A Tale of Courage, Resilience, and Creativity from the Heart of the Arab World
In the fast-paced world of technology, where innovation is measured in months and years, imagine rebuilding an entire video streaming platform in just 120 days. This isn’t a Silicon Valley fairy tale – it’s the real-story of OSN+ tech platform, reborn in the heart of the Middle East.
As the co-founder of Anghami, now operating both Anghami and OSN+, I’ve had the privilege of being part of an extraordinary feat of engineering and determination. Today, June 23, 2024, we celebrate not just seven months since our merger, but a testament to what Middle Eastern tech talent can achieve when challenged to do the impossible. My story wouldn’t be complete without talking about the business challenges that every team in the company had to face to deliver, but I will focus in this post on the engineering aspect only.
The Audacious Challenge
On November 21, 2023, as the ink dried on our merger agreement, we made a bold decision that raised many eyebrows – to rebuild the OSN+ platform from scratch. Our goal? To have it ready for the post-merger launch and the highly anticipated premiere of House of the Dragon season 2.
The industry’s reaction was predictable: “Has anyone ever rebuilt a VOD service with a large audience and content base in just 4 months?” The answer was a resounding no. But our team of 50 engineers, armed with the experience of building Anghami over a decade, was ready to prove the doubters wrong.
A Stepping Stone from the Past
Interestingly, this wasn’t our first foray into video streaming. Back in 2019, Anghami collaborated with OSN on a unique project: launching a Game of Thrones experience within the Anghami app. Our technical team had just five days to implement this feature, giving us a taste of delivering video content. Little did we know then that this project would serve as a crucial stepping stone for what we were about to undertake years later.
Leveraging Our Strengths
We started with our strengths. The Anghami platform provided a robust foundation:
- Authentication systems allowing seamless access for Anghami users
- Analytics and data infrastructure
- Cloud architecture
- Recommendation and search systems
- Billing across 47 telcos and multiple payment methods
But the challenge ahead was still immense.
Navigating Uncharted Waters
While we excelled in music streaming, with over 100 million songs in our library, long-form video presented a host of new challenges:
- Content Complexity: OSN+’s 18,000 hours of movies and series required different handling in terms of encoding, streaming, and user experience compared to our short-form audio tracks.
- Device Diversity: OSN+ users primarily watched on TVs, a departure from Anghami’s mobile-first approach. We suddenly needed to develop for a multitude of platforms: Samsung, LG, and Vidaa Smart TVs, Android TV, Apple TV, iPads, Chromecast, and web browsers.
- Seamless Transition: We had to migrate existing users, their profiles, watchlists, and billing accounts without disruption.
- Quality Leap: We aimed to launch with 4K support and Dolby Atmos, requiring fresh encoding of the entire content library.
- Platform Limitations: The variety and antiquated nature of some TV platforms proved more complex than anticipated, requiring innovative solutions.
- Delicate Balancing Act: Migrating users and payments without disrupting the existing service demanded meticulous planning and execution.
Every step brought new hurdles, and nothing was as straightforward as we initially hoped. The intricacies of long-form video streaming required different approaches than music, and we found ourselves constantly adapting and learning.
Our ultimate goal remained clear: improve conversion and retention rates in an industry notorious for churn. This north star guided us through the maze of technical challenges and tough decisions we faced daily.
The Power of Conviction
Armed with deep conviction in our engineering team’s capabilities, we segmented into groups focusing on:
- Backend platform development
- User and revenue migration
- Content ingestion
- App creation
- Recommendation and search experience optimization
The timeline was brutal. From mid-December 2023 to mid-March 2024, our team worked tirelessly, sacrificing weekends and holidays, including Ramadan and Eid.
Overcoming Hurdles
Every step brought new challenges:
- The intricacies of long-form video streaming required different approaches than music
- The variety and limitations of TV platforms proved more complex than anticipated
- Migrating users and payments without disrupting the existing service was a delicate balancing act
Nothing was easy, and everything was harder than we expected.
Launch and Beyond
On April 1, 2024, we received final regulatory approval, completing the merger. The very next day, we began rolling out our new platform. It wasn’t perfect – we had to make tough decisions, postponing features like the Apple TV app, support for older Samsung TVs, and Chromecast functionality. But we were live, covering over 90% of our user base.
The team’s determination didn’t waver. In a display of sheer willpower, two engineers created the Apple TV app in just one week by repurposing the iOS app. Within weeks, we had developed the other missing apps and expanded our device support. By early June, we launched our premium 4K and Dolby Atmos offerings, just in time for the House of the Dragon 2 premiere.
Early Success and Future Promise
While it’s too early to declare victory, the signs are encouraging. Users are enjoying:
- Faster load times
- Enhanced image and sound quality
- Improved homepage recommendations & search
- Lower bandwidth consumption
Most importantly, we’ve seen a 30% increase in time spent, at least 20% increase in conversion – and a multi-million dollar decrease in cost of running the platform.
A Lesson in Middle Eastern Innovation
This journey has been more than just a technical achievement. It’s a testament to the talent, dedication, and innovative spirit thriving in the Middle East. Our team has shown that with courage, resilience, and creativity, we can compete on the global stage and deliver world-class technology solutions.
As we look to the future, we’re not resting on our laurels. We continue to iterate, improve, and push the boundaries of what’s possible. The same team that built a music streaming platform from scratch has now recreated a video platform in record time. They are my heroes, embodying the best of what our region has to offer to the tech world.
I personally would love to get your feedback so we keep improving, please use OSN+ on any device, I promise we have still lots to deliver. I recommend watching Succession, Oppenheimer, The White Lotus & of course the all new and exclusive House of the Dragon Season 2 in 4K. Oh, and watch out for the new Penguin series a spin-off from the Batman coming in September.
The story of OSN+’s rebirth is just beginning, but it’s already a powerful narrative of what can be achieved when talent meets opportunity in the heart of the Arab world. To entrepreneurs and innovators across the region, I say this: dream big, take risks, and remember – what seems impossible today might just be inevitable tomorrow.
