Case study · Enterprise OTT
Hybrid subscriptions and access control for a complex enterprise OTT service
An enterprise OTT service needed to sell different types of content in different ways on one platform. We built a flexible, rules-based entitlement system that decides who can watch what, on every device.
Summary
The service had several content types and wanted to monetise each one differently: custom subscription plans, one-off access to individual titles, and packages that combine both. Standard OTT subscription tools couldn't express those combinations. We modelled access as configurable rules in a central entitlement service, managed from the admin side and enforced the same way by every app.
The challenge
Most OTT platforms assume a simple model: one subscription unlocks the catalogue. This service was more complex. Different types of content had different commercial rules. Some belonged to subscription tiers, some needed individual access, and some were grouped into packages or offered free.
Hard-coding those rules into each app would have been fragile. Every new offer would need app releases on every platform, and the rules could drift between devices. Viewers would see a title unlocked on one device and locked on another.
Requirements
- Custom subscription options rather than a fixed set of plans.
- Different access rules for different types of content.
- One-off and package-based access alongside subscriptions.
- The same decision on every device, every time.
- Commercial teams able to change offers without developer work.
Approach
Access as rules, not hard-coded plans
Instead of building plans into the apps, we modelled who can access what, and how as data, evaluated by one central service.
When a viewer opens a title, the app asks the entitlement service whether access is allowed. The service checks the viewer's subscriptions, purchases and packages against the rules for that content type, and returns one answer that every platform respects.
Admin: offers & rules
- Plans
- Packages
- Content types
Entitlement service
- Viewer rights
- Access decision
- API
Every viewer app
- Web
- Mobile
- TV
What we built
The building blocks
Flexible subscription options
Custom plans defined by the business, not limited to a fixed set of tiers.
Content-type rules
Different access rules for different kinds of content, so each can be monetised its own way.
Hybrid access
Subscriptions, one-off access and packages working together on the same catalogue.
Central entitlement service
One source of truth for access decisions, used by every app through the API.
Admin controls
Operations and commercial teams manage plans, packages and content access themselves.
Consistent across devices
Because decisions live in the backend, web, mobile and TV apps always agree.
Outcome
Why it matters for the business
- Faster commercial changes. New offers and packages are configured rather than developed.
- No drift between devices. One entitlement decision, enforced the same everywhere.
- Room to grow. The rules model handles more complex offers without reworking the apps.
- Clear ownership. Business teams run the offers; engineering looks after the platform.
Related
Complex monetisation?
Need subscription and access rules your current platform can't handle?
Tell us about your content types and the ways you want to sell them. We'll outline how an entitlement model could support them, and what a POC should prove first.
- Talk directly with an engineer
- NDA available before you share details
- Clear POC scope agreed before development
- Continue into full development — or not