Legacy App Maintenance & Development

MTV

Music & Entertainment Streaming Platform for ViacomCBS

2019 - 2021
ViacomCBS
iOS, Android
Project Links Back to Portfolio

Project Overview

MTV stands as a global cultural icon, delivering music videos, original series, reality shows, and live events to millions of dedicated fans across the world.

As a strategic component of the ViacomCBS streaming portfolio expansion, we developed the MTV mobile applications from the ground up for iOS and Android platforms. Our team worked closely with ViacomCBS internal teams to create a seamless streaming experience that showcases MTV's extensive content library including original programming, music videos, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

The application features personalized content recommendations powered by machine learning, offline download capabilities for premium subscribers, multi-profile support for household sharing, and integration with cable provider authentication systems for full episode access across all supported TV providers.

15M+
Global Downloads
2
Platforms
1000+
Episodes Available
MTV App Showcase

Our Role & Responsibilities

Technical contributions and key deliverables

Native Mobile Development

  • Developed native iOS features using Swift 5+ with MVVM architecture pattern for scalable, testable codebase with reactive data binding
  • Built Android application with Kotlin and modern Jetpack components including ViewModel, LiveData, and Navigation components for robust architecture
  • Implemented adaptive bitrate video streaming with HLS/DASH support for optimal playback quality across varying network conditions
  • Created offline download functionality with DRM-protected content storage, expiration management, and intelligent cache optimization for premium subscribers

Enterprise Collaboration

  • Worked directly with ViacomCBS product managers, designers, and engineering teams across Los Angeles and New York offices for synchronized feature development
  • Participated in agile sprints with 2-week cycles including sprint planning, daily standups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives within scaled agile framework
  • Conducted comprehensive code reviews, established coding standards documentation, and facilitated knowledge sharing sessions across distributed development teams
  • Coordinated with marketing and launch teams on app store optimization, promotional campaigns, and coordinated release strategies for maximum visibility

Technical Implementation

  • Integrated Braze SDK for sophisticated push notification campaigns with audience segmentation, A/B testing, deep linking, and scheduled delivery for new episode alerts
  • Implemented comprehensive analytics tracking with Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics for user behavior insights, funnel analysis, and conversion optimization
  • Established CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins and Fastlane for automated building, testing, code signing, and deployment to TestFlight and Google Play Console
  • Managed beta testing programs through TestFlight (iOS) and Google Play beta tracks with phased rollouts, crash monitoring, and user feedback collection

Technical Challenges & Solutions

Complex problems we solved during development

DRM & Content Protection

  • Challenge: Premium content required strict DRM compliance across multiple platforms and content licensing agreements with major studios
  • Solution: Implemented FairPlay Streaming (iOS) and Widevine Modular (Android) with secure license acquisition, key management, and secure media path enforcement
  • Result: 100% content provider compliance with zero security breaches during production operation

TV Provider Authentication

  • Challenge: Complex authentication flow with 50+ cable/satellite providers each with different OAuth implementations, token formats, and entitlement systems
  • Solution: Built unified authentication abstraction layer with provider detection, token exchange, refresh logic, entitlement validation, and graceful fallback mechanisms
  • Result: 99.0% authentication success rate across all supported TV providers with seamless user experience

Streaming Performance

  • Challenge: Video startup latency and buffering during peak traffic periods impacting user engagement and retention metrics
  • Solution: Implemented adaptive bitrate streaming with intelligent buffer management, CDN optimization, pre-fetching strategies, and quality switching algorithms
  • Result: 40% reduction in video start time and 55% improvement in buffering ratio during high-traffic premiere events

Offline Download Management

  • Challenge: Managing downloaded content with licensing windows, storage constraints, and expiration tracking across multiple user profiles
  • Solution: Built content lifecycle management system with automatic expiration, storage optimization, download queuing, and background refresh for expired content
  • Result: Efficient storage utilization with 45% reduction in cache size through intelligent compression and deduplication

App Screenshots

Explore the user interface and key features

Favorites Screen
Favorites Screen
Shows Browser
Browse Shows
Show Details
Show Details
Show Details (Episodes)
Show Details (Episodes)
Home Screen
Home Screen
Show Exclusives
Show Exclusives
Xcode Project
Development Environment

Technical Stack

Technologies, frameworks, and tools

iOS

Swift 5+ MVVM RxSwift Combine AVKit AVFoundation Core Data FairPlay DRM TestFlight

Android

Kotlin MVVM Jetpack Compose ExoPlayer Room Database Coroutines Widevine DRM Google Play

Backend & DevOps

Jenkins Fastlane GitHub Enterprise Bitbucket CI/CD Docker AWS CloudFront

Integrations

Braze NewRelic Google Analytics Adobe Analytics DRM (Widevine/FairPlay) TV Provider Auth Deep Linking

Project Outcomes

Measurable results and achievements

Market Performance

  • 15M+ downloads across iOS and Android platforms
  • Top 10 Entertainment app in multiple markets during key content launches
  • 4.3+ star average rating across App Store and Google Play

Streaming Performance

  • 99.0% playback success rate across all supported devices
  • <3 second video start time on standard broadband connections
  • HD streaming support with adaptive bitrate optimization

Technical Excellence

  • 99.7% crash-free session rate in production
  • 40% reduction in video start time through optimization
  • 45% reduction in storage footprint through cache optimization

Content Launches

  • Successfully supported major original series launches (RuPaul's Drag Race, Jersey Shore, Teen Mom)
  • Delivered seamless streaming for MTV Video Music Awards and special events
  • Maintained 99.5% uptime during high-traffic premiere events

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