Superyacht Streaming Explained

Host Kristina Hebert sits down with Mr. Smith’s, Tjeerd van Groenland, to discuss making yacht AV systems simpler and more user-friendly. They explore how software-first solutions are changing onboard entertainment, streaming, and connectivity at sea. The conversation also dives into the challenges of legal IPTV and commercial licensing on yachts. This episode offers valuable insights into the future of marine AV and onboard technology.

Wards Marine Electric
https://www.wardsmarine.com/

Wards Way YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@WardsWay75

Transcript

Who Mr. Smith Is

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Wards Wave Podcast. I'm here with my friend and colleague TJ Bonlin, founder and president of Mr. Smith. So my first question, and welcome by the way, the Bob Beat Pocho. Thank you for having me. My first question is going to be who is Mr. Smith?

SPEAKER_01 0:18

That's a good question. Okay. Mr. Smith is an A V IT company that was founded 13 years ago. Basically founded from the concept that we were I was struggling with the existing systems out there. Started with a bit of a hobby project or type of systems?

SPEAKER_00 0:37

A V systems that are out there?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, mainly AV. Yeah. That was something I was busy with with one of my jobs. And in my mind, it's it could be simplified a lot. So back then uh yeah, we we just started. So uh uh created a alternative system, simple app, simple uh solution. Back then uh Netflix was not existing, Spotify didn't exist.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Imagine a world that we didn't have Netflix. It seems like that was so archaic, but you're right, it wasn't that long ago it didn't exist.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

No, it's actually if you look back in time, fairly new. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

It feels like it's there for ages, but uh well, in a way I would say that that kind of frames our relationship because I met you in November in Metz, and here we are in in uh March in Palm Beach. Yeah. And uh and Metz uh marine uh uh equipment trade show that's in uh the Netherlands. So a few short months later, we've decided to work together, and here we are in Palm Beach. And

Why Yacht AV Must Be Simple

SPEAKER_00 1:39

um so so let's talk about A V and what was making those those systems so complicated and and why the need for simple because by the way, I agree with you. I've heard, you know, as an electric company, um we would hear about some of the systems, you know, and and and personally, I've been to houses or I have been on yachts where there's just a table full of remotes and you don't know which remote to touch, and then in the end you don't want to touch anything, and and you're right, the world doesn't need to be that complicated. So so how does Mr. Smith solve that?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Well, uh in my opinion, it's it's all about the experience the guests have. You're right. Integration companies always start talking about uh technology and all what they all can do. If you if you just make it simple towards guests, in my experience, don't they care. All they care about is if they want to watch some telly to be able to switch it on, watch it, and it should work. Right. And in that field, the arting is a special place because uh these uh well it's an expensive hobby. Um and if people are on board, they just want to enjoy their time. Right. And you're not there to enjoy uh uh you're there to enjoy the music and and television, but you're mainly there to enjoy the food and the surroundings. So if you switch something on or you want to watch a match or you want to watch some film, you just want it to work. Right. And that's basically the basic principle we have. It's all about the the customer journey basically, and the user user friendliness and the experience.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

And I think that's why our company is aligned because similarly for electric, people really don't want to understand why or how it works, they just want to know it works. So, very similarly in our industries, um, they want the experience, they want their their air conditioning, they want their lights, they want all of that. So, so Mr. Smith also is unique in talking about you know what what is different in the in the product. So the let's you you get to explain it.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Well, it's it's a simplified version of everything. So we we developed a software platform that can integrate and do everything you're used to on conventional systems like Pressron or a Savant or a Control 4. But because it's a software platform, you don't need all that hardware. Okay. Um you don't need all the programming, so it's it's quite a cost-effective way in order to get a high-end experience without all well, all that work and all the programming and all the customization. Um, and in its essence, especially now, what we found is in the last few years smart TVs are there. So at home you have a smart TV and a sonar speaker. People are happy with that. It doesn't work the same way in a yard because you need to manage, you do want to integrate stuff, you have TV lifts, you have air conditioning, lights, a lot of stuff that you would like in a system. But for the guest, all he wants to do is just flick up with his phone, connect to airplay, and it should just work.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

And also, I would say what a huge difference is you know, at home your your house isn't moving all around the world. How does that work with a yacht? The yacht is moving all around the world, so so how are they able to get these streaming?

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Well, that's

The Legal Streaming Problem At Sea

SPEAKER_01 4:45

that's an interesting question. Um, it's actually a second business we we launched in September, so I'm very happy that we have the chance to uh to get it out here in the US as well. Um five years ago I had a client that came to us and uh they basically asked, Well, TJ, we're moving to a commercial vessel. I want uh to be able to provide legal content for my guests. And the word legal was very important to this client because the owner was in the media industry. Okay. Naive as I was back then, I thought, well, that that should be possible. So let's see how we can get content that is licensed to be used on board of a vessel. Um this seemed to be a way more complicated story than I was imagining because you're bound to to borders and to uh uh rich uh regions that you license content for. So, long story short, um we had to develop a solution that would have been accepted uh by the studios uh to accept us uh supplying early window uh content to vessels. So um after five years we finally got everything approved with some big media companies like Warner, Brothers and Disney, and we we got the rights for all the films to be able to.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Well, five years actually sounds like a pretty tight time frame when you're dealing with companies like that. That's I can only imagine the the hills you had to climb.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Well, there were there were a few.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

I would say I'm sure. I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

So we were and yachting is a high demand market, so you need new films, it needs to be and it needs to work. So we finally got everything in place, and then uh uh Starlink came, and basically everybody started watching Netflix. Okay. Now I don't care about the legality, I'm not the police, but we just want to make sure that we have something that is legal. That was the whole goal. Um, one of the questions in Starlink that came up was television. So a lot of people moving to IP TV nowadays with basically the same issue. How do you get a TV service that is actually licensed to be used on board of a yacht? Um, and uh after some well, this took three years, a lot of phoning around, a lot of meetings, we found out there was none because same with films, TV contracts are licensed for certain areas in the world. And especially because yachts are commercially classed, it's all business owned. Um legally you're not allowed to have a have a home uh home use contract on a yacht on a yacht to provide to charter guests. It's basically classed as a hotel.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

So uh and I bet a lot of people aren't aware of that or and don't know that. No, and I think a lot of people know, but there's no they have a they already have a system or solution, and so as long as it works, it'll work.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

It works, and uh nobody really polices it. But with uh media companies now fighting VPN solutions, closing down connections, it becomes an issue more and more and more, and we see this uh quite heavily. Um and that's why we created Superior IPTV. So basically a simple service that uh provides sport, mainly sport, and news uh on a legal way, commercially uh uh licensed for superior.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

And you're right, when these media companies um start to see this and and and and challenge management companies or yachts, you need to have a solution. So again, you're not out there trying to be the police, you're just offering a legal solution. And so when that time comes, the technology is there, and also for for those that want to get into it, they can subscribe now and already have that. Yeah. What is required in order to get into that type of um and also what is IPTV?

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Well, IPTV is streaming television. So in the past you had a satellite with with a satellite decoder. Okay. But IPTV is basically the same over the internet. Okay. So that is IPTV.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

So internet protocol TV. That's what IP stands for. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

That's literally it. Okay. Um and what what you need, yeah, we we supply a little box. Uh it's a single box for a vessel, we call it the the the proxy box. But it's mainly meant to to clear the security. So in the box we we take care of all the the security protocols, the uh the DRM, the watermarking that is needed because it is high-valued content. Um and next to that, just an Apple TV or an Android box, you can download the app. It doesn't matter which AV system you have. So we have a beautiful AV solution, of course, with Mr. Smith, but it's not required to have IP TV.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

So well, I do want to go back to that. So I it is um, you know, we have multiple solutions here, but let's let's go back to to Mr.

Lavi Platform And Yacht Infotainment

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Smith. So um, regardless of this the solution that you have, but let's say you do have the IP TV, and now you really want to have um the Lavi, let's let's go into your equipment. Can we talk about the Lavi and the Lavi light? So let's go into the Mr. Smith package. What is that?

SPEAKER_01 9:35

So we we developed a platform called Lavi, um, which is basically an audio-video integration system that runs on an Android platform for the TV with a central server as uh as management basically. Um and it it's for Lavi, especially for the bigger yachts, it's very made on open integration. So we can integrate any type of system that people like, you can access Netflix natively just by pressing a button. You can watch your content, you can listen to your music, you can control your blinds, your lights, everything is there, but it is very flexible. So the goal is that if uh a charter guest comes on board with kids and they have a game station, they can just simply connect it. Uh engineer can go into the uh to the manager interface and just say, Oh, I have a PlayStation on this amplifier, and it pops up on the iPad, all the integrations are there. So it's very simple to do. And next to that, we we added a uh infotainment system that basically does the same as in an airplane. So you see uh some information on where you're sailing, uh your speed heading, water temperature, uh, but also uh food menu information, crew information, all that comes standard in the system.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Well, that's a lot more than I get on an airplane.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, well, it's a yacht.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

You know, it is a yacht, I was going to say. So I I get where you're going with, but you but it is, it's meant to bring kind of the crew and the experience, as you're saying, together. So that guests on board they can see what their menu is, the crew, I think you can have bios of of who they are, their faces, so you know who to call and when you're wanting this or when you're wanting that, correct? That's that's part of the integration. But what I like about it is that can be customized, regardless, that can be customized per boat, correct? So it can be utilized as a major tool that's involved in all elements.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Everything is customizable, and but it uses the same software platform. Okay. And the beauty there is that because we don't need this whole hardware layer and all the programming that you require with a conventional system, uh, the price point is also a little bit different. So it's way more cost-effective and flexible.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

And and I would imagine that the the installation and the the uh refitting period or or installation is also significantly less.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yes, because you the timing. You don't need all the hardware. So if there's an Ethernet cable in a room, we are basically able to connect anything. So also for the refit market, I think our time frames are maybe a third of what our competition does. And that's mainly because yeah, it's it's we can prepare everything in-house, the installation is very simple, the and the commissioning doesn't take much time because everything is prepared in-house.

US Expansion And Lavi Light

SPEAKER_00 12:10

So this is your first um Palm Beach boat show, but clearly the American market is important to you.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yes, yeah, so we let's talk about that. We were looking for for a way into the US for for a while, but we're a small European-based company. Uh we're very busy there. Um so uh I was very happy to meet you guys at Metz because we're we were looking for a reliable partner that has well uh some some solid background. Um and if you can wire an electrical system on the vessel, A V is simple.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Well, and I like that because when we first met you said you know you were really working and looking for an electrical company, because to be honest, at first I was like, well, I don't know if that's our lane, you know, that that um this is this is really great and it's very interesting, but but is this something that as an electrical company, and then after speaking with you, you're right, it makes complete sense that if we can do the the you know the power distribution and all the cabling for that, that that clearly our capabilities would be able to cover this type of installation. And so I'm glad we had the opportunity, but that's unique. We'd never been approached by somebody to work with that.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Well, technology changes, so uh and you guys have have such a long solid background here, so for us it's amazing that we it's like a warm buff. We we come here and everything is is is laid out basically, and I really think we can be of a great addition to to your package. And that's where Lavi Light came in because uh yeah the super Yacht is a nice market, but the system is so flexible that if we simplify it a bit and we make it smaller, we basically now created a package that can be installed on small vessels as well. But without the need of all the complex integrations, it's even easier to do.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Now LAVI is also an acronym, what does it stand for?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Light, audio, video, internet entertainment.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

There you go. So that was good. Um because I think that that's also simplistic. You you labeled it for what it does. Yeah, you didn't have to make it overcomplicated. Um and on the on the smaller boats, you know, we're not talking about um, you know, there's a whole lot of world between a center console and a super yacht, but but I think what you're trying to get to is that everybody can have a tremendous A V system on their boat, that it doesn't need to be complicated, you don't need to invest millions in in equipment, and it can be installed fairly simply.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah, that's and basically for for the for the for the Love E Light system, it's an off-the-shelf A V solution that gives you the same experience as you have on a super yacht. Uh but because the integration is less complicated, it's it's an out-of-the-box solution.

Hybrid Installs And What Comes Next

SPEAKER_00 14:45

What do you see next in technology? What what's coming next?

SPEAKER_01 14:49

That's a good question. I mean internet is internet is improving, uh, connectivity is improving. I mean we see a lot of stuff happening with AI, visualizations and stuff like that. Um that's why we we just uh created a visualization tool to sell our products basically. Uh meaning that if we have a GA of a vessel and a little render, we can create a 3D model to show what cable routing does and how you can save money basically. Because also there it's an interesting topic, not a public topic for companies that sell cables. Sorry. But initially conventionally everything is run to a central location on a vessel, you have big racks, very convenient for support, but a lot of cabling. Now, for some vessels, the owner is not they want a cool system in the main salon and a very nice sound system. But if you have a guest cabin, sometimes a television with a sound bar cuts the deal. And then if you just run a single Ethernet cable, we can run our software on directly on a TV. That's all they need. So that's what I that's what I mean with hybrids. You can go very light or very heavy. It's the system grows with it.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Well, and listen, there's there's always plenty of cabling to be to be sold, but in a refit, it's almost unheard of that you would actually remove equipment and replace it and have it be lighter and less cabling.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Normally in in a refit, while there's the removal of equipment, there's usually this massive addition of equipment and also massive addition of you know new things that everybody wants and needs to be integrated. So I think that's also what's making it a very popular solution.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Yeah, and something that's easily. I'm

Boat Show Reactions And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_01 16:28

amazed on the responses here because not a lot of people know our products yet, but we gave a lot of demos this week. Uh that's why my uh I'm signing a little bit of a lot of.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Me too, me too, that's okay. What has the feedback then?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Yeah, people people are are uh uh shocked. That's I think that's a good good com uh comment. I mean, if we demonstrate and you see how quick, how easy it is, and the power is.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

It's almost like people don't want to believe you. Like there's no way it can be this easy. Yeah. What what where's the gig? Where's the trick? Where where is it coming?

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, that's it. Oh, why didn't I know about this?

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Right. How is this possible? Right. Well, because you've developed it and now you're coming to the US with this market, and more people need to go over and and visit your facilities.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Yeah, I think so. That would be good.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Or they need to come to Ward. You can sit down. But but more importantly, I I think it's also um, and especially kind of um while we're sitting here at the Palm Beach Boat Show, really connecting countries. I've I've had so many discussions with people and really talking about how is Palm Beach become so much of the the center of this world, and I and I find it interesting, you know, to to talk to to companies from from all over the world to be here in Palm Beach.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

It's a great show. I mean the the the vibe here and then the people, it's very relaxed. I like it.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Yes, absolutely. And and there's definitely boats from from all different sizes. So tech new technology that's coming out.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Any new projects coming up that you think that's well we have uh we we are uh doing some exciting, uh very exciting projects uh at the moment. Okay. Some very uh classic vessels that we upgrading to the latest technology in a very uh original style, but also some very nice modern uh projects and some cool sailing boats. So yeah, there's a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

So it sounds like we might need to do kind of a a docuseries and and and film some of these you know new secret projects if they'll give us an opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Yeah, that would be cool.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

It really would be cool, but nothing is as cool as it is for you know there we go. You heard it here. Thank you for being here, TJ. Thank you so much. Thank you for being part of uh our Wards family and and welcome, Mr. Smith.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Thanks a warm welcome. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Thanks for joining us. Make sure you subscribe to the Wards Way podcast. We're just getting started.