9Now launches Start Over feature
9Now viewers can go back to the start of a Live streaming show for up to two hours.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
9Now has launched its very nifty ‘start over’ function which addresses one of the biggest pain points when it comes to watching live content on BVOD – missing the start of a program and having to wait for the video to be published.
It is available on Web and Mobile Apps, and coming soon to Connected TVs (Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV, Amazon Fire TV).
Viewers who join a live channel late can start the program over, up to two hours from the start time.
Once a viewer is in start over mode, they are also provided with the ‘jump to’ option which either takes them straight to the live broadcast or, if a new program has started, they can jump straight to the beginning of the next program.
Nine’s Director of Programming and 9Now, Hamish Turner, said “9Now’s focus is simple: to entertain and inform Australians with the very best in sport, news and entertainment. This focus is pivotal with the increase in streaming on connected TVs.
“9Now’s daily active accounts have seen 52% growth over the last two years, and the percentage of live viewing minutes up 40%. The new start over function, coupled with Full HD of all our live simulcast channels enhances the viewing experience, ensuring our audience will never miss a minute from their favourite shows.”
Nine’s Chief Product Officer, Bec Haagsma, said “This investment in 9Now is the perfect example of the market-leading innovation happening across Nine – unique technology for our market, putting our viewers in complete control of their viewing experience, and functionality that no other live broadcaster in the country can compete with. It’s live TV, better.”
“We know our audiences, and are making product improvements with their needs and preferences in mind. We’ve found that on average, people can tune in 5-6 minutes late to the news, and up to 15-20 minutes late to shows like The Block, which is completely relatable given the juggle of work, family and other commitments we all deal with. Now when they open 9Now they can control their viewing of our live schedule, whenever and wherever it suits them.
“This is great news for our advertisers as well, with an increase in total minutes consumed by viewers. For example, we could see as much as a 10% growth in 9News total minutes from this single feature – improving both consumption and engagement.”
The start over function is part of a comprehensive viewer-focused upgrade of 9Now, which brings together the simplicity of free-to-air TV, with the convenience and interactivity of digital.
Other key improvements to the live streaming quality on Nine’s 24/7 live channels include:
- Full HD 1080p
- 50 frames per second (FPS) on Channel 9 and 9Gem
- 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound
- Closed captions
This summer, 9Now will also launch an entirely new in-app experience that instantly plays live TV as soon as you open the app (just like traditional TV), whilst letting you browse the catalogue for your favourite content.
6 Responses
Hopefully the 1080p access comes to VOD soon too rather than just live. The VOD picture quality is average at best with its low bandwidth 720p.
This is a major coup for Nine if it applies to all content on all their channels. A logical extension to “free within 24hrs”. It will neutralise the other channels that deliberately run early and/or finish late.
Great, now can they introduce a bookmark/favorites button
Excellent! I’ll definitely be using that feature especially for the 6pm News.
I never seem to be able to be sitting in front of TV right on 6pm. Also, not a huge fan of the sport segment so in theory if I start watching 15 mins late, when sport comes on I can switch to live and cut out Tony Jones completely and not miss the lovely Lavinia with the weather at the end! Love that!!!
I hope it also lets you pause and rewind a live broadcast for those times you get a phone call in the middle of watching something, miss something and wanna go back a just a few minutes but not all the way to the start. Let’s hope the other channels ‘catch up’ with this fabulous feature soon too.
Great to see this. I use this function a lot on Foxtel so glad to see it being rolled out elsewhere.
They’ve acknowledged the issue. Even if the program is on live at the moment, viewers will be willing to wait to see it in full. Then there are the times when shows on other channels run overtime or you’re running late. It’s an added flexibility and convenience.
Though it’ll only increase the growth in viewing times if people know about the function. So these new functionalities and options need advertising and promotion as well, which goes for any network.