Digitaltveurope.com

TDC Group’s Nordic video-on-demand store, Blockbuster, has selected 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) to revamp its app for connected TVs.

The new Blockbuster app replaces the company’s legacy connected TV service and will include a new user interface, more intuitive navigation, personalised recommendations and the ability to set bookmarks and wish-lists.

It will be based on 3SS’s front-end solution, 3READY, and will initially be available on Samsung, LG Web OS, Tizen, Netcast and Orsay smart TVs in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

A second phase of the project will see the app roll out to Panasonic and Philips TVs, with the possibility of more models of TV being added at this stage.

“The app, which 3SS created, transforms our ability to monetise our content,” said Casper Hald, Blockbuster CEO. “We look forward to building on this success with 3SS and to delivering further innovations for our viewers.”

3SS managing director, Kai-Christian Borchers, said: “We are proud that Blockbuster entrusted us to deliver a solution that would enhance its relationship with connected TV viewers, while enabling increased commercial potential.”

The news comes after Blockbuster appointed 3SS – a software solutions and services company for set-top-box and multiscreen digital entertainment – as its long-term innovation partner.

TDC Group acquired the Blockbuster brand after it shut down in Denmark in 2014. The TDC-owned digital store offers more than 10,000 library films to buy or rent in the Nordics.