New Anytime VOD Service for Sky Deutschland Powered by NDS Technology

NDS (News - Alert) recently announced that its new technology is powering the new Sky Anytime push video-on-demand (VOD) service for Sky Deutschland. Sky Deutschland is currently the largest pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria. This new service was launched during the month of August for satellite subscribers with Sky+ and will soon be available for all Sky+ subscribers towards the end of this year.

Sky Anytime which is enabled by NDS’ MediaHighway set-top box software now provides Sky+ customers with a much larger choice when it comes to on-demand content that includes selected movies from their subscribed film packages along with high quality entertainment and sport programs.  

In a release, Gerard Duffy, senior vice president of Technology at Sky Deutschland, said, “With Sky Anytime we will be providing flexible, real-time access to a great selection of on-demand content for our subscribers – in addition to what they are currently able to view, this value added service will enable them to get more from their subscription.”

He added, “NDS’ technology and expertise are once again enabling us to take Sky’s premium service to the next level.”

As a result of this launch, NDS and Sky Deutschland have improved the look and feel of the Sky Guide, which is the electronic program guide (EPG) for all Sky Deutschland set-top boxes. The latest design upgrade enables provides customers with a more intuitive user experience and along with access to advanced features such as the new push VOD service.

Yves Padrines, NDS VP of Sales Europe and General Manager of NDS GmbH, said that, “We are proud to be supporting Sky Deutschland with the latest enhancement to their service. As a platform they continue to enhance the subscriber experience and add value with services that highlight quality content.”

Sky Deutschland currently uses a number of solutions from NDS including MediaHighway advanced set-top box (STB) software, VideoGuard content protection technology, NDS XTV DVR technology and an electronic programme guide (EPG). All of these solutions benefit Sky Deutschland and also provide the basis for the introduction of the new Sky Anytime service.

In other news, NDS recently announced that DIRECTV, one of the world's leading providers of digital television entertainment services, has selected NDS' VideoGuard Connect DRM for multi-platform pay-TV to protect and enable their multi-platform Over-The-Top (OTT) and home networking services