OpenTV Video Platform allows the grouping of live channels, on-demand content, and features (e.g., nPVR) into products, which in turn can be grouped into offers for sale to consumers.
Offers define:
- The set of products that make up the offer (allowing a combination of live, VOD, and features into a single offer)
- The price point for the offer
- The link to the billing system pricing definition (for regional/variable pricing)
Products define:
- A set of live, VOD, or features that are to be added to an offer
Purchasing of offers is supported in the following modes:
- Offers are defined in OpenTV Video Platform and synchronised to an external billing system in pre-pay mode
- Offers are defined in OpenTV Video Platform and notified to an external billing system in post-pay mode
- Offers are defined and purchased in an external system and provisioned into OpenTV Video Platform manually or via an API
A combination of the above approaches may be used. For example, a common scenario in Pay TV is where the initial subscription is managed externally and provisioned into OpenTV Video Platform by a CRM system. Once signed up, users can purchase pay-per-view items in the OpenTV Video Platform and purchases are notified to the external billing system.