Powered by the Tizen OS, Samsung Electronics’ TV lineup provides users with a central hub for seamless streaming experiences. Along with Samsung’s cutting-edge picture quality, state-of-the-art sound and user-friendly OS, the company’s partnerships with leading content providers such as HBO are bringing users’ at-home streaming experiences to the next level.

In order to learn more, Samsung Newsroom sat down with Jennifer Mirgorod, Head of Partner Management and Marketing for WarnerMedia, to hear about the state of streaming, the future of the industry and how HBO’s partnership with Samsung is bringing users a truly premium experience.

Q: Please introduce yourself and your role at WarnerMedia.

A: As head of partnership management and partner marketing, I’m responsible for the distribution and marketing of WarnerMedia’s streaming services including HBO Max, its transactional video business and the linear television networks. I lead the team managing our multichannel video programming distributor partners in North America as well as our global platform partnerships, including with Samsung.

Q: Streaming services have seen massive growth over the last year. What are some notable trends the industry has seen over the past year?

A: Since my career in media began more than 25 years ago, I’ve witnessed the entirety of the streaming industry’s lifespan. We’ve seen massive increase in its popularity over the years and the global over-the-top services market size is projected to reach $86.8 billion by 2026.¹

As more streaming platforms emerge, content is so critically important to any platform. This trend, then, has been of rising importance for ensuring that the most iconic titles – from Warner Bros. and across our entire portfolio – live on HBO Max. The relative scarcity of premium content in our industry has made owning franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and the DC Universe, among others, has been an incredibly powerful differentiator for WarnerMedia.

Q: With more consumers “cord cutting” and moving to OTT services, how do you see the market for premium content playing out over the next decade?

A: The past few years have been described as the era of “peak TV”, with hundreds of new television series being released each year, and one thing has remained clear: consumers crave premium content. It’s premium stories that make their way into the zeitgeist and resonate with large audiences, regardless of the platform on which they premiere. HBO has long been the home for exactly that type of content and, with HBO Max, we fully expect to build on that.

Q: What changes has HBO made to its platform to promote growth and provide subscribers new experiences?

A: There are quite a few things we’ve done both to the product itself as well as our approach to provide the best possible experience to our customers.

Throughout HBO Max’s first year, our product team has focused on evolving the app by adding new features to ensure that the platform provides a premium experience that is fitting for the premium content it houses. That means adding new personalization features including “For You” trays, age-targeted kid profiles, improved design, improved content details pages, accessibility features and others. We also took a bold step late last year and decided to release our 2021 Warner Bros. theatrical slate in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day, giving customers the ultimate choice on how they wanted to consume content, which proved to be a solid strategy.

Our tech team is also working hard to deliver the best viewing experiences which includes support for HDR10 and 4K streaming. As we regularly update and release new content via HBO Max, you’ll see more and more content available in these formats.

Q: What have been some of the biggest benefits of HBO Max being available on Samsung Smart TVs?

A: There have been plenty of benefits we’ve found in partnering with Samsung and leaning into Tizen’s distinct operating system. Thanks to Tizen OS, Samsung’s TV and projectors allow us to take HBO Max into many different large-format surfaces and enable high-quality as well as varied interactions with users.

It also offers an integrated, streamlined experience for users for more enjoyable viewing. The HBO Max app will be featured on the launch bar for 2021 and 2022 televisions for convenient access, and we’re leveraging the strength of Tizen’s Universal Guide feature in those regions where it’s available. We have also deepened our integration of HBO Max content into Tizen’s search functionality to provide a more seamless experience for customers from start to finish.

Q: Is there anything you can share on the HBO Max roadmap that, along with Samsung’s Smart TVs, will help provide consumers with more valuable experiences?

A: Samsung is a valued partner of ours and we’re looking forward to building on a solid foundation we’ve built together since the launch of HBO Max. Samsung customers can expect key updates to the app experience in the coming weeks including the addition of 4K, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 audio. Also on the roadmap are enhanced functionality with Bixby, as well as the addition of ‘Continue Watching’ and ‘Personalized Preview’ features that will help to create an even more seamless and customized viewing experience.

Q: Lastly, are there any exciting movies and shows that HBO Max subscribers can look forward to later this year?

A: Absolutely. We are excited about a number of new series and movies set for release throughout the second half of this year and plans for expansion into new markets.

Our team is excited about the recently launched Gossip Girl series reboot, as well as the original film No Sudden Move, plus new Max originals The Sex Lives of College Girls from Mindy Kaling and the next chapter of Sex and the City called And Just Like That. There’s also the return of HBO-favorites including Succession, Insecure and Curb Your Enthusiasm. On the movie front, new Warner Bros. theatrical releases have been and will be released on the platform on the same days as theaters with titles including Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, The Many Saints of Newark and Dune, among others.

¹ Over the Top (OTT) Services Market Latest Industry Trends, Size, Share, Statistics, Applications and Competition Strategies by 2028, Fortune Business Insights

Concert performances from the Berliner Philharmoniker are now available to more people than ever thanks to an updated version of the Digital Concert Hall app on Samsung Smart TVs.

The Digital Concert Hall app on Samsung Smart TVs will be updated in time for the Berlin Philharmoniker orchestra’s Asia Tour. The updated version of the app offers an improved user experience and an enhanced feature set, which includes curated playlists and work overviews of concerts. Additionally, the Digital Concert Hall will be available in the Korean language for the first time. It will be available for 2015-2017 Smart TVs.

Enjoy the Acclaimed Live Orchestra on TVs

Berliner Philharmoniker is the most prolifically recorded orchestra in the world, with more than 100 years of recording history. They are named in many polls as the world’s best orchestra, and are known as the first to record a CD back in 1980. They are no strangers then to innovation.

Since 2008, Berliner Philharmoniker has been broadcasting live streams and video archive recordings of its concerts through its Digital Concert Hall app. With one of the largest collections of recordings, the orchestra boasts more than 1,500 audio and visually recorded works in its Digital Concert Hall, including 50 live seasonal concerts, interviews, concert introductions, documentaries, artist portraits and educational program concerts. In addition to several improvements in its design and user interface, the new app is now available in German, English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean languages. New users of Samsung Smart TV can enjoy the Digital Concert Hall app with a 30-day trial.

“The new Digital Concert Hall app is a prime example of distributing excellent content across new digital media platforms. At Samsung, our goal is to optimally reproduce the image and sound of such high-quality productions with our home entertainment devices and Smart TVs,” said Sangsook Han, Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics.

Seamless Discovery for Home Entertainment

Samsung Electronics has been using new music and gaming functionality to further enhance the features of its Smart TVs. The new apps help users unlock new levels of entertainment, which includes everything from the finest classical music concerts, live music discovery, and big screen gaming direct from a PC.

Some of the most recent activities Samsung has carried out provide increased value to Smart TV customers include a partnership with popular music discovery service Shazam. Shazam grants Smart TV viewers the ability to identify songs that are playing in TV shows or films. Now, thanks to its integration with Samsung Smart TVs, it makes it easier than ever for users to discover and enjoy music.

Samsung Smart TVs are also offering a new level of connectivity for gamers to enjoy. Samsung recently announced the expansion of Valve’s Steam Link to all of its 2016 and 2017 Smart TVs*. Instead of connecting Steam Link hardware to the TV, this technology enables users to stream their favorite games from their in-home PC directly to their Samsung Smart TVs via an app in the Samsung Smart Hub.

The thing that customers love about Samsung Smart TVs is the fact that they continue to get smarter and better connected. Samsung is always introducing new integrations and services which mean that you’ll keep discovering new ways to enjoy your TV.

*The launching date of the music and game apps vary by country and region.

After announcing the release of its HW-K950 Soundbar for European consumers, Samsung showcased the technology’s ability to deliver a complete 4K home theater experience at IFA 2016.

A cozy room at the side of Samsung’s spacious hall invited guests to sit down, relax and immerse themselves in 4K entertainment. room combined the surround sound of the HW-K950 Soundbar with Samsung’s latest Ultra HD Blu-ray player (the UBD-K8500) and the peerless picture quality of a Quantum dot SUHD TV to show how viewing the latest high-definition content from the comfort of your home can be a truly cinematic affair.

Equipped with a 5.1.4 channel system, the HW-K950 Soundbar features Dolby Atmos® technology and houses a total of 15 speaker units, including a main speaker set, rear speakers and a subwoofer. The soundbar’s up-firing technology, designed to provide more realistic audio, projects sound toward the ceiling, as well as horizontally across the room.

The HW-K950 Soundbar not only provides multidimensional surround sound, but also supports 4K pass-through, which channels 4K (UHD) video signals from the Ultra HD Blu-ray player to the TV and enables it to complete the 4K home entertainment experience.

The 4K Home Theater room showcases how significantly the HW-K950 Soundbar, UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player and Samsung’s Quantum dot SUHD TVs amplify the viewing experience, pairing cinematic sound with visual firepower.

Samsung Electronics is continuing its reign as the leading home entertainment brand by adding an HDR+ firmware update to all of its 2016 SUHD TVs with Quantum dot display. The firmware update is designed to enhance High Dynamic Range (HDR) quality to its highest picture quality capacity, even if the source isn’t in HDR format.

As part of Samsung’s 2016 SUHD TVs with Quantum dot display, HDR is an essential element in the new era of UHD TV viewing. HDR makes bright areas of the screen look even brighter, allows the TV to display new colors and significantly expands the range of the contrast ratio on-screen.

“The HDR+ function offers an exceptional HDR viewing experience to all 2016 SUHD and UHD TVs consumers,” said Jong-hee Han, Vice President, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re thrilled to share this latest advancement with our consumers to access directly on their 2016 SUHD TVs. Samsung is bringing the highest form of picture quality right to their living rooms.”

One of the biggest benefits of HDR+ is its ability to upgrade Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content to HDR-like picture quality, allowing viewers to enjoy all of their favorite content in the highest picture quality possible.

With HDR native contents, HDR+ also uncovers previously hidden images from darker content scenes, supplementing the level of brightness to express objects hidden in darker shadows. For brighter content scenes, HDR+ increases the level of contrast ratio to differentiate objects from the background, while still depicting more image details on the screen for an overall better picture.

Features designed specifically for picture quality experts have also been enhanced with HDR+. In “Expert Mode,” picture quality experts can customize HDR effects to suit individual users by calibrating brightness, contrast ratio and gradation to the finest degree. These settings can be accessed within the “Picture – Special viewing” mode options, where HDR+ is activated.

The automatic upgrade is currently available for all 2016 SUHD TVS, and will be available for all HDR-compatible 2016 UHD TVs models by September.

For consumers, so much of the TV viewing experience has completely transformed in recent years, as people now expect to be able to watch all of their favorite content, anytime and anywhere, easily and conveniently. And Samsung has transformed in step with them, Das notes, always looking to optimize access and seamlessly integrate all of people’s content.

What’s next? Das says the company will continue refining and improving their TVs, based on Samsung’s foundational pillars—picture quality, design and smart TV capabilities. Check out Das’ interview to learn more.