering with 3SSwhen receiving CSI Award for “Best TV User Experience”, that Proximus´s Pickx won together with 3SS during the virtual IBC conference last September.

“We were convinced we didn’t have the time to work on the details that make the difference between a good UX and a great UX, that’s why it was so important for us to work with a partner. But at the same time, the 3SS solution allows you to tailor into your own branding, so we started on strong foundations, but we could give our own tune to it,” said Jim.

After that, Tommy Flanagan -Analyst and Editor at Rethink-, who was moderating the event, asked Jim if there were other choices or if this was always “a one-horse race with 3SS”, putting the CCMO of Proximus in a pickle. Jim Casteele reaffirmed his previous words and his trust in 3SS. He reassured the initial trust of a market-proven partner ecosystem because 3SS & Technicolor brought the Com Hem Tv Hub to life for Tele2 in 2018 already.  

On the other hand, Nick Thexton -CTO at Synamedia- remarked that partnerships are still vital and that these days the partnership's responsibilities are stronger for anybody wanting to build a service provider platform, and therefore the partners you pick are extremely important. “We also have a strong relationship with 3SS, and we worked well together on a number of projects therefore we recognized that there is great leadership in 3SS in regard of the Android TV platform, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Pierre Donath, CPO at 3SS, addressed partnerships as one of 3SS’s success factors. He quoted Abraham Lincoln - “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”- and referred directly to the fact that operators like Proximus understand that vision, which is key for a successful operator-vendor partnership.  

Beyond great partnerships with customers, he highlighted vendor partnerships: “The power of partnerships today is even more important, and we’ve been working since the beginning very closely with any vendor in the industry to get the best solution to the market together. We’ve been always very transparent partners, and now it’s paying off because no matter in which set-up you find yourself, with an operator and their system landscape, we always feel comfortable working with anyone to achieve a common goal, which is to create the best experience for the costumers.”  

That shows in the many partner integrations within our 3READY Entertainment Ecosystem. It provides even more flexibility by offering the operator the possibility to co-create, co-define, and co-develop based on 3SS’ product framework, which makes 3SS a strong and reliable choice for a partner. The Entertainment Industry is a broad and changing environment where you need to trust your partners and their ability to adapt to change and constantly self-improve. As all these experts pointed out, partnerships are key to delivering the best solutions, improving your product, and growing as a company.

You can watch the entire event here to learn how Proximus built the best-in-class Android TV platform.

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