Streaming platform development

Smithsonian Channel

Educational streaming app migration for ViacomCBS

2019 - 2021

ViacomCBS

iOS, Android, Apple TV

Project overview

Smithsonian Channel brings documentary and educational programming about history, science, nature, and culture to viewers across mobile and TV devices.

During the Viacom-CBS merger, our team worked directly with internal engineering and content groups to migrate the iOS and Apple TV applications to ViacomCBS's shared technology platform. We operated within the client's planning, review, QA, and release processes.

The migration covered content logic, FairPlay and Widevine protection, TV-provider authentication, HLS and DASH playback, parental controls, and encrypted offline downloads. The implementation preserved product continuity while improving the shared foundation for future releases.

12M+

Combined Downloads

Platforms

99.5%

Playback Success

Our role

Technical contributions and key deliverables

Native Mobile Development

Built native iOS app with Swift 5+, AVKit/AVFoundation for smooth 4K HDR playback and Picture-in-Picture support with reactive programming patterns
Developed Android app using Kotlin with ExoPlayer integration for adaptive streaming and background playback with coroutine-based async operations
Implemented tvOS version with focus navigation, Siri Remote support, and top-shelf content previews for living room experience
Engineered offline download manager with encrypted storage, expiration policies, and queue prioritization for premium subscribers

Enterprise Collaboration

Coordinated with Paramount+ content teams via Agile sprints, Jira tracking, and bi-weekly stakeholder reviews across distributed teams
Partnered with legal/compliance to implement COPPA, GDPR-K, and educational content guidelines across all features and platforms
Collaborated with UX researchers on family-friendly navigation patterns, parental gate flows, and accessibility testing for diverse users
Worked with DevOps to establish CI/CD pipelines using Fastlane, Jenkins, and automated testing across comprehensive device farms

Technical Implementation

Integrated Braze for personalized content recommendations, push notification campaigns, and engagement analytics with A/B testing
Deployed New Relic for real-time performance monitoring, crash reporting, and streaming quality metrics with custom dashboards
Implemented Firebase Analytics for user journey tracking, feature adoption measurement, and conversion funnel analysis
Established automated regression testing with XCTest, Espresso, and snapshot testing for UI consistency across OS versions

Educational Compliance & Safety

Designed COPPA-compliant data collection with verifiable parental consent flows and minimal data retention policies for child safety
Implemented parental controls including content filtering by age rating, watch time limits, and multi-profile management for families
Created educator resources section with curriculum-aligned collections, discussion guides, and classroom tools for school integration
Ensured all third-party SDKs underwent privacy review and were configured for educational-use compliance with regular audits

Engineering challenges

Complex problems we solved during development

DRM Migration

Challenge: Migrating legacy content protection to new DRM system without disrupting existing subscriber access during transition
Solution: Implemented dual-DRM support with gradual migration, license-server fallback, and uninterrupted key exchange for existing users
Result: Zero playback interruptions during migration with 99.8% successful license acquisition rate

TV Provider Authentication

Challenge: Supporting 50+ cable/satellite providers with different OAuth implementations and entitlement verification systems
Solution: Built unified authentication layer with provider detection, SAML/OAuth abstraction, and cached entitlement validation
Result: 99.5% authentication success rate with <5 second login time across all supported providers

COPPA Compliance

Challenge: Educational content for children required strict COPPA compliance with zero tolerance for privacy violations
Solution: Implemented privacy-by-design architecture with data minimization, parental consent workflows, and regular compliance audits
Result: 100% COPPA compliance with zero violations during production operation and successful FTC reviews

Offline Content Management

Challenge: Managing downloaded documentaries with licensing windows, storage constraints, and synchronization across devices
Solution: Built content lifecycle management with automatic expiration, intelligent storage optimization, and background sync
Result: 45% reduction in cache size through compression with 99.3% download success rate