Virtual channels

Streaming meets linear TV

Virtual channels are OTT-only live linear channels produced “virtually” from other sources.

Combine ready-to-stream, pre-encoded VOD media with live channels to give your viewers the most flexible and familiar TV-like experience possible.
Leave the limitations of traditional linear broadcast workflows for a software-focused, playlist-driven streaming solution with a new, easy-to-use API.

Examples of virtual channels

FAST channel

Generate new opportunities with FAST (free ad-supported TV) services.

Pad your premium paid services with ad sales, a vital revenue source in broadcast and OTT services.

Music event channel

Create a temporary channel for fans of live and virtual concerts.

For a true rockstar experience, add promo content about the hottest gigs, tracks, footage, and merch to your stream.

Live sports channel

Kickstart a soccer-themed linear channel for the big game.

Play team-related VOD content to build buzz. After streaming the game live, switch to post-game highlights.

Movie première channel

Stream exclusive world premieres with fixed viewing appointments.

Usher new high-profile films straight to a streaming service, confident of cinematic quality.

“My TV” channel

Link to preferred AI recommendation tools to personalize viewing experiences.

Highlight content featuring a viewer’s favorite artist, actor, or athlete, like the fashion of Rihanna, films of Zendaya, or Wimbledon wins of the Williams sisters.

Educational channel

Spotlight special topics in the learning ecosystem.

Provide tutorials, webinars, breakout sessions, and course catch-up topics for additional learning opportunities.

Regional channel

Localize your news, weather, language and cultural streams.

Stream one main channel, then switch to regional opt-out services without the need for multiple full custom channels.

Exclusive event channel

Promote, protect, and capitalize on your most exclusive event.

Air a pre-recorded competition finale as if it’s live, preventing spoilers. Then show the final results on your VOD platform, along with the previous stages of the competition.

Pop-up channel

Promote your new product, brand, PPV (Pay-Per-View) content.

Launch a pop-up channel to cover a breaking event (e.g., elections, or the sudden wedding of C‑list celebrities).

Benefits

Stream the best quality

Stream optimized premium UHD, 4K video, and Dolby Vision media files efficiently, without real-time processing of resource-heavy codecs.

Repurpose existing content

Reuse the content you already have. Forget uploading, ingesting, decoding, and re-encoding media. Ditch the high-risk, high-cost model of broadcasting content.

Launch channels quickly

Stay on trend — and ahead of competitors. Speed up live channel creation so you’re ready when the next hype hits. Once someone presses play, your stream runs till it’s done.

Retain viewer loyalty

Parcel all live, episodic, and bingeable shows into personalized streams. Viewers can watch content they’re into right away, without scrolling or switching to other services.

Localize your service

Widen the reach of your service by narrowing it down. Offer regional opt-outs and hard-to-get content like local sports coverage for fans of teams that rarely get air time.

Monetize with ads

Launch tiered services with ad-supported plans, like new OTT-only FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) linear streams. Incorporate ads from the biggest ad vendors and pry profits from existing content.

Hone your core business

Focus on content and revenue, not tech. Virtual channels are fully automated and integrate easily via API. So your margins remain uneaten.

Stream greener

Use only the required energy. You’ll save money and conserve resources, too. Lead by example and meet growing expectations by adopting an eco-friendlier solution.

Increase revenue per user

Pump up the volume on your “simultaneous viewing” streams. Create high-impact subscriber value helping viewers find content they love, via AI tools. Find new viewers, too.

How it works

Everything starts with a playlist. To create a channel, send the playlist to the API. Unified Virtual Channel scans, syncs, and stitches the content in a virtual (dref) MP4. A server manifest is created, readying the channel to be streamed.

Transition between sources by sending a new playlist with transition times to the API.

When a player requests a manifest (via CDN/cache), Unified Virtual Channel checks which sources are available and ready to play, and creates a single manifest (which could be a mix of VOD and live) for the player to play as a virtual linear channel.

Media segments for VOD2Live sources come directly from the Unified Virtual Channel. Live media segment URLs already on the CDN are reused in the manifest. Neither additional CDN use, nor caching of the live stream, is required.

Book a
personal demo

See how this solution works and discover how it will benefit you in a one-on-one demo with one of our experts.

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A deeper dive into Unified Virtual Channel

Find the answers to your technical questions in our beta documentation.

Read the docs

Virtual channels

Streaming meets linear TV

Examples of virtual channels

FAST channel

Generate new opportunities with FAST (free ad-supported TV) services. Pad your premium paid services with ad sales, a vital revenue source in broadcast and OTT services.

Music event channel

Create a temporary channel for fans of live and virtual concerts. For a true rockstar experience, add promo content about the hottest gigs, tracks, footage, and merch to your stream.

Live sports channel

Kickstart a soccer-themed linear channel for the big game. Play team-related VOD content to build buzz. After streaming the game live, switch to post-game highlights.

Movie première channel

Stream exclusive world premieres with fixed viewing appointments. Usher new high-profile films straight to a streaming service, confident of cinematic quality.