TV Front-end developer

They handle the part of the website visible to the user and with which the user interacts. For web clients and most current SmartTV and STB platforms, using a mixture of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, as well as best-in-class web frameworks (such as React, AngularJs, Vue.js, Meteor), they create the structure and content of the web app built around the player, give it style, player controls, content navigation, and enable the user to interact with it. They typically also have user experience skills. For native clients such as iOS and Android devices, they know how to integrate the most common native player frameworks using Swift/ObjectiveC for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android, with a deep knowledge of DRM modules and streaming protocols, which in the case of a native player must be directly managed by the app running the player.

TV Back-end developer

They work on the non-visible part of the OTT architecture, taking care of the server-side operations with interventions that do not impact what users see when they visit the site. In terms of specific knowledge, the TV back-end developer usually uses languages such as Java and Python. They have experience in building end-to-end solution architecture for large & complex systems
and in designing and running applications on AWS/Azure or other cloud providers. They have a deep understanding of video protocols, as well as a general understanding of the wider technologies adopted by OTT solutions (e.g., IP/TCP, ABR, Encoding, DVB, DRM&CAS). They must be proficient in database design and development as well as handling infrastructure tools and technologies like Docker, Kubernetes, AWS/Azure, Elastic Search, Redis, and many others. Ensuring platform security and reliability are among their main duties.

TV Fullstack developer

This is a developer with both front-end and back-end skills, where back-end and front-end are applied in the digital TV environment, who knows streaming protocols, codecs and encodings, CA and DRM, native player as well as web player, native mobile development for iOS and Android, as well as HTML5 app development, JavaScript, Java, Python, and the other scripting languages used to design and run software.
In particular:

• Client side – creates everything of the application that is visible to the end user (the player as well as the GUI layout, positioning of text and images, colours, fonts, buttons, etc.) using usually HTML, CSS and JavaScript in case HTML5 TV client;
• Server side – creates algorithms to manipulate and organise the streaming content to be shown to the client in a fast, efficient, secure and reliable way. He’s also responsible for the implementation of any action that must be performed in response to a client request.

Skills

The set of skills that a full stack developer must have coincides with those described above, but to complete the set of fundamental knowledge needed we must also add that related to databases, relational or not, aimed at storing data.

OTT Solution Architect

The OTT Solution Architect is responsible for the architecture of OTT Clients (Mobile, Connected TVs, Roku, etc.), their Content Management Systems (CMS), and their use of the OTT platform and interfaces to various subsystems. They are proficient in defining solution architectures that deliver all platform aspects of an OTT IPTV product offering. They have demonstrable experience in defining and delivering architectural solutions that support very high numbers of peak concurrent users, that are highly available, and highly resilient in the face of dependent component failures. They have deep understanding and delivery experience of building web-oriented distributed systems architectures that can work both on the portion of the app or software with which the user will interact, and on the whole hidden infrastructure that allows managing the functioning mechanisms.

Skillbill Specializations on TV/Streaming Applications

As Skillbill, we have focused our forces on a particular area related to video broadcasting in all its forms, making use of the skills described above. Our competences cover all the streaming technologies in an end-to-end fashion, in fact we are actively involved from purely backend tasks like Vod ingestion, transcoding, encryption to device frontend development and device player customization.
We currently work with and have worked with many customers in the streaming and television area such as: Sky, Liberty Global, ChiliTV, Norigin Media and Yotta Media Lab.
With our strong and extensive experience in software development, we handle many aspects of the entire streaming service chain:
Infrastructure as code, integration of ad-hoc services, back-end, web front-end, Smart-TV and Set-top-box. We have senior-level expertise in DRM, Transcoding, and Players, along with cutting-edge technologies such as Microservices, HbbTV 2.0, RDK, RiksTV, Wiplay, and the most popular JavaScript frameworks.
Whether providing consultancy, a whole project, or a part of it, our effectiveness is always at the highest level.