How the SledovaniTV service developed – one of the oldest IPTV services in the Czech Republic

The impetus for founding SledovaniTV was demand for internet television among customers of the internet provider Sychrovnet from Vsetín, whose co-owner and developer is today's managing director, Ivan Novotný. The SledovaniTV service was first offered only on the Sychrovnet network, but before long local internet providers in the Vsetín area became interested in the solution, and within a very short time a project originally intended as a benefit for customers of the home internet network grew into a company with nationwide reach. It was 2013, and IPTV in the Czech Republic was still in its infancy. 

SledovaniTV was the first service in the country to provide IPTV over wireless networks, which, together with an affordable and unique solution, made the service very attractive for ISPs. In its first year of operation, trust in the service was placed by the NFX association and several dozen other internet providers. In the same year, the company SledovanieTV.sk was founded as its counterpart for Slovakia. 

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From the very beginning, SledovaniTV has set the trend in IPTV, which is also reflected in its portfolio of end users, who are to a large extent so-called early adopters of IPTV in our country. The first platform on which you could watch television was the web, followed by the set-top box, mobile devices and Smart TV. Support for Smart TVs from Samsung, LG and Panasonic was a major competitive advantage for the service. 

From the start, cooperation with internet providers has been a defining feature of the company. The service was tailored to providers and was available only in partner networks. Since 2017, its availability has also extended beyond partner networks in the form of so-called OTT. 

Typical features of internet television, including catch-up playback, recording programmes, watching on several devices at the same time, choosing channels according to your own preferences and TV content recommendations, are the basic functions of the service. What goes beyond the standard with SledovaniTV are low data rates (an economical quality of 0.80 Mbps for mobile data), broadcasting of channels in 4K (Extasy 4K, Filmbox 4K, NASA TV UHD, Lounge TV) and, most recently, support for Cardboard (VR headsets) and Apple Watch. When paired with the SledovaniTV app for iOS devices, Apple Watch lets you browse the TV programme, record programmes and listen to the radio stations included in TV packages. It is the first IPTV app of its kind in the world. 

Today SledovaniTV is one of the five largest IPTV operators in the Czech Republic, with more than 50% coverage of the market of local internet providers that offer the service. SledovaniTV runs on the ModernTV platform, which was created in 2015 when the development team was separated from SledovaniTV. The reason was interest in the technology abroad as well. Partners in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany, Brazil and elsewhere use ModernTV. 

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Updated 13 March 2024