Greetings from the Local Streaming Initiative.

We've been quiet, lately, heads-down working to bring our local streaming platform from the drawing board into reality.

Now that we've released our first dev apps 🎉🎉🎉, I'm back to share some updates.

Onto the updates ...

Admin launched

We launched our shared admin last month. Back-ends don't usually get the spotlight, but this truly is the LSI's "secret sauce".

Our back-end starts with a proprietary Content Management System designed specifically for local public media after more than two years of in-depth conversations with member stations of all sizes.

This system (1) pulls down all programming from PBS APIs (including Passport), (2) wraps it in a rich layer of metadata managed by The Programming Service, and (3) gives local stations full control of their programming presentation and user messaging.

Station partners are now learning the ropes, setting their content lineups, and providing feedback to our rapid-response team – which is squashing bugs and smoothing rough-edges as they surface.

If you'd like to see how the CMS works, contact me to arrange a test drive.

If there's an appetite for deep dive on the tech side of things, we can schedule an engineering walk-through with our Cascade PBS tech lead Chris Wells and our back-end partner/vendor Phase 2 Technologies.

Dev Roku channels launched

We've released our first batch of dev Roku channels.

Local apps are now up for Cascade PBS, PBS Charlotte, Rocky Mountain PBS, WETA, WHRO and WHYY.

We have KPBS, KVIE, Nashville Public Television and WTCE on-deck. (Some may be launched by the time you're reading this).

These are dev channels, not yet available to the public.

We'll be fine-tuning for a bit, but are closing in on launch-ready apps. Stay tuned for launch announcements.

Cross-platform expansion set to begin

Viewers cannot stream by Roku alone, of course. So we'll kick-off our cross-platform build this summer. Our initial platforms include:

1. Roku
2. FireTV
3. Apple TV
4. Google/Android TV
5. iPhone
6. Android
7. LG smart TV
8. Samsung smart TV
9. web (video portal)

That's pretty fast. We can move so swiftly because we're using React Native to build one codebase to serve all platforms (aside from Roku.)

This streamlined approach will pay long-term dividends, allowing us to rapidly and consistently develop new features across all platforms.

Our tech partner Oxagile will take the lead on the cross-platform build-out. Their core business is white-label OTT apps, and they've been working with streaming video for 20+ years, so we're thrilled to pair their proven front-end prowess with our "secret sauce" admin.

Long term roadmap

Once we've completed our initial launches and platform expansion, we'll work with our partners on prioritizing features in our roadmap.

We plan to release small improvements every two weeks year round. And will schedule two major release cycles per year, for large features (eg: FAST channels, film-festival integration, digital pledge, etc.)

We love to collaborate, so if you have any great ideas we should consider, please let us know.

Thanks for keeping tabs on our journey.

Stay tuned for more ...

Cheers,
Kevin Colligan, LSI project lead