CBC partnered with WillowTree to create a solution to seamlessly broadcast programming across a full spectrum of digital platforms, allowing consumers to access their favorite news and entertainment via any desired screen type.
The CBC apps provide an experience across all major digital platforms, showcasing a deep understanding of CBC’s varied viewership and a focus on ease of access.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation serves as Canada’s national public broadcaster for both radio and television. With viewing preferences evolving beyond traditional channels, CBC has expanded their programming to include a wide base of digital platforms such as Android, iOS and OTT.
1M+
streams monthly
Top 5
most used mobile app in Canada
On-demand and live content
Playback capabilities support a diverse content library that includes both on-demand and live programming - everything from from the national Olympics team to everyone’s weekly favorite series.
Subscription Tiers
The rollout of multiple subscription tiers enabled CBC to give viewers options such as ad-free or premium content.
Launch Partner
WillowTree partnered with CBC to become a launch partner for two Apple products - the Apple TV and the TV App. Through this opportunity, WillowTree spent 1:1 time with Apple engineers to finalize the experience and successfully launch both products. In addition, WillowTree provided a “demo mode” of the CBC app to be utilized in Canadian Apple stores.
Key Takeaways
Spanning across all screens requires robust user research
Our design team began by identifying the essential need of CBC’s users–finding their favorite shows quickly and developed user personas to match each user type’s journey through the CBC app.
Streaming and video capability across multiple platforms requires a clean and fast user experience
This project required robust video support across a multitude of platforms - Android, iOS, Web, Chromecast Receiver, Apple TV, Android TV, and Fire TV. In order for the experience to translate cohesively across a multitude of platforms, our team particularly focused on speed, simplicity, and elegance within the platform’s user interface.
Accessibility is a core part of the CBC app experience
In order to support a complex range of user needs and abilities, the product needed to rest on IBM’s video cloud delivery platform and support OTT accessibility features such as Descriptive Video, Voice Over and Talk Back technology, and Web Screen Readers.