RUUTU
Smart TV application
Sofia Digital has been working together with Nelonen, one of Finland’s leading media companies, for many years. They initially selected Sofia Digital because we were a local, Finnish company that could offer the flexibility they appreciate. We started our cooperation by developing their HbbTV service for Ruutu and thanks to this positive experience, they then asked us to work on their Smart TV applications also. We have been steadily helping them to expand their OTT platforms ever since.
CHALLENGE
One of the challenges with providing an OTT service is adding support for new Smart TV platforms while maintaining the older platforms at the same time. Each platform might have its own app and coding needs, so whenever you update the service, you need to update every individual app. Sofia Digital was targeting for three different apps for Nelonen, which meant that every update required three separate app updates. Our developers decided to figure out if there was a way to write one piece of code that would work on all Smart TVs.
Save time and costs – do the work only once
- Multi-platform unified Smart TV framework
- The same code base for all HbbTVs and Smart TVs
- Identical UI and look and feel on all platforms
- Updates all platforms simultaneously
SOLUTION
After some thinking and a few prototypes, our development team built a solution that lets us wrap one core code into apps that work on all Smart TV models and also Finnish operator Set-top boxes. Ruutu smart TV application made by Sofia Digital make the content available on all major big screens and Elisa Viihde Set-top boxes, including live TV channels, live events, video-on demand, FAST TV services, paytv and advertising. Thanks to the unified application framework, Ruutu is able to add even more platforms and expand the reach, like for example what happened with Hisense VIDAA platform support that was added as new platform for Ruutu in 2023.
Besides the application development, Sofia Digital also provides Nelonen an automated testing service for Quality Assurance. This ensures that the essential features work on all supported Smart TVs in each new release. We have a development team working on Ruutu all the time and our testing team also participates in app development to ensure high-quality code, including the test automation services.Â
Ruutu is the online video service of Sanoma Media Finland, Finland’s leading multi-channel media company. In addition to free programming from the Nelonen, Jim, Liv and Hero TV channels, the service has access to paid Ruutu+ premium content without ads such as movies, the latest series and live sports.
Ruutu Smart TV application
- Ad-based VOD including the Nelonen catch-up TV service
- Subscription-based SVOD paid service with exclusive and premium content, catch-up TV and advance showings
- Access to paid content including events and various sports
- PlutoTV – localized FAST Channels
- Exclusive original content with partnership of Elisa Viihde
Results
Nelonen has been happy with the Ruutu unified super app – Sofia Digital is responsible to develop and maintain a turn-key application solution for all Smart TVs that was more than they had asked for. Ruutu Smart TV application supports all the main functionalities of viewing the Ruutu service, including free catch-up and ad supported content, and premium Ruutu+ content.
The Nelonen team are always a pleasure to work with and we can discuss the best options really openly. If we think the back-end would benefit from a tweak to improve something, they’ll change it to make it the best it can be.
Want to know more about Smart TV development?
Sofia Digital excels in Smart TV app development across all major platforms, including Tizen, webOS, VIDAA and Android TV. Our approach goes beyond coding; we act as a strategic business partner, offering flexible, customized business models to bring maximum value to our clients.Â