The core means of the Media Player were to present rich media content to mass audiences across all ABC Commercial online properties.
The Challenge
ABC Commercial has engaged Hyro to conduct requirements scoping, design and development of a web-based and downloadable Media Player.
With an emphasis on simplicity, it was essential to offer an accessible way to find, preview, purchase, manage and play back digital content, while ensuring that audiences are aware of the wide range of digital content available to them from ABC Commercial. Supporting digital rights management (DRM) was also a fundamental requirement.
The Digital Business Solution
Hyro responded to the brief by collaborating with ABC Commercial and Microsoft, which had unveiled the rich media platform Silverlight earlier in 2007, enabling rich interactive applications for the Web.
Built to leverage Microsoft’s .NET platform, Silverlight provides a powerful combination of programmability, rich media support and the ability to integrate tightly to business applications.
“The flexibility of Silverlight, coupled with powerful design and development tools like Microsoft Visual Studio and Expression Suite, enabled Hyro to deliver a high-quality and cost-effective web experience for ABC in record time, while providing a platform that can be easily expanded and enriched as more content becomes available”, said Martin Gregory, Director of Server & Tools for Microsoft Australia.
Online-savvy ABC viewers can now preview, purchase physical items and/or download digital content ranging from TV shows to music and talking books.
Updates to the platform during 2008 will see added functionality, such as the ability to rate online clips, send clips to a friend, comment, subscribe to a series, search within the player itself and also create playlists.
Success Achieved
- The Media Player, which delivers video, music and voice content from the ABC’s extensive library, represents Australia’s first major commercial project developed using ground-breaking Microsoft’s Silverlight rich media platform.
- The implementation features state-of-the-art capabilities combining media handling, digital rights management and commerce support.