United Group has launched the third generation of its EON cloud-based TV platform across Southeast Europe, featuring an AI-driven recommendation engine and a redesigned electronic programme guide. The platform enables operators like Vivacom and Telemach to deliver a full set-top box experience via smart TV apps, reducing the need for physical hardware installations.
The transition to a cloud-based app that mirrors set-top box functionality allows United Group to bypass the high costs and logistical delays of hardware distribution. By centralizing technology for brands like Nova and Telemach, the group achieves regional scale while maintaining local branding. This move reflects a broader industry shift where telco-led pay-TV providers are prioritizing software-defined experiences to compete with global streamers. As AI-driven personalization becomes the standard for retention, the success of this rollout will be measured by how quickly existing subscribers migrate from legacy boxes to the new smart TV interface.
United Group's EON platform operates within a competitive landscape of cloud-based TV middleware providers targeting operators that want to reduce set-top box dependency. In 2025, TVBEurope reported that Bitmovin's annual Video Developer Report found 98 per cent of respondents now use AI or ML for video, with audio transcription, translation, and foreign dubbing as the most common applications at 48 per cent. That same report noted low latency for live streaming had overtaken cost control as the number one concern for video teams, a challenge directly relevant to EON's cloud-delivered live TV experience across multiple Southeast European markets.
The business case for app-based TV delivery has strengthened as hardware costs and logistics remain a persistent burden for regional operators. Mux published findings showing that managed video APIs have converged on similar features in 2026, with platforms splitting on pricing model and built-in AI capabilities rather than core encoding functionality. For operators like United Group's Vivacom and Telemach brands, the shift from proprietary hardware to smart TV apps mirrors this broader platform convergence, where differentiation now comes from AI discovery to unify broadcast and user experience rather than the underlying delivery pipeline.
On the technical side, Mux has been advancing its own AI-driven video workflow capabilities that illustrate where cloud TV platforms are heading. The company launched Mux Robots in early 2026, a first-party API that runs AI analysis natively alongside stored video assets, eliminating the need for developers to manage separate provider keys for moderation, summarization, and content understanding. The platform also introduced Mux Robots Directives for orchestrating multi-step workflows. For EON's AI recommendation engine, the trajectory suggests that cloud TV platforms will increasingly embed intelligence directly into the delivery layer rather than bolting on third-party models, reducing integration complexity for operators managing multiple brands across different markets.
United Group has launched its third-generation EON cloud TV platform across Southeast Europe, featuring an AI-driven recommendation engine and a redesigned EPG. By enabling a full set-top box experience via smart TV apps, the platform reduces reliance on physical hardware, allowing operators like Vivacom and Telemach to streamline customer activation.
The platform allows operators to deliver a full set-top box experience through smart TV apps, which significantly reduces the need for physical hardware and professional installation.
Vivacom launched the platform in Bulgaria on September 16th, and Telemach is already live with the service in Slovenia.
The platform utilizes an AI-driven engine to power the electronic programme guide, which personalizes content discovery based on the specific viewing habits of each household.
The updated EON platform features a Video Club library containing 67,000 titles and provides support for over 1,500 channels.
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