NBC News partnered with TribalScale to unify the digital streaming experience across NBCNews, NBC Today, and MSNBC. We developed nine OTT applications—each with distinct branding—across Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. The result? A seamless, consistent breaking-news experience for both traditional subscribers and cord-cutters alike.
Impact Delivered
Challenge
NBC wanted to consolidate their fragmented OTT ecosystem. The team needed:
A unified user experience across three brands and multiple platforms
Support for both TV Everywhere subscribers and cord-cutters
A scalable design that works even on older OTT hardware
Solution
We delivered value fast via our iterative, weekly review process. This kept NBC’s leadership engaged and ensured smooth adjustments throughout development. TribalScale built one app per brand per platform, focusing on maintainability and visual consistency while aligning with enterprise expectations.
Feature-Rich Design: Brand and channel carousels, upcoming content previews, search, authentication, settings, and instant play across all apps.
Monetization Paths: Free trial access plus deep linking features on Roku to drive ad-based acquisition.
Device Compatibility: Engineered for VO-rich visual fidelity across both modern and legacy devices.
Knowledge Transfer: TribalScale paired its engineers—not just internally but also with NBC’s teams—to enable Agile upskilling and long-term self-sufficiency.
Tools and Technologies Used:
Roku
Analytics Engines
Kotlin
TV OS (Swift)
Fire TV
Outcome
NBC News now has a unified OTT platform that scales across brands and devices—boosting reach and simplifying content delivery. Their teams are now skilled in Agile development and capable of maintaining and evolving the app ecosystem independently, thanks to practical pair programming practices and platform-native workflows.
Why It Matters
This case study highlights how media enterprises can consolidate fragmented platforms into a unified digital experience—without sacrificing brand identity or platform compatibility. It’s a model for scalable modern OTT delivery and internal empowerment.