Virgin TV Launches Personalised Video on Demand Channel for Kids in Partnership with Zone TV
London(12 Sep 2018)
Virgin Media, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading quad play providers, has announced the launch of its personalised Video on Demand (VoD) Channel for children, My Virgin TV Kids, in partnership with Zone TV. My Virgin TV Kids Dynamic Channel will empower young viewers to customise their viewing experience and programming lineup in real time.
The introduction of My Virgin TV Kids is the first European launch for Zone TV and will enable Virgin TV’s youngest viewers to design the channel to reflect their individual programming interests simply by watching TV.
Virgin TV is launching an intelligent Video on Demand (VoD) Channel for children, My Virgin TV Kids, which will enable them to create their own personalised playlists. The new feature will be available through Virgin Media’s smallest, smartest, fastest set-top box – the V6, powered by TiVo – later this month.
Kids will be able to enjoy a range of TV favourites, including Teletubbies and Bob the Builder, by entering the VoD Channel through the Virgin TV programming guide. They can then watch TV or scroll forward or backward in the guide to pick the show they want – regardless of when it’s scheduled to run. My Virgin TV Kids will use advanced technology from Zone TV to learn and personalise programming as kids choose what to watch or to skip; developing recommendations based on the child’s favourite themes, characters and programmes and generating intelligent, personalised playlists.
Amongst the programmes on My Virgin TV Kids are household favourites including:
- Teletubbies – Pre-schoolers can catch up with the adventures of Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po
- Pingu – The Claymation series features your favorite heartwarming penguin hero
- Caillou – This young boy proves that “growing up is the greatest adventure of all”
- Bob the Builder – Children worldwide have shared Bob’s love of construction
- Franny’s Feet – Franny tries on various pairs of shoes which lead her to global adventures
The new VoD channel will be powered by technology and programming provider, Zone TV, and will combine artificial intelligence with human editors to curate the content, designing an experience which reflects kids’ individual interests while they are watching TV.
My Virgin TV Kids is a safe environment for children, no personal data will be collected or stored, and once in the VoD channel, all of the content is child friendly and free from adverts. Kids can create their own profile or simply watch TV as they would on any other linear channel.
David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media said, “My Virgin TV Kids’ intelligent and personalised playlists, powered by the technology of Zone TV, are a genuine innovation for a Pay TV platform. This represents the latest smart technology and combines it with the functionality of an on-line playlist and quality TV to deliver a unique experience for Virgin TV customers. Children will have even more freedom to enjoy and learn from the programmes they love within the safe and contained environment of our great TV service.”
Jeff Weber, CEO, zone·tv said, “Our human curated technology, powered by AI, combined with Virgin Media’s vision means subscribers in the UK will be first in Europe to experience a revolutionary, personalised channel expressly designed for Virgin Media’s youngest customers. Our Dynamic Channels platform brings some of the world’s most popular children’s shows to life in a way that is totally unique among video services.”
About Virgin Media
Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.
Our dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely-available broadband speeds to homes and businesses and we’re expanding this through our Project Lightning programme, which could extend our network to up to 17 million premises.
Our interactive Virgin TV service brings live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games to customers through a set-top box, as well as on-the-go through tablets and smartphones.
Virgin Mobile launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and offers fantastic value and innovative services with 4G connectivity. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.
Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.
Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company. Liberty Global connects 21 million customers through operations in 10 countries across Europe subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 6 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service through 12 million access points across its footprint.
About Zone TV
Zone TV bridges the gap between technology and engaging programming with its innovative technology solution offering a best-in-class, convenient and highly-personalized viewer experience. The Zone TV Studio suite of tools allows any video service provider to create personalized thematic channels with their own content. Zone TV uses its own Zone TV Studio tools to create the first group of 13 Dynamic Channels, an unprecedented linear TV experience using A.I., machine learning and human curation. Its proprietary software architecture combined with an 8,000+ hour content library has powered the company’s monumental growth. Zone TV has become the largest provider of thematic subscription video on demand services in North America, by offering more than 30 SVOD channels. Its diverse programming and services can be seen on AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, DIRECTV, CenturyLink, TELUS, Bell Canada, Frontier Communications and others. The company has offices in Toronto, Canada, and Santa Monica, CA. For more information, visit www.zone.tv.