Case study · OTT & streaming
Reveel Entertainment: a fully custom OTT platform, proven first with a POC
Reveel wanted an OTT system built entirely around its own requirements. We proved the approach with a focused POC on a few platforms, then grew the same foundation into a multi-platform product, with the backend to run it.
Summary
Reveel Entertainment needed a new OTT system with full customisation. Rather than build for every device at once, we delivered a proof of concept on a small number of platforms with a lean server architecture. Once it had proved that one custom backend could support a multi-platform service, we extended it to more platforms and built out the backend systems the service needed.
The challenge
Reveel wanted a streaming service shaped around its own content, brand and business rules, without the limits that come with off-the-shelf OTT products. That meant a custom build across the apps, the backend and the tools to run the service.
A fully custom OTT system on many platforms is a large commitment. Each platform has its own technology, performance limits and store requirements. Building everything at once would have pushed the first usable release far into the future, and the main architectural decisions would only have been tested once most of the budget was spent.
What the POC had to prove
- A single custom backend could reliably serve more than one platform.
- The content, user and access model fitted Reveel's requirements.
- The architecture could grow to more platforms without being rebuilt.
How it unfolded
From proof of concept to a multi-platform service
- Phase 1
Define
Agreed the POC scope: the priority platforms, the core viewer journey and the backend shape the full product would need.
- Phase 2
POC
Built working apps on a few platforms, connected to a lean server architecture designed with the full product in mind.
- Phase 3
Validate
Confirmed that the multi-platform approach worked and that the foundation was worth keeping.
- Phase 4
Expand
Extended to more platforms on the same backend, and built the remaining backend systems to support the service.
Architecture
One custom backend, many viewer apps
Content, users and access rules live in one backend. Each platform app is a client of the same APIs, so adding a platform means building a new app, not rebuilding the system.
This is what let the POC become the foundation: the lean server architecture from the first phase was extended rather than replaced as more platforms came online.
Custom backend & APIs
- APIs
- Users
- Access
- Data
Content & operations
- Catalogue
- Media
- Admin
Viewer apps — added in phases
- POC platforms
- + more platforms
What we built
The product and the systems behind it
The POC
Working apps on a small set of priority platforms, proving the end-to-end path from backend to viewer.
Multi-platform apps
Viewer apps added platform by platform, each designed for its device and built on the shared backend.
Backend systems
The server-side systems needed to run the service: content, users, access and the APIs every app depends on.
Outcome
Why POC-first worked here
- Lower risk. The riskiest question, whether one custom system could serve multiple platforms, was answered before the large investment.
- Nothing thrown away. The POC architecture became the production foundation instead of a disposable demo.
- Phased growth. New platforms were added on the same backend, so each step built on the last.
- Full ownership of the experience. Reveel got the customisation it wanted, in the apps and behind them.
Related
Planning an OTT service?
Want a custom OTT platform without betting everything up front?
Tell us about your content, audience and the platforms you need. We'll suggest which platforms a POC should start with, and how the backend should be shaped to grow.
- Talk directly with an engineer
- NDA available before you share details
- Clear POC scope agreed before development
- Continue into full development — or not