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As a leader in premium entertainment across the MENA region, Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) has a reputation for delivering world-class content.

By launching OSNtv, the network expanded its reach beyond satellite. OSNtv delivers a connected viewing experience across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighboring territories.

OSN, like many broadcasters worldwide, is steadily transitioning to IP-based delivery. The move unlocks new flexibility, but it also challenges monetization approaches built for legacy broadcast. OSNtv needed a solution that could monetize linear streaming channels while preserving the premium subscriber experience.

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// THE CHALLENGE

Monetizing Linear Streaming Without Compromising Viewer Experience

Historically, OSNtv monetized its linear streaming channels through traditional broadcast methods. Today’s ad agencies and brands demand digital-first inventory that provides measurable impressions, frequency capping, geo-targeting and campaign transparency. These capabilities reduce the guesswork from linear streaming advertising. They enable performance validation, real-time spend optimization and consistency with modern digital and connected TV practices.

To complete the transition to digital ad delivery, OSNtv had to overcome several hurdles.

 

Navigating Ad Signaling
A key challenge was signaling. OSNtv’s existing playout environment did not support explicit ad duration information within SCTE-35 markers. When ad break duration data isn’t precise, server-side ad insertion (SSAI) platforms have to estimate timing. This increases the risk of cut-off ads, buffering and playback disruptions that degrade the premium viewing experience.

Elevating the Viewing Experience
Delivering a premium viewer experience was also a top priority. The SSAI solution had to deliver frame-accurate switching between content, promos and ads, without introducing latency or visual artifacts. OSNtv also needed granular control over ad breaks. This capability would allow OSNtv to dynamically replace individual ad placements with targeted advertising, without altering must-run promotional content. 

 

 Delivering Measurable, Reliable Targeted Ads at Scale
OSNtv also had several operational requirements, including accurate server-side ad tracking, benchmarking and reliable reporting across both the SSAI platform and backend ad decisioning systems. To maintain service continuity, the SSAI solution required high availability, deep monitoring and reliable failover mechanisms. Equally important was the ability to scale for high-concurrency viewing.

Accelerating Time to Market
OSNtv wanted to deploy the SSAI solution quickly. Integration with an existing ecosystem of playout servers, content management platforms, DRM, ad decision servers and client devices was imperative, without requiring major changes to its core infrastructure.

// THE SOLUTION

A Flexible SSAI Solution Featuring Advanced Ad Signaling and Scheduling

OSNtv selected Harmonic’s VOS®360 Ad SaaS platform to redefine their targeted video streaming monetization efforts. The solution includes a sophisticated placement opportunity information service and scheduler. With a user-friendly interface, developer-ready APIs, and dashboards and analytics, VOS360 Ad enables OSNtv to manage creative processing, delivery and manifest manipulation within a single workflow. This supports frame-accurate insertion to amplify monetization while maintaining broadcast quality.

 

Accurate Ad Break Timing
Harmonic’s solution addresses OSNtv’s most critical technical challenge head-on: the lack of ad duration signaling. Using the scheduler, OSNtv can ingest external ad schedules generated by the playout servers and correlate them with incoming SCTE-35 markers. The placement opportunity information service then normalizes and enriches the signaling, inserting accurate ad duration information before the stream reaches the SSAI layer.

This is a critical requirement for SSAI success. Precise break duration data reduces uncertainties from the workflow, ensuring full ad playback and seamless transitions back to programming.

Dynamic Ad Replacement
The architecture also supports a selective ad replacement strategy. Instead of replacing entire breaks, Harmonic’s solution enables individual promos within a break to be dynamically swapped for one or more targeted ads, while preserving high-priority promotional content.

When creative durations don’t align with scheduled avails, Harmonic’s solution automatically fills timing gaps with slate content to prevent early transitions back to programming.

Fast Deployment
Delivered as a fully managed SaaS solution, VOS360 Ad was deployed rapidly. From purchase order to production, the entire solution went live in approximately four months — a notably fast timeline given the complexity of the ecosystem and number of integration points.

 

// THE RESULTS

New Revenue Streams, Greater Advertiser Demand and an Exceptional Viewer Experience

Harmonic’s SSAI solution enables OSNtv to monetize its linear streaming channels for the first time with addressable, digital-first advertising. OSNtv is monetizing 15 linear streaming channels to start, with plans to expand further across additional channels and extend SSAI to VOD services.

Advertisers can now target campaigns by country and city, enabling localized messaging for certain markets such as Riyadh and Dubai. OSNtv can also support digital ad requirements, including frequency capping and server-side measurement. These innovations help make streaming inventory as measurable and actionable as digital media buys.

Since launching targeted advertising, OSNtv has onboarded more than 20 first-time advertisers to the platform, signaling strong market demand for digitally enabled linear streaming ads. Early results point to higher CPMs. With support for both direct and programmatic demand, the solution gives OSNtv the agility to adapt as the market evolves.

Operationally, the solution delivers exactly what OSNtv needs: stable playback, frame-accurate transitions and an uninterrupted viewer experience. With a proven, scalable foundation in place, OSNtv is well-positioned to grow digital advertising revenue while preserving the premium quality of experience that defines its brand.

For OSNtv,  deploying targeted advertising represents more than a technical upgrade. It’s a strategic step toward a more data-driven and monetizable streaming future, powered by Harmonic’s VOS360 Ad solution. 

 

“This collaboration represents a transformative milestone for our network, as we introduce targeted ad insertion across our video streaming channels for the very first time. Harmonic’s unparalleled expertise in server-side ad insertion technology combined with their robust partner ecosystem significantly accelerated our deployment timeline. Within just a few months, we’ve been able to launch personalized, revenue-driving ad experiences, marking a major advancement in our monetization strategy and our ability to deliver more relevant content to audiences.”

– Melvin Saldanha,
    Senior Vice President of Technology at
    OSN.

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