The Challenge
Knowledge Network wanted to break into a new market by launching a video site for children. It needed to produce an exceptional video experience for an audience who grew
up using tablets. To engage and retain these young viewers, the Canadian public broadcaster aimed to move away from Flash to a stable HTML5 player that worked on any device.
The Solution
After “many frustrations” with an old video solution, “JW Player came in and rescued us,” said Director of Web Channels Ravi Singh. The player offered a bandwidth selector, SDKs to customize the kids app, and closed captioning. The JW secret sauce, though, was personalized customer service. After “fantastic” onboarding, Singh could access quick support by picking up the phone. JW Player also regularly checked in. “Just that caring attention of calling your client means a lot.”
The Result
Knowledge Network gained phenomenal traffic using JW Player. One huge lift was the 100x uptick in total plays for Knowledge Kids—from 100,000 plays to 10 million plays in the last two years. Its network for adults, Knowledge primetime, grew from 800,000 plays to more than 1.1 million plays between 2015-16. Due to flawless playback, user complaints dropped from “several times a day to maybe once a month,” said Singh. Because of JW Player’s excellent customer service and solutions, the partnership will grow. “Our main strategy is expanding our platforms,” said Singh, “and we’ll use JW Player wherever possible.”