BroadcastPro ME August 2018

Issue 98 | AuGusT 2018

Publication licensed by Dubai Production City

in MENA RAdio CEO Raed Zidan uncovers new opportunities in Middle East radio with niche stations

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GROUP Managing Director Raz Islam raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5471 Editorial Director Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5472 EDITORIAL Editor Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com

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Last month, there were a number of announcements that coincided with the Chinese premier's visit to the UAE. Image Nation announced that it would launch a 24/7 Chinese channel while ARN is looking to hit the airwaves with a new radio station to cater to Chinese listeners. In a grand launch ceremony last month, Dubai-based China Arab TV (CATV) announced a partnership with media powerhouse, China Media Group, to bring Chinese programmes such as Ode to Joy dubbed to Arabic to MENA audiences.

It was when I went to the Arab Radio and TV Festival in Tunisia three years ago that I first learnt that there was a thriving industry in China that dubs programmes in Mandarin to Arabic.

Of course, with some Turkish programmes getting the boot from local channels, broadcasters have been filling their air space with popular Korean programmes, dubbed to Arabic. The inclusion of Chinese programmes now will

expand the appeal from that market.

Ultimately, audiences will watch any programme that has a compelling story line. Chinese TV series Ode to Joy, the story of a former Wall Street Executive who returns to China to search for her long-lost brother, is a case in point. It won a lot of accolades in its first season, but the second season is reported to have had less appeal for the same reason that most television series fail — a less-than-compelling script.

The popular appeal of Hollywood, Bollywood and even K-pop is well documented. Time will tell if this surge in Chinese media initiatives will translate to soft power.

And lastly, it would be interesting to see if Arab drama series make a similar journey to mainland China.

It seems China already has a legion of fluent Arabic speakers, so the audience is evidently there.

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director

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ISSUE 98 | AUGUST 2018

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PROCONTENTS

Inside this issue 07 NEWS Zee Weyyak celebrates one year of success; Lawo deployment at Pulse 95; New CEO at Sky News Arabia; Saudi Format Lab launched; La Perle uses Riedel's Bolero; ARN relocates to brand new facility; Jordan launches Al Mamlaka TV

August 2018 la PERlE dEPlOyS RiEdEl'S BOlERO NEWS FROm aROUNd mENa

RidiNg ThE ShOCk WaVES

14 COVER - RadiO ShOCk Raed Zidan explains how his radio channels will succeed in the digital age

20 hOllyWOOd CalliNg? Dubai-based director Jac Mulder hopes his feature film Twisted Blues finds an international audience

14

05 707 aimiNg hOllyWOOd NEWS FROmFOR aROUNd mENa

ThE SWOO FOCUS ON liVE FORmaTS

24 TO dO OR NOT TO dO! Big Data helps reveal why customers subscribe or don't, says Ted Korte

28 liVE aNd iNTERaCTiVE A live, interactive format stands out in a crowded OTT field, says Divyesh Mahajan, CEO of Swoo

32 CONVERgENCE iN aSia ConnecTechAsia 2018 successfully brought together telcoms, media and technology in Singapore

20 705

28 iBC 2018: aN EaRly-BiRd ViEW

PaTh FOR WiRElESS TECh

35 makiNg TV gREaT AI, data and voice will enhance user experience, writes Fabian Birgfield of W12Studios

36 iBC 2018 PREViEW Innovations from Rohde & Schwarz, Blue Lucy, Broadpeak, Tedial and more

40 SaFEgUaRdiNg WiRElESS Engage with regulators, urges Ryan Burr of Sennheiser

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PROnews

Weyyak completes one year

Weyyak had three million unique users during Ramadan.

Weyyak, Zee’s Arabic OTT platform, completed a year in May with a whopping three million unique users on the platform and 10m video views during the month of Ramadan. The platform has also recently signed an agreement with Sharjah Media Free Zone (SHAMS) to encourage media students and new local content creators to send in their short films and productions, which will be showcased on Weyyak if they meet the standards set by the platform.

Speaking about the ongoing success of the platform, Nadine Samra, VP Digital Business MEA for Zee, said: “Weyyak just completed the first anniversary in May 2018; we have launched successfully on several devices including Apple TV earlier this year. We are very encouraged by the huge numbers that we got during Ramadan.

We had launched a number of Indian drama series dubbed into Arabic exclusively on the platform such as Asrar Banaty (Badalte Rishton Ki Dastaan), Noqta Ala Sater (Doli Armaano

Ki) and Begurarai. These drama series were launched during Ramadan but continue to run with new episodes on our platform.”

Zee, however, is looking at new initiatives to boost its library of exclusive content.

“We are constantly looking at adding new content and have a big library of Arabic and Indian-dubbed content. But in our quest for more exclusive content, we are also looking at new partnerships. We currently have over 10 thousand hours of HD content with more than 600 titles. About 45% of the library is Arabic content and 55% is exclusive Indian dubbed into Arabic,” Samra pointed out.

As part of these efforts, a new cooperative agreement with SHAMS will see Zee offering training and recommendations to Sharjah’s media graduates and giving them a platform to feature their content.

“We have a lot of expertise and infrastructure so we can provide the necessary training and advice as well as internship for media students from Sharjah universities. The agreement includes cooperation on several different levels. Our aim is to encourage new talent and provide them with a platform to feature their content. Young people bring a lot of creative content and creative ways of implementation and directing. We are very optimistic that we will receive content to the standards that we want. This collaboration between the private and public sector is very important to reach out to creative talent out there,” Samra added.

twofour54 offers new Eutelsat appoints Ghassan scheme for freelancers Murat MD of Middle East The new freelance relations team at twofour54 Abu Dhabi has reportedly secured more than 40 briefs for freelancers in their first 60 days.

The dedicated team was set up to assist more than 580 freelancers registered currently, and connect them with government entities and the 470-plus partners at twofour54.

Freelancers can obtain a sole proprietor 12-month licence for $1,225 (AED 4,500) or a six-month licence for $613 (AED 2,250).

Ghassan Murat .

Eutelsat's Ghassan Murat will take the place of Laurent

Roussel as MD of Eutelsat Middle East alongside his role as VP of Business Development & Strategy. Ali Korur, Regional VP, MENA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran & Afghanistan announced in a statement that Ghassan Murat wil also oversee Roussel’s clients.

EVS CEO exits EVS' Board of Directors and Muriel De Lathouwer have mutually agreed to end De Lathouwer’s term of office and duties as Managing Director and CEO, effective last month.

EVS Chairman Pierre De Muelenaere will succeed De Lathouwer on an interim basis, until a new CEO is appointed.

Former MBC Exec joins Vuclip as GM Abe Shady Aboul Naga, who was previously Director of Digital Business with MBC for nearly 10 years, has joined the regional leadership team at Vuclip as General Manager for the Middle East. In his new role, Aboul Naga will lead a region-specific growth strategy for Viu and oversee all of its operations in the region.

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 7

PROnews

Ajman to woo businesses in India and Egypt The Ajman Media City Free Zone (AMCFZ) has announced a range of packages for potential business owners, including the decision to abolish all security deposits related to the visa process for new companies. As a first step, AMCFZ is entering strategic alliances with organisations in key markets such as India and Egypt.

Speaking ahead of the official

launch, Chairman Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi said: “We have identified key issues a potential investor faces when setting up a new business, such as the cost of doing business, set-up costs, the regulatory requirements and their expectations, such as the availability of a long-term sustainable framework, which allows them to set up, operate and function with ease.”

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman, AMCFZ.

Academy Awards induct 12 Arab filmmakers

Etisalat to power 5G at Expo 2020 Dubai Expo 2020 Dubai is slated to become the first major commercial customer in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region to access 5G services, through its partnership with Etisalat. Making the annoucement was Saeed Al Zarouni (left in pic), Senior VP, Mobile Network at Etisalat with Mohammed Alhashmi, Senior VP, Innovation and Future Technology at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Dolby and Cinescape partner in three-year deal Dolby Laboratories, Inc. and Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) have partnered for a three-screen agreement towards the first Dolby Cinema deployments in Kuwait. The first site is expected to open later in 2018 at the 360 Mall in Kuwait City with KNCC operating under the Cinescape brand.

Commenting on the expansion, Doug Darrow, Senior VP, Cinema Business Group, Dolby Laboratories said: “We are really pleased to be able to continue to drive momentum in our strategy to expand the Dolby Cinema footprint in Europe and the Middle East region. Customers in Kuwait will

now be able to experience the ultimate presentation for all genres of film.

Dolby Cinema combines spectacular image, moving audio and inspired design to deliver a superior and immersive experience for movie-goers.”

Elaborating on the partnership, Khaled Al Marzouq, Business Development Manager at KNCC commented: “We are committed to bringing our Cinescape customers the very best in movie entertainment and are really looking forward to offering Dolby Cinema. We are really proud to be the first location in Kuwait to be offering film lovers this state-of-the-art film experience.”

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A total of 12 Arab filmmakers have joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the annual Oscars Awards. The filmmakers are now members of the academy in the categories of writing, directing, acting, documentary, animation and production.

The new members from Lebanon are Director Ziad Doueiri, Screenwriter Joelle Touma, Director Nadine Labaki and Producer Antoun Sehnaoui. From Palestine, the members are Director Annemarie Jacir and Actress Hiam Abbas. The Tunisians on the panel are producers Dora Bouchoucha and Said Ben Said. Others include Algerian Actress Sofia Boutella, Syrian Director Feras Fayyad, Egyptian Director Mohamed Siam and Animator Yasser Hamed.

IN FIGURES

$25m

YouTube’s investment to support news organisations in building sustainable video operations Source: YouTube

PROnews

SMC's Pulse 95 deploys Lawo The Lawo installation at Pulse 95.

Sharjah Media Corporation’s (SMC) new Pulse 95 Radio station has made extensive use of mixing, routing and control systems from the German broadcast solutions provider Lawo.

The station is kitted out with a pair of Lawo systems comprising Ruby control surfaces with accompanying Power Core mixing engines and VisTool user interfaces.

The installation is an extension of an existing NOVA17 Mk.II router

already operated by SMC. Supporting from four to 60 faders and being AES67compliant, Ruby consoles offer AutoMix smart mixing and a context-sensitive GUI through VisTool.

While the physical mixing surface carries faders, source selectors, monitor controls, less frequently accessed features such as routing selections are available via context-sensitive multi-touch displays.

The Power Core engine supports hundreds of AES67 and MADI I/O channels, and can be expanded with plug-in cards to accommodate further digital and analogue sources.

It natively offers 96 DSP channels, multiple AutoMix groups, and a 1920 x 1920 internal routing matrix.

Taking to the airwaves in early May, Pulse 95 – which broadcasts across the UAE on 95.0 FM, and also through SMC's web and mobile app – offers a mix of news of the latest business and commercial developments from within the Emirate, accompanied by exclusive interviews, features, morning talks, evening segments, and a blend of music.

Pulse 95 Radio's goal is to be “a totally inclusive, fun, trusted, feel-good station, bringing the listeners positive, upbeat stories of real people”.

Ericsson Media Solutions rebrands as MediaKind The Dubai team at the global launch of MediaKind.

MediaKind, the new identity for Ericsson’s Media Solutions business, was unveiled globally last month through a series of events and a live global webcast from London. In Dubai, the event was watched by the company’s channel partners

as CEO Angel Ruiz elaborated on the vision of the new company, saying: “Our award-winning technologies, established industry heritage and forward-thinking experts equip organisations with the end-to-end technology solutions needed to embrace media of all kinds.”

The new company will bring together media technology providers, Aspex, Azuki Systems, Envivio, Fabrix, HyCGroup, Microsoft Mediaroom and Tandberg Television.

In January 2018, Ericsson had sold its majority stake in Media Solutions to US private equity firm One Equity Partners.

While Ericsson has retained 49% of the shares in Media Solutions, One Equity Partners joins as new majority owner.

Angelos Frangopoulos.

New CEO at Sky News Arabia Sky News Arabia has announced the appointment of Angelos Frangopoulos as CEO and Managing Editor. In his new role, Frangopoulos will be responsible for the company’s global programming operations for all its broadcast, digital and radio platforms.

Frangopoulos will join Sky News Arabia later in 2018.

Frangopoulos joins the company from his current leadership role as CEO and MD of Australian News Channel (ANC).

Abu Ayyash, who has been Acting Head of News since January 2018, was recently confirmed as Sky News Arabia’s Head of News and will manage all content production on Sky News Arabia’s TV, website and social media platforms, as well as Sky News radio broadcasting via internet and shortwave.

Commenting on the appointment, Sky Plc. Group COO and Board Member of Sky News Arabia, Andrew Grifith said: “With an extensive track record of expanding businesses, exceptional leadership and driving operational efficiency, we believe that Angelos is the right fit for Sky News Arabia."

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 9

PROnews

Saudi Format Lab launches to create local content with global appeal Dubai content developer, producer and distributor Arab Format Lab launched the Saudi Format Lab last month – an alliance between nine Saudi Arabiabased start-up media companies specialising in content creation and audiovisual production services.

Elaborating on the vision and mission, Khulud Abu Homos, CEO of Arab Format Lab, said: “We are teaming up with like-minded Saudi entrepreneurs to create local content with global appeal. Our mission is to create local Saudi content with positive social messages on an international level.”

Stressing that Arab content needs to travel internationally to expand audiences and improve ROI, Khulud added: “The Saudi Format Lab is an aggregation of

KSA comedians join Netflix’s global series Saudi Arabian comedians Ibraheem Alkhairallah and Moayad Alnefaie join fellow Arab performers Adi Khalefa (Palestine) and Rawsan Hallak (Jordan), as part of Netflix’s stand-up comedy series premiering in 2019. A total of 47 comedians from 13 regions will feature in the series.

The series (title to be announced) will tape in seven languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Dutch, German and English).

IN FIGURES

$351m SVOD revenues in Saudi Arabia by 2023 Source: Digital TV Research

Khulud Abu Homos, (fifth from left), CEO of Arab Format Lab with the crew of Red Band Society.

the nine best Saudi start-up media companies and professional young talents in Riyadh and Jeddah under one umbrella that covers key sectors of content development and audiovisual production. Our focus is on creating Saudi and Gulf-based content around women and youth.”

MBC picks up broadcasting and licensing rights for Wissper German media companies Studio 100 Media and m4e are joining forces with Dubai’s MBC Group for a deal that covers TV, digital media and consumer product rights for the CGI preschool series Wissper in MENA territories. MBC Group holds the basic cable and satellite free-TV rights, as well as nonexclusive worldwide basic cable and satellite freeTV rights limited to the Arabic dubbed version.

MBC Group will also be the exclusive licensing agent for Wissper in the MENA region.

10 | www.broadcastprome.com | August 2018

Earlier this year, Arab Format Lab produced an Arabic adaptation of Red Band Society, an American teen medical TV comedydrama. It partnered with DISCOP Dubai to unveil the Arab Format Accelerator, a pitching programme facilitating TV adaptation rights.

CNBC to open new studio with Nasdaq Dubai Business and financial news network CNBC announced the expansion of its Middle East operations with a new studio set to open in October at Nasdaq Dubai. The network will reportedly use the new base at

MarketSite, part of Nasdaq Dubai’s new offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). CNBC currently broadcasts its morning show, Capital Connection, from its headquarters at Abu Dhabi Global Market.

CNBC studios will open in Nasdaq's

DIFC office.

PROnews

La Perle upgrades with Bolero

Riedel has supplied a Bolero wireless system with a total of 30 beltpacks and four antennae.

Dubai-based show, La Perle

by Dragone, with more than 450 performances each year, at a purpose-built theatre in Al Habtoor City, has deployed a Bolero wireless system with a total of 30 beltpacks.

Commissioned in the first week of July 2018, the system was tested by the production team at La Perle for a period of six months.

Unveiled at the 2017 Prolight & Sound show, Bolero has been described as a game changer. It is an expandable, full-roaming, DECT-based intercom system in the license-free 1.9GHz frequency range.

The Bolero wireless system with a total of 30 beltpacks was commissioned in the first week of July 2018.

Speaking about the choice of Bolero for the iconic show, Dipesh Makwana, Regional Sales Manager, at

Riedel told BroadcastPro ME: “Around six months ago, the production team at La Perle invited us to do a live demo of our Bolero system. They were impressed with the coverage and audio quality. They then tested our system for a length of time and found that with just one antenna, the coverage for the entire theatre was more than enough.”

With a show that is known for acrobatic performances including performers diving into water from heights of 25 metres, safety was paramount, and the need was felt to upgrade the critical comms system. Apart from the performers and the lighting and sound crew, the show caller needs to be in constant touch with rigging and automation operators who are stationed on the catwalk and grid levels of the

theatre. Any effective comms system needed to overcome barriers of concrete and steel apart from demonstrating uniform audio quality in a challenging theatre environment with multiple reflective surfaces. The mandatory technical reports post every show flagged the comms system as one that needed to be looked into.

Competing systems were tested and it was found that the Bolero offered more coverage and better audio quality, Makwana said.

“The Bolero system uses the DECT-based frequency and is the only digital system in the market as of now. Most of the competition is still analogue where the audio quality diminishes when you get further away from the antenna," he commented.

“The antenna can be placed anywhere and generally has a line-ofsight coverage of 300 – 400 metres. We found that just one antenna offered enough coverage for the theatre.

The client has opted for four antennae to ensure complete redundancy in coverage ensuring that the green room, training spaces and other areas located in the basement levels of the theatre are also covered.”

Huawei announces music streaming service in MENA Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) has launched a music streaming service with no commercial interruptions across five markets in the Middle East including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan. More countries are gradually expected to be added to that list.

Huawei Music Service is an official free Music store pre-installed in

all Huawei devices with operating systems EMUI 5.0, 5.1, 8.0 and 8.1.

Huawei Music Service has partnered with Rotana, to offer music from singers such as Mohammad Abdo, Majid Al Muhandis, Elissa, Angham Wael Kfoury and Hatem Al Iraqi, among others. It has also partnered with content providers such as Qanawat and Mazzika.

Storytel Arabia has 600 audio Arabic titles The new regional platform for audiobooks, Storytel Arabia, has made more than 600 Arabic titles available in audio through the Storytel app, with more than 5,000 listening hours.

The company aims to launch at least one Arabic audiobook each day throughout the rest of 2018.

Hal Leonard to distribute Avid Pro Tools and Sibelius in EMEA Avid has announced that Hal Leonard will distribute its Pro Tools digital audio software and Sibelius music notation software to individual creatives, aspiring professionals and educational establishments through authorised resellers in EMEA territories.

Elaborating on the distributorship, Tom Cordiner, Senior VP of Global Sales at Avid, said: “Hal Leonard’s expertise in Avid solutions, combined with its extensive dealer network, will help the creative communities in EMEA to do their best possible work, and take advantage of our creative ecosystem to help advance their careers.”

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 11

PROnews

Arabian Radio Network unveils new hub, launches Chinese radio channel The Arabian Radio Network unveiled its new headquarters in Dubai Media City last month. The facility includes more than 41 multi-platform radio, production and visual studios.

ARN’s new operational hub in Dubai Media City is reportedly built for a multiplatform era, with more than 50 cameras capturing the on-air content.

The building houses 12 on-air studios and 28 digital production suites for audio and video production.

The new studios include more than 150 touchscreens and panels.

ARN broadcasts 185 news bulletins a day. The new ARN media hub unites its

A total of 185 news bulletins will be broadcast every day from ARN's new studio.

Arabic, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Farsi and Tagalog radio newsrooms through a dedicated multilingual news hub.

ARN's video production agency, Blaze, is also based in the new site. The facility

includes what the company claims is the world’s first Studer Glacier multi-studio installation and the largest Studer mixer and core installation in the Middle East.

In addition, ARN, in partnership with Hala China, a joint initiative between Meraas and Dubai Holding, has announced the launch of a new 24-hour radio station called 'The Sound of the Dubai Dragon', which will serve the resident Chinese population in the UAE. Translated from Mandarin, it will be available on all Android and iOS devices by downloading the Dubai Dragon app that will soon be integrated into ARN’s Apple TV application.

China Media Group and Equinix and Omantel CATV sign China Theatre partner to build new broadcasting agreement IBX data centre China Media Group and China Arab TV (CATV) signed the China Theatre Broadcasting Agreement in Dubai last month. China Theatre is a brand created by Central Radio and Television Station that works with the national television stations overseas.

According to the agreement, Chinese TV series Ode to Joy, Beijing Youth and Happy Life will be broadcast on Dubai’s CATV.

Emirati film to feature in six film festivals Emirati feature film Fan of Amoory will be the sole UAE representative in official competition at six international film festivals across Europe, North Africa and South Asia.

Image Nation poised to set up 24-hour Chinese TV channel Image Nation is looking to establish a 24hour Chinese television channel in the Middle East, in a bid to build on the success of its free-to-air Quest Arabiya channel, which has broadcast Chinese programmes once a week since early 2017. Chinese content on Quest Arabiya includes lifestyle and culture, and is dubbed into Arabic rather than subtitled. The channel will reportedly have its own brand.

12 | www.broadcastprome.com | August 2018

Equinix and Omantel have entered into a joint venture to deliver data centre and interconnection services to Middle East customers by developing a new network-dense data centre in Barka, Muscat.

Equinix will operate the new IBX data centre, which will include 18,600sqft of co-location space and approximately 750 cabinets at full build. The first phase of the threephase build will include 250 cabinets and is expected to be completed and open for business by Q2 2019.

IN FIGURES

20% KSA internet users on VPNs Source: GlobalWebIndex

PROnews

Qvest equips Jordan's Al Mamlaka TV Independent Media Station (IMS), the company that launched Al Mamlaka (‘the Kingdom’) TV in Jordan, collaborated with systems architect and ICT integrator Qvest Media, to design and build the required technical infrastructure.

The solutions offered included news production facilities, equipped with the latest technology solutions, to

enable Al Mamlaka TV to produce a 24/7 live feed for satellite, mobile, social media and online platforms.

Al Mamlaka started broadcasting last month. According to a statement, the news channel, based in King Hussein Business Park in Amman, will be an “advanced and qualitative leap with more freedom and professionalism”, compared to other Jordanian broadcasters. Under

OSN CEO to join IBC Leaders’ Forum; OSN’s Wavo joins Anghami with du’s new offer

Martin Stewart, CEO, OSN.

Martin Stewart, CEO of OSN, will be part of the IBC Leaders’ Forum as it returns to IBC on Thursday 13 September, at the RAI in Amsterdam.

Key speakers joining him on the panel at this year’s event include Erik Huggers, former CEO of Vevo; Anders Jensen, EVP and CEO of Nordic Entertainment at MTG; JB Perrette, President & CEO of

Discovery Networks International; and Lindsay Pattison, Group Transformation Officer of Group M & WPP. The Leaders’ Forum will examine where the next stage of growth will come from across the broadcast media ecosystem and explore the topics of consolidation, partnerships, industry disruption, innovative finance models and brand safety in the digital age.

In other news, a six-month free subscription to OSN’s SVOD service Wavo is part of du’s new data SIM offer, along with a 12-month free subscription to music platform Anghami.

the royal decree, journalist and political analyst Fahad al-Khitan was named Chairman of the station with Ayman Safadi, Marwan Jumaa, Nart Bouran and Bassem Tweisi as board members.

While Al Mamlaka will offer public service broadcasting, officials have said it will be fully independent from Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTVC).

Jordan’s Al-Futtaim and PVR cinema Roya TV JV to focus on UAE, KSA reports Dubai-based AlThe JV will reportedly Futtaim and Indiaintroduce a collection record based film exhibition of unique experiential Ramadan company, PVR cinema formats to Limited, have signed the region including, audiences Amman-based Roya TV network reported an 82% increase in online viewership by the end of Ramadan, with a total of 115m views.

The network reportedly used online platforms extensively during Ramadan, in addition to the linear TV platform, including YouTube, mobile apps and the channel’s official website, to live stream original shows.

Game show Ikhsar Wa Irba7 (Lose & Win), which allows viewers to compete for money, saw a surge of 142% in Android screen views.

an agreement to explore opportunities for jointly developing a cinema business in the MENA region.

PVR’s Director’s Cut, a format that blends the best in high-end hospitality and entertainment.

Saudi Broadcasting Corporation renamed The Saudi Broadcasting Corporation will now be called the Saudi Broadcasting Authority, according to its Board of Directors.

Speaking on the change, Executive

President Dawood Bin Abdulaziz Al-Shiryan said the abbreviation of the new name, SBA, is designed to remove confusion with the recently-launched Saudi Broadcasting Channel (SBC).

IN FIGURES

194m Number of 4K TVs in use by 2022 Source: ABI Research

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 13

PROCOVER

CREaTing SHoCk wavES in the middle east Raed Zidan entered the radio scene at a time when critics were questioning the industry’s future. The Chairman of Shock Middle East explains to Supriya Srinivas how his team leveraged radio’s unique role as a local medium while equipping the three stations of Dance 97.8, Heart 107.1 and Radio Hala 95.6 with the digital arsenal to overcome barriers of terrestrial borders and devices

The team at Shock Middle East in Dubai Media City had just launched their third station Radio Hala 95.6, dedicated to contemporary Arabic music, and the excitement was palpable as we walked in to ask Chairman and founder Raed Zidan his rationale for launching a third radio station in a year and a half since setting up office.

“We just launched Radio Hala and we received more than 5,000 SMS messages on day one around a launch promotion,” he tells us. “This is unheard of for a new station.”

In September 2016, businessman Raed Zidan launched Dance FM in Dubai for what seems like the best reason to set up a radio station. Among the 40 FM channels serving every viable audience segment in the UAE, there was no station dedicated to house, techno, trance and EDM. A lifelong passion for house music also helped. “I chased the music of Hardwell, Tiesto and Afrojack around the world,” he reveals to BroadcastPro ME.

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There are many stories you could choose to write about Raed Zidan — the serial entrepreneur with a real estate business; the first Palestinian to scale Mount Everest, and six other peaks around the globe; or the man who has discovered unique audiences in what we thought was a saturated UAE radio landscape.

In early 2016, Theo Makris, a British entrepreneur who had already launched a dance music radio station in the UK with radio expert Digby Taylor, ran some compelling ROI numbers by the Palestinian investor and real estate developer. A year into the launch of Dance 97.8, the radio station has more than 340,000 unique daily listeners, as per figures from market research company IPSOS. “It was a no-brainer then for us to launch two more FM channels,” says Zidan, seated in his busy office in Dubai Media City, that has now grown from three employees to 50.

“After we saw the success of Dance FM, we

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With global ambitions, Raed Zidan makes it clear that he does not want to be restricted to the UAE, with Dance FM reportedly being consumed in Canada, the US and across Europe.

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Actor and musician, Idris Elba, played an exclusive DJ set when he visited the studio, that is also featured on the channel’s social media platforms.

looked at the market again to see what else we could launch, because our intention from day one was to build a network and not just stop at one or two or three radio stations.

Considering our infrastructure and the staff we have, we focused on another English radio station. With Dance FM, we are targeting the 20- to 30-year-olds, and with Heart 107.1, our target demographic is 30 plus.”

After the launch of Heart 107.1 FM, a station of upbeat music from the 90s and noughties, Zidan’s team launched Radio Hala 95.6 in April 2018. Describing Radio Hala as “the only Arabic radio station to tune in and turn up the volume to in the UAE”, Zidan stresses that setting up the radio stations was not a leap of faith but a move based on credible numbers.

“One of the interesting statistics recently released by Nielsen, was that in terms of listening hours, Heart 107.1 clocked a little over four hours of listening time per day, which is amazing for a new English radio station.”

The figures are impressive, considering that it is a challenge for any radio station, especially a new one, to make an impression and change listening preferences. The team at Shock Middle East (SME) knew it would take more than just advertisements across nine bridges on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road and wrap

advertisements on buses and taxis, among other assets across the UAE. “We hired experienced presenters from large, well-known global stations,” explains Zidan. “The calibre of presenters coupled with music works incredibly well, and that’s what keeps audiences coming back. Not just our presenters, every person who has been hired has had extensive radio or media experience, some with 15 to 20 years of radio experience.”

Radio presenters on Heart 107.1 include two-time Radio Personality of the Year Dave Cleary and popular local presenter Fadi Mansour, among others.

Heart 107.1 is the exclusive radio channel for the Dubai Jazz Festival. Pictured here are presenters (from left) Jade Worsley (Dance FM), Tim Hartmen, Rick Martin & Sheron Nanayakkara (Heart FM).

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Beyond the acquisition of licences and FM frequencies and the recruiting of experienced onair talent, Zidan stresses that the music played is curated with care.

“Listeners do not want music repeated 50 times a day or music that plays on every other radio station.

Our music committee is amazing at choosing the right music for the right audience for each station.

We choose our music in-house; we do not buy ready-made lists.”

The modus operandi for launching radio stations then seems clear – find a gap in the existing radio offering, move quickly to create a brand and put together an appealing group of on-air talent. Radio expert Digby Taylor and Head of Programming at Shock Middle East, explains that radio is categorised into formatics. Heart 107.1, for instance, is defined as ‘Hot AC’ or ‘Hot Adult Contemporary’ and has captured an underserved demographic.

While terrestrial radio has undeniable advantages in terms of the medium’s reach, habitual listenership, local presence and brands, analysts have urged the industry to invest in compelling digital services or face obsolescence. Taylor recognises that

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the radio industry can no longer wait out the digital disruption.

He says: “We did not build the studios for just 2016, 2017 and 2018. We built them anticipating developments for the next five years. We invested heavily from day one, not just in the studio but even with the tower in changing the panels on the antenna to ensure better reception. We have a skilled team of engineers, one of whom specialises in transmission towers and infrastructure. We constantly monitor our frequencies and carry out RF surveys on a monthly basis to see if there are areas in the TX footprint that need attention. This can naturally be a challenge, but we have great cooperation from the licensor and their own engineering team.”

Taylor reiterates what we have known for some years: radio is no longer just the spoken word. Giving an overview of the technology deployed, he says: “We have installed the latest camera technology in the studios, with cameras attached to every microphone. In the Dance studio, we have the Axia Fusion Desk, which is a fantastic state-of-the-art desk. We have the Axia iQ desk in the Heart FM studio. Panasonic HD cameras are installed in the main studio as well as in the Heart FM studio. We are hopefully building a third on-air studio, which will have the next generation of Axia desks. And we are not standing still. We visit broadcast shows such as CABSAT to keep looking for cutting-edge technology.”

The fact that the Shock Middle East studios are IP-enabled will be music to the ears of IP proponents in the broadcast industry. “There are no audio cables in the building,” says Taylor. “It is all IP audio. I am proud to say we have the best IP audio engineering team in the country. Also, all our telephony is IP-based as well.”

To the inevitable question on the imminent digital tsunami threatening traditional radio, both Zidan and Taylor outline how they

Radio expert Digby Taylor and Head of Programming at Shock Middle East, recognises that the radio industry can no longer wait out the digital disruption.

“We did not build the studios for just 2016, 2017 and 2018. We built them anticipating developments for the next five years” Digby Taylor, Head of Programming, Shock Middle East are proactively taking the battle to the digital territory. The Dance FM app has four digital stations that can be downloaded globally, as does Heart FM. With Radio Hala, the digital medium allows them to tap into lucrative regional markets such as Saudi Arabia. In terms of global ambitions, Zidan makes it clear that he does not want to be restricted to the UAE, with Dance FM reportedly being consumed in Canada, the US and across Europe.

On the challenges around licensing, Zidan says: “It’s only a challenge in that music licensing is in its infancy in the UAE. Shock Middle East has, from the outset, made a point of being fully licensed by the major record companies. Our licensing is worldwide. As a business, we felt it necessary to have full coverage and not to be geo-blocked.”

Analysts predict that by 2020, an estimated 75% of new cars will be

connected to digital services, denting radio’s monopoly on the car dashboard and relegating AM/FM to just one of a series of audio options behind the wheel. This does not faze Zidan.

“Our studios are ready for the digital age, and if digital radio kicks in, we are prepared. The way people consume radio is very different from 10 years ago or even five years ago.

The latest audience surveys tell us that 44% of radio is consumed on devices. The convergence of media is critical to our business model.”

Even as radio broadcasters increasingly stream content over the internet and experiment with new formats such as podcasts and video, Zidan believes traditional radio, as a more personal medium than TV, will retain its place. The human connection is vital, he stresses. Computer algorithms that select songs on iTunes Radio and Spotify are no match for expertcurated songs and presenters with engaging on-air conversation around local and international news.

“People don’t just want playlists. Our presenters know the communities they are addressing, and they make the difference.”

Zidan has multiple measures to gauge the success of his radio venture, but the most critical gauge, apart from encouraging numbers from IPSOS and Nielsen, is the fact that Shock Middle East has not lost a single advertiser.

“In fact,” he says, “they have all returned, testifying to the fact that their campaigns on our station have made an impact.”

Zidan’s work days are divided between the two unlikely fields of radio and real estate. That the businesses are around eight hours apart in Dubai and the US helps. Every bit the hands-on manager, he admits that real estate is a more predictable business. However, despite the dearth of historical data, current indications allow him to say the radio business will be more lucrative in the long run. His optimism is not misplaced,

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Zidan has ensured that Shock Middle East consolidates its engagement with listeners with an in-house production facility, bespoke retail radio solutions and strategic partnerships with live events.

considering a staggering 93% of the UAE’s estimated 9.2 million people tune in to radio daily according to Nielsen. Leaving nothing to chance, Zidan has ensured that Shock Middle East consolidates its engagement with its growing number of listeners with an inhouse production facility, bespoke retail radio solutions and strategic partnerships with live events.

Knowing a dull commercial can have listeners tuning out, Shock Middle East has an inhouse production facility. Zidan explains: “From day one, we have been producing advertisements in-house. We got lucky because we have, in our team, some wellknown voice-over producers.”

Another key revenue earner has been retail radio, a concept tested in select malls and outlets in the UAE since 2003. Zidan explains the strategy: “There are round 60 Spinneys outlets in the UAE. The music you hear has been curated by us and branded as Spinneys Radio. We keep it fresh and updated. We also create promotional advertisements for them around specific products or events.”

There is an air of ‘anything can

“People don’t just want playlists. Our presenters know the communities they are addressing, and they make the difference” Raed Zidan, CEo and founder, Shock Middle East be done’ in the Shock Middle East studios, which possibly reflects the resilience of radio in the digital era, even while linear TV is floundering. When Radio Jockey Reine Abour Jeily offers fashion tips and sports updates between upbeat contemporary Arabic music on her Radio Hala show Dardasha, it helps that the Blackmagic camera attached to the microphone activates as soon as she starts speaking.

30-second segments of the show are then seamlessly broadcast on the station’s social media accounts.

While the American-Arab duo of Tim and Faris exchange witty repartee on Heart’s Breakfast Show, listeners also get a chance to chat with guests such as John Legend, Ricky Martin or any of the stellar artists who have stopped by the studio in the past on their way to

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play at the Dubai Jazz Festival.

Pioneering exclusive partnerships with iconic events in the Shock Middle East stable of radio channels, the Dance 97.8 team recently broadcast live from Tomorrowland, one of the biggest electric dance music festivals in the world.

Like his peers, Raed Zidan understands that radio in the digital age is about watching, interacting and sharing, as well as listening.

What he has done particularly well is identify and address lucrative gaps in the radio offering in the region.

Is he done, we ask, given how crowded the UAE radio landscape is?

“Crowded? Not really. New Zealand has roughly 4.5 million people and they have 350 radio stations. For 10 to 12 million people, we have around 40 radio stations.

In reality, the GCC market is one of the least crowded markets in the world.” Clearly, Shock ME has more radio stations in its sights.

Zidan is already expanding the radio business to incorporate events.

“We have now opened Shock ME Events, and we will be bringing in a couple of big acts towards the end of this year. We are, after all in the business of entertainment.”

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PROPRODUCTION

HoMe groWn In DuBaI, en route to Hollywood

With his second film, Dubai-based filmmaker Jac Mulder wants to make a mark in Hollywood. The veteran carries the hopes of a legion of supporters. In conversation with BroadcastPro ME, Mulder recalls the tumultuous days of conceptualising, writing and filming Twisted Blues “You want to be a good director? Make sure you know everyone’s job,” was a piece of advice Dubai-based South African director Jac Mulder received in early 2000 as a twenty-something with dreams of making it as an animation specialist in the emirate.

His 2014 release Bordering on Bad Behaviour won laughs and laurels at festivals across the US, defining the audience and genre for his to-be-released film Twisted Blues. But making a film, even with an award-winning debut, is not free from perils, especially in a region that has every facility for the big-budget Hollywood and Bollywood projects, but very little institutional support for the resident filmmaker.

“Besides operating a camera and editing, including colour grading, I’ve also trained myself in makeup, wardrobe and music composition. I made it my business to learn every aspect of filmmaking. I started with animation, editing and visual effects, but I continued to study everything from compositing to graphic design. I have studied over the years in Los Angeles, France, Australia, South Africa ... both offline and online courses – wherever I could learn.”

The depth in Mulder’s range of expertise was critical to the making of Twisted Blues. The skills came of use when writing and developing the script, on the day he had to stand in for the DoP and, most importantly, during the months he had to spend editing the film. And every day on the 21-day shoot in June 2018, Mulder ensured that precious time was saved on the need to colour grade during post-production.

“Everything is shot so beautifully, I did not have to grade it. I shot it on my RED EPIC-W Helium 8K with Xeen lenses,

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among others, with the intention of doing minimal grading. I like to do my colour correction on the monitor on the day of the shoot. I know what time of day it is, am very specific about the look and feel I want to convey, and I pre-grade before I edit.

“Everything was done on Adobe Premier Pro, with grading sorted on DaVinci Resolve. As the crew would set up the next shot, I would grade in the interim period. It would take me five minutes and eventually ended up saving me five hours of work in post. Also, I chose the EPIC camera for a reason. You have so much more latitude. I can control my blacks, highlights, roll-off, skin tones, and changing of filters is made seamless.”

Browse through Mulder’s work, including his TVCs from the early 2000s, and you get a glimpse of his approach to every frame.

He elaborates: “From camera positions to the script, I consciously stay away from cliché and the mundane.

With an explosion, you do not always have to show the bomb blast. I want to see what happens to a person’s face, the cigarette he is smoking, what happens to the people in the room, the glass flying, and so on.”

The writing for Twisted Blues began in early 2016 with Eric Berg as scriptwriter. The idea came to Mulder two years ago, during an “inspirational conversation” he had with Vox Cinemas. He was reportedly asked to base a film in Dubai and portray believable expatriate characters.

“They gave me a series of challenges. The film must be quirky and relevant to the UAE. And as I sat listening, a line came up in my head – you tend to bruise less when you force them to miss.”

The single line brought together a woman protagonist – an American in Dubai – and the unlikely sport of mixed martial

PROPRODUCTION

Lending international flavour to Twisted Blues are some easily recognisable faces such as The Scientist’s Brittany Benjamin (seated right), LBJ’s Brent Bailey (top right) and Grey’s Anatomy star Josh Crotty (top left), pictured here with Director Jac Mulder.

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PROPRODUCTION

arts (MMA). It also explains the black eye he was sporting during our interview. But more on that later.

Mulder explains the journey.

“MMA is a big draw nowadays. I discovered the sport as I was filming an MMA event on the request of a friend, who was a judge at the event. I walked in there and looked around – seven out of the 10 present there were women.

And when the guys were getting their faces punched in, the women jumped on the tables with enthusiasm. After overcoming my initial mortification, I realised the subject matter appeals to both target audiences.”

During the 18 months it took for the script to be fleshed out, Mulder had a qualified friend to operate as a sounding board and script doctor, all rolled into one.

“A women-centric film is not easy to write or direct. My script doctor Eric Berg, who is a nephew of actor Nick Nolte, was incredible in terms of helping me through the process.There are seven twists in the story, and the blues are the bruises; hence the title Twisted Blues. The challenge was MMA, a subject I

“A women-centric film is not easy to write or direct. My script doctor Eric Berg, who is a nephew of actor Nick Nolte, was incredible in terms of helping me through the process” Jac Mulder, Director, Twisted Blues barely knew, but I have friends who are heavily involved in the sport.

“This is a woman-centric film, and the UAE is quite interesting when it comes to newcomers who do not know all the unwritten rules. My story is about a woman who comes to the UAE and ends up in some trouble. While creating the structure and character arcs, I was conscious of the comedy element. People have enough drama in their real lives.”

Dubai’s starring role was not just a logistical decision, Mulder stresses.

“I have lived in the Middle East more than anywhere else in the world. Literally, my whole adult life has been spent here. I have become patriotic towards this region.”

Set to be released in September, the movie combines comedy, romance and action as the story of Mia (Brittany Benjamin) unfolds.

She is an expatriate artist who rides a motorcycle and keeps to herself. At the advice of her best friend Johnny (Brent Bailey), she turns to MMA to protect herself but comes faceto-face with fighter Frankie (Josh Crotty), who refuses to train women.

He immediately squashes any suggestion of being inspired by Fight Club or Million Dollar Baby. From the setting of the film to the protagonist’s journey through domestic violence and finally the comedy elevating the serious underlying issues, Twisted Blues is unique, says Mulder.

The biggest hurdle for any filmmaker, especially expatriate filmmakers in the UAE, was yet to be crossed: financing. The man with the chequebook who believed in Jac’s vision was Dubai-based businessman Kish Pagarani. He is also the Executive Producer of Twisted Blues.

Speaking to The National while Twisted Blues was undergoing preproduction, Pagarani said: “I really

"My story is about a woman who comes to the UAE and ends up in some trouble. While creating the structure and character arcs, I was conscious of the comedy element. People have enough drama in their real lives," says Jac Mulder.

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PROPRODUCTION

Professional fighters helped Mulder guide the actors through their fight scenes. They included Rim al Jabi, a professional MMA fighter who trained the lead actress "to throw a punch" among other MMA moves.

think this can go all the way and make a big impression in Hollywood as well as locally. I believe this film has all the ingredients. We have a great story, a good script and wonderful actors.”

Lending international flavour are some easily recognisable faces such as The Scientist’s Brittany Benjamin, LBJ’s Brent Bailey and Grey’s Anatomy star Josh Crotty.

Instagram also played a critical role in helping Mulder cast a global net to unearth talent, including a makeup artist from South America and lead actress Brittany.

Recounting the moment of 'discovering' her, Mulder says: “I had already sent the script to six or seven actresses. One of them responded within hours that she wanted to do what she described as a dream role. The enthusiasm was a great endorsement of the project, but it was when I was looking randomly at an Instagram account and I scrolled down to an image of this girl who gets up and goes at a punching bag, that I knew I had found my Mia. I liked the way she looked. She had a little ditsy air, which was perfect. The kind of character I imagined. It is easier to recognise a character than find a character.”

All film projects, big and small, are leaps of faith. With Twisted Blues, Mulder is attempting to become one of the first local directors to break into Hollywood – “aiming for the moon”, in his words.

Offering a critical vote of confidence in Mulder’s abilities is Assistant Director Chris Roland, whose work includes Hotel Rwanda. He also worked on Bordering on Bad Behaviour.

“I came here because I believe in this guy. I produced his first film and it’s actually one of my favourite films I’ve ever worked on,” Roland said about Mulder in an earlier interview.

Help also came from unlikely sources. Luxury hotel Palazzo Versace in Dubai offered free accommodation for the entire cast, and certain crew members offered to work at nominal rates. The National Media Council helped approve the script in record time, Triumph supplied “a really beautiful” motorbike and Sony helped with phones and electricals.

Mulder also makes a special mention of the police: “During the shoot, the Dubai police went out of their way to be supportive. They turned up on set on time, coordinated traffic during the numerous driving scenes and

“I shot the film on my RED EPIC-W Helium 8K with Xeen lenses, with the intention of doing minimal grading. I like to do my colour correction on the monitor on the day of the shoot” Jac Mulder, Director, Twisted Blues

even helped drive the cars at times.”

Platform Gym provided space for the shoot, and six professionals from Al Quoz helped Mulder guide the actors through their fight scenes. They included Rim al Jabi, a professional MMA fighter. Acknowledging her help in the making of the film, Mulder recalls: “I needed a female to train my lead actress. Brittany only knew yoga and had no idea how to throw a punch. Rim had just two and a half weeks in which to train her. There were times when the actors would balk at throwing punches and I would stand in and ask Rim to punch me.

It was all very intense but fun.”

Rim, until now a silent spectator at the interview, interjects: “I remember the moment well. Jac stepped up and said punch me or elbow me and I will show them how to do it. We demonstrated it, but the fact that he made me elbow him in the head; that killed me. That was the most difficult part for me.”

Support from close friends has clearly motivated Mulder to move the project along, despite the challenges of handling more than 50 crew members at a time.

“The belief from the few that stood by me during these months, my investor and scriptwriter among other core crew members, has helped me immensely. I am looking forward to the global release of the film.”

In a notable scene, Mia inspires her child (played by Mulder’s sixyear-old daughter). “I’m learning how to fight, Mum, to protect you from Daddy,” the little girl says.

The movie tackles weighty issues of domestic violence but the message is uplifting, Mulder insists. Revealing that he and several crew members have taken to MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai – accounting for the black eye – he believes the movie will inspire with its larger message of fighting back.

“Domestic violence is rife globally, and the theme of empowerment that this movie conveys should inspire the audience.”

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PROTECH

Big data groWs in stature in the iP age With a bottom-up approach, beginning with the end user and working up to the headend, the media industry can reduce abandonment, increase engagement, improve repeat viewership and protect brands, writes Ted Korte of Qligent

The phrase ‘content is king’ can no longer stand on its own. With the expansion of digital media and IP-based channels, the world is becoming a smaller place as consumers now have access to content across the globe.

The growing availability of these services and faster broadband access have combined with advances in smart devices to empower consumers and have shifted control of the media landscape from content providers to end users.

If great content is all it takes to be successful, why are so many end users still cutting the cord? Having great content is only part of the competitive battle for

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providers these days, as price, accessibility, relevance, personalisation, quality and choice have all become critical factors in keeping viewers engaged.

Quality is one of the most crucial elements in retaining viewers; even the best content can be beaten in audience views by an amateur’s cat video if service availability is limited or if buffer times, dropouts or blocky video are too excessive. A study by Akamai discovered that viewers will start abandoning a video if it takes longer than two seconds to begin playing, with another six percent leaving after every additional one second of delay. Meanwhile, an nScreenMedia

PROTECH

“Once multi-layer, last-mile and end-user monitoring and analysis are in place, instead of seeing demographics, genders and households, providers will start seeing individuals emerge” ted Korte, Coo, Qligent use of real-time big data analytics on a combination of last-mile and end-user data can deliver valuable insights into consumer quality of experience and user behaviour.

poll uncovered that delivering better video quality has the biggest impact on the business of an online video service provider (OVSP).

As the path from content creator to viewer has grown in complexity, consumer satisfaction has become increasingly difficult to capture and maintain, thus forcing a new approach to assure high-quality content delivery. The

Why is quality suffering?

The push for more content and online delivery has resulted in a huge degradation in the quality of media service delivery across all platforms, new and old. New technical problems that didn’t exist before were introduced as early as the analogue-to-digital transition. Broadband network distribution brought its own set of new problems with buffering, jitter and latency among the issues related to delivery over an unmanaged, packet-switched network. Additional technical problems will continue to arise as more insertion and embedding functions are pushed closer to the end user. Even measuring consumer satisfaction has changed since the analogue TV days – instead of calling in complaints, consumers go straight to social media or simply walk away silently.

Meanwhile, content providers’ resources are more strained than ever before. More investment is made in front-end content creation, new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and social media integrations than in delivery considerations. Even non-content projects such as IP studio buildouts and workflow virtualisation are

competing for scarce resources.

To combat resource shortages, some media companies outsource major workflow functions such as master control operations to third parties, which raises new problems to contend with in managing the end-to-end content chain.

Analysing content delivery The traditional approach to monitoring content delivery has been a top-down approach.

This process evolved from supporting a linear broadcast model, was deployed when purpose-built hardware was popular, and was mainly focused on infrastructure health.

This legacy model for monitoring has a number of deficiencies when applied to today’s modern media delivery challenges, including limited visibility (blind spots), inability to reach out to the last mile or end user, and limited depth (quality of service – QoS – only, not quality of experience). With respect to customer impact, it can also only report mean estimations, not data about individuals.

This top-down hierarchical tree approach follows the distribution and delivery network itself, but falls apart if the network isn’t fully managed end-to-end. The new IP-based, non-linear, one-to-one model for monitoring must embrace a completely new interactive paradigm shift. It should start with a bottom-up approach, beginning with the end user and working up to the headend or origination point.

Broadband delivery offers an affordable loop-back channel to aggregate quality and behaviour statistics from every subscriber.

Cost-effective software agents can sit on set-top boxes or in apps that present the media to the end user, and capture stream quality and user interaction data.

This data set is large, fast-moving and uncontrolled as users come

July 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 25

PROTECH

Programme error chart

and go for various reasons, but can be analysed together with controlled last-mile data, consumer device info, link health, stream quality, problem reports, customer experience management (CEM), user feedback and a variety of other data sets to extract a holistic view.

Once multi-layer, last-mile and end-user monitoring and analysis are in place, instead of seeing demographics, genders and households, providers will start seeing individuals emerge.

Where does big data fit?

This new approach to delivery and consumption analysis allows precise measuring of quality characteristics on a per-user basis in real time, instead of traditional mean user quality metrics based on large network segments representing a huge population. This is very important today, as individuals can make enough noise on social media to affect companies. The goal now is to make everyone happy, not just the majority.

Interactivity introduces a user-centric view where data flows from subscriber end-points towards the monitoring centre, where it is enriched, validated or otherwise explained by other data sets. Finally, we see the consumption preferences, quality metrics and behaviour habits as users react, interact and engage with the content. By performing these analyses in real time with the ability to focus on specific customers, immediate action can be taken whenever problems occur.

Big data technology empowers analysis like never before, making it possible to augment, blend, enrich, exclude, filter and associate data across endless data pools, lakes and oceans. This enables us to search, trend, visualise, automate, recommend, alert, predict and prevent at enormous scale.

Four common goals of

Video buffering: 84% Audio out of sync: 69% Blurry/ pixelation: 60% Slow start/ stops mid-play: 32% Hand waving latency: 26% Other: 3% big data in the media and entertainment industry are to reduce abandonment, increase engagement, improve repeat viewership and protect brands.

Knowing the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) in a controlled manner are foundational for measuring any of the other attributes of the enduser experience. Before audience measurement makes any sense at all, we need to know if the audience is actually receiving a high-quality content experience as it was intended to be consumed.

Big data is the solution most are looking to, but like any new technology it has its pros and cons, and it is very important during planning to mitigate the risks.

The good news is that such solutions are already used successfully in many other industries and business sectors such as retail, cellular networks, finance and banking. The big data technology stack includes methods and algorithms for aggregating, processing and storing of petabytes of structured

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or non-structured data, parallel processing, machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques, and it can be leveraged by the media and entertainment industry.

To minimise uncertainty in collected data, it has become best practice to combine multiple data points with known reference or control points that help to augment, enrich and validate information.

This is why monitoring the last mile, or consumer environment, comes into the mix with end-user analysis: to remove the human element from the equation. Without last mile data, it is not known if end-user feedback can be completely trusted.

As power in the media landscape has shifted to end users and content quality has taken a back seat to quantity, ‘content is king’ will only apply again when big data says it does. Until then, the emperor has no clothes.

With the advent of big data, media companies can now understand why customers subscribe and unsubscribe, what kind of programmes they like and dislike, when they like to watch certain content, and their tolerance for poor audio and video quality. Supplementing big data with data augmentation mitigates the risk of poor data, empowered by a new bottom-up approach to monitoring end-to-end media path, as controlled data collection sources to correlate with uncontrolled data from end-user probes.

ted Korte is Coo at Qligent.

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PROINTERVIEW

ENgINEErINg live formats for ott Live OTT with undetectable latency disrupts traditional consumption of content and opens new possibilities for advertisers and content owners.

Divyesh Mahajan, CEO of Swoo speaks to BroadcastPro ME about engineering such a live online platform and gaining critical traction with audiences across MENA and India

In the MENA region’s fragmented SVOD and OTT landscape, content alone is not king. Exclusive content, preferably in Arabic, would rule, but at under $10 per subscription, OTT revenue models are at best precarious. Divyesh Mahajan, CEO of Swoo, decided to go one step further than just provide Swoo, a platform for content creators. With the Swoo Trivia Show, he has stepped into the technically challenging arena of live online streaming ... with live audience interaction.

An anchor takes the viewers who tune in to the Swoo Trivia Show MENA on the Swoo app through a rapid-fire quiz on topics ranging from the FIFA World Cup to general knowlegerelated questions. Participants are given 10 seconds to lock in their responses. Those who successfully tackle the 10 rounds of questions are eligible to share the prize money.

Six months since the launch of Swoo, a platform for content creators, and the Swoo Trivia Show, we ask Mahajan about the technical challenges, audience engagement and plans to monetise the self-described “disruptive” online format.

You launched Swoo in November 2017. What was the vision behind the platform?

Swoo is looking to disrupt the way social media and broadcasts are put together currently. We would like to focus on social entertainment using live streaming formats. Our aim is to engage with influencers and establish a connection with audiences in India and the MENA region – be it students, young working professionals or mothers across different

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parts of MENA and India – and encourage them to participate in the Swoo Trivia Show to earn money. It was only in November last year that we launched the platform. During this time, we have seen around six million downloads.

You have maintained what you describe as a “narrow laser focus on the live format”. What is the Swoo Trivia Show?

The Swoo Trivia show is a live video streaming game hosted at a specified, pre-defined time with 10 multiple choice questions. Online participants have to answer each question in 10 seconds. Prize money worth thousands is awarded to the winning participants, redeemable through money wallet apps like Paytm and Paypal.

With a growing viewership for each episode of the MENA edition of the trivia show, there is clearly an audience for the live online format. Why did you choose to focus on the live format?

We have always aspired to operate in that intersection between traditional TV and the element of live interaction that the online space offers. I have always related to how TV works. There was a time in the 2000s that we would watch TV series at a particular time, and if you missed the show, that was that. There is, of course, a unique set of challenges with a live online audience, but we have been able to gain traction both in India and Egypt.

There is an operational aspect to producing the show, apart from the technological challenges. For instance, the

PROINTERVIEW

“Swoo is looking to disrupt the way social media and broadcasts are put together currently” Divyesh Mahajan, Chief Executive Officer, Swoo

Mahajan outlines the unique set of challenges around catering to a live, online audience with real-time, two-way interactivity, but he says the newly-launched platform has been able to gain traction both in India and Egypt.

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 29

PROINTERVIEW

host needs to know what the next question is; someone needs to fire that question. There is an element of coordination between multiple parties and that question lasts on the user’s stream for 10 seconds.

In that span of time, responses are gathered, the host gets the summary in real time and communicates the same to the participants in terms of how many got the question wrong, etc. All these elements have to come together with minimal latency.

Traditional OTT platforms typically adapt to each user’s connection by creating variable delay, ranging from seconds to minutes. While that should not pose an issue for watching one’s favourite serial on VOD, live content streaming cannot endure delays. What were the technical challenges in setting up the live streaming platform?

Sending a live feed from one mobile to another is a complicated engineering feat, and on top of that a business model has to be created. The synchronised live OTT format that the Swoo Trivia show is, complete with interaction from the audience, demands considerable technical work. Given that we do not have too much control over infrastructure in India and Egypt, we had to figure out ways to send out data packets in a timely manner and maintain user experience despite losses in the data packets.

We have relied on software to navigate through the challenges.

Egyptian anchor of the live online quiz show, Swoo Trivia MENA, Mohamad Badr.

“[For the live online format], we had to figure out ways to send out data packets in a timely manner and maintain user experience despite losses in the data packets” Divyesh Mahajan, Chief Executive Officer, Swoo Working with proprietary engineering solutions, we needed to get the OTT video platform delivering frame-accurate video and audio synchronisation across any device. There is no fixed recipe that works. Egypt has a different infrastructure than India. Also, from Egypt we are telecasting to the GCC including Algeria and Morocco.

A 100% solution does not exist, but there can be a 100% management of challenges. We have done a lot of work in the open source space, which forms the basis of what we want to build, refine and present as a go-to-market strategy.

With an OTT market looking for differentiation, it is easy to see the commercial appeal of a live platform such as Swoo Trivia. Will you be monetising the platform soon?

Commercial engagement is in our roadmap. Given that our trivia formats attract a certain income demographic, we believe brands would find it appealing and monetisation will follow naturally.

However, at present, our focus is on building all-important traction to attract regular participants.

Eventually, we will look to have different monetising strategies like social gifting, e-commerce, advertisements and product placement, among other options.

Apart from the live format, the Swoo platfom hosts more 100 broadcasters across the MENA region. What are your plans going forward?

Typically, our content creators in MENA come from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria, among other countries. Going forward, we will be creating formats to allow our content creators, such as doctors and other experts, to interact privately with their clients with an element of monetisation and moderation built into it.

The engineering behind the Swoo platform explained Mahajan explains: “Swoo is a live streaming app with unique features such as broadcasting a conference (with multiple broadcasters). The user can watch, interact and comment on both live and recorded videos.

“The Swoo app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. We use highly scalable, low latency CDN servers to provide the best live experience.

“We follow MVVM architecture on both Android and iOS. We also follow the latest Google and Apple guidelines for writing any new modules (such as using Kotlin and Swift).

“Swoo also hosts multiple live games that require highly scalable and efficient systems to manage thousands of simultaneous players. Our backend tech stack is mainly in JAVA and we follow micro-service architecture.”

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IBC EXHIBITION RAI, AMSTERDAM | 14-18 SEPTEMBER

WHERE PEOPLE CONNECT AND IDEAS EMERGE

Register for your free pass today show.ibc.org

PROCOnneCTeChAsiA

The exhibition floor and accompanying summit at the inaugural technology event covered innovations in cloud, blockchain, AI, VR/AR, IoT, robotics, 5G, IP broadcasting, OTT and smart cities, among others.

ConneCTeChAsiA 2018 CreATes iMpACTfUl debUT

Under the new brand, ConnecTechAsia showcased the convergence of the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) industries to more than 40,000 attendees from 96 countries and regions The rains arrived, as they do in Singapore, but that did not seem to dampen the spirits of more than 1,800 exhibitors at ConnecTechAsia, the new technology event comprising CommunicAsia, BroadcastAsia and the inaugural NXTAsia held at Marina Bay Sands and Suntec Singapore. The event drew close to 40,000 attendees from 96 countries or regions. The exhibition floor and accompanying summit at the inaugural technology event covered innovations in cloud, blockchain, AI, VR/AR, IoT, robotics, 5G, IP broadcasting, OTT and smart cities, among others.

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Underscoring the convergence of the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) industries in an evolving business landscape, Victor Wong, Event Director for ConnecTechAsia, UBM, said: “We are pleased to hold the first edition of ConnecTechAsia, which has a renewed format for a more immersive experience with insightful sessions and displays for our attendees that reflect the latest industry trends and technologies.�

The busy exhibition floor saw more than 900 product launches and several Asia-specific launches.

PROCOnneCTeChAsiA Overheard at ConnecTechAsia 2018

AsiaSat, a satellite operator in Asia, announced its collaboration with KBZ to provide OTT satellite video service in Myanmar, enabling audiences across the country to view video content and TV programmes wherever they are.

Speaking to BroadcastPro ME about the areas of infocommunications, broadcasting and emerging technologies that the event covered, Calvin Koh, Assistant Project Director for ConnecTechAsia, said: “The new umbrella event mirrors the fast-changing digital and business landscape in Asia.”

With the industry lauding the quality of conferences the organisers have put together each year, Koh revealed that for the 2018 edition, increased efforts were made to enhance the conference experience.

“The conferences are among the many platforms we created for the industry to share their knowhow and expertise and make the show experience more meaningful for both the exhibitors and visitors alike.”

The conferences at BroadcastAsia addressed a slew of relevant issues – 4K/UHD, OTT, monetisation on different platforms, live streaming and AI in broadcasting, among other topical themes. Among the unique panel discussions was one dedicated to women in broadcasting as they negotiated the glass ceiling in the industry.

Among the conversations we had with exhibitors, Somu Patil, VP, APAC Sales for Grass Valley, highlighted the expanding opportunities in the region.

“We see a lot of growth potential in the APAC region, with a number of greenfield projects where deploying newer technologies is facilitated. We see major trends in 4K and HDR in countries such as China, Malaysia and Australia, among others, where there is

“We see major trends in 4K and HDR in countries such as China, Malaysia and Australia” somu patil, Vp & ApAC sales, Grass Valley

“Broadcasters can use AI to identify newsworthy events trending on social media” Kenjiro Murakami, founder and CeO, spectee

“We are planning to expand our tech support team in the Middle East” stuart russell, Marketing Manager eMeA, ross Video

focus on live production. Since we are now a glass-to-glass service provider, we are in a good position to help customers achieve those objectives. The way the market is evolving, we see our customers as technology partners.

We work from inception to the deployment of the projects.”

The ongoing FIFA World Cup was never far away in any discussion, and Eric Benetiere, VP Marketing & Sales for Francebased forensic watermarking specialist, Content Armor, underscored the increased demand for technologies to combat piracy.

He said: “We have solutions to deter piracy for premium video content either VOD or live sports. We insert our unique watermark IDs directly in the compressed domain. We don’t need to decode the video and reencode afterwards. This solution therefore costs less to deploy in an OTT distribution model.”

It was evident that exhibitors had brought enough wow factor to remind us that ultimately the industry is about creating engaging content. Apart from flair bartending and dazzling sets at the Panasonic, Sony and Blackmagic stands, the 3D visuals floating in mid-air at the Kino-mo stand were a case in point.

Fresh from signing contracts with end-users in Vietnam, Vadzim Tsitou, Partner for Asia for Kinomo’s Hypervsn solution, explained how the hologram-like images are useful for the broadcast industry beyond the obvious appeal to the retail industry. He said: “This device can be used everywhere and can be connected via the internet with a special cloud-based platform and you can broadcast remotely.”

With traditional newsrooms needing easy access to topics trending on social media and other sources, Kenziro Murakami, founder and CEO of Japanese firm Spectee, explained how the company is able

August 2018 | www.broadcastprome.com | 33

PROCOnneCTeChAsiA

to use AI to reduce the time taken to analyse and sort social media news content, giving newsrooms faster access to the very latest in user-generated videos.

Just as we were wrapping our heads around artificial intelligence detecting a fire in Mumbai or a crowd gathering in Poland, as they trended on social media, the team at Prague-based Suitest reminded us of the importance of customer experience. Co-founder and CSO Mirko Nedeljkovic explained how his solutions run automated end-to-end test scenarios for OTT platforms on a smart TV, Android TV, Apple TV, set-top box or Xbox One. He said: “For broadcasters, testing is important because there are many manufacturers of devices and applications that are based

on the HbbTV protocol, don’t behave the same on each device.

So it is important to test each OTT application on every device in the market. Mere simulation is not good enough – you need to have test results from real devices.”

By all accounts, BroadcastAsia 2018 did a commendable job encapsulating the evolving broadcast and production industries with the emergence of technologies such as OTT platforms, live production, UHD content, and the latest cinematography and film production equipment, including 4K and 8K cameras from exhibitors such as ARRI, Canon, Panasonic, RED and Sony.

The event saw sessions from industry leaders such as Netflix, BBC, Mediacorp,

“The Middle East is a promising market and we believe there is an expanding market for our network management systems that is designed to work as part of a 24/7 network operating centre”

“Both monetisation and engagement are difficult to achieve in a crowded OTT marketplace and as solution providers, we offer plug-andplay solutions to media owners, telcos, ISPs and others”

lee Chia Chu, Channels director, Caton Technology

Venugopal iyengar, COO, Apalya Technologies private limited

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Ooyala and ZengaTV, who discussed the role of social media and new technologies such as blockchain and how AI is redefining business models.

The event also staged the firstever live eSports tournament – the Southeast Asian League (SEAL) – at the eSports Arena Studio.

Another new feature area was Radio’s New Wave, which highlighted the future of radio broadcasting and discussed the shifts in audience behaviour due to streaming services such as Spotify and Amazon.

It was clearly exciting to see a vibrant APAC market at the event.

Organisers at ConnecTechAsia managed to present effectively, on multiple platforms, the intersections between technology, media and telecommunications. PRO

“It is key to test, in realtime, OTT platforms on every device. There needs to be end-to-end, user interface testing of TV apps across current platforms.

Just simulation is not good enough” Mirko Nedeljkovic, Cofounder and Chief strategy Officer, suitest

PROCOnneCTeChAsiA

mAking TV greAT AgAin

While new technology is liberating TV from its past constraints, voice, Ai and data need to enable better user experiences, says Fabian Birgfeld of W12 studios, a keynote speaker at the broadcastAsia 2018 conference The world of TV today is full of sweeping statements.

TV is dead. Technology complicates things. Easy is good. EPG is bad. The best user interface is no interface. Content is king.

The list is endless. These declarations come when new technology is liberating TV from its past constraints. How do we ensure this translates into a better user experience?

TV has come a long way since the days when you just had to turn it on, flip through a few channels and watch the best show that’s on. OTT has changed the dynamics of entertainment. smart algorithms ensure that the TV experience can be personalised to audience tastes. but TV has lost some of its ease and simplicity.

Controlling the big screen is at the mercy of a remote control with more buttons and more features than ever before. let’s face it, a remote control is not a natural way to interact with technology. Audiences have to navigate more and more menus and rails within a labyrinth of content,

reminiscent of traditional index card catalogues in libraries. it’s not surprising that audiences get frustrated and become paralysed by choice, often giving up before they find something to watch. TV is supposed to be a relaxing and effortless experience – but it’s not.

Voice, Ai and data can and will enable better experiences.

A few telling research trends predict that by 2020, 50% of all web searches will be done with voice (according to comscore) and 20% of user interactions will take place via intelligent personal assistants (according to Gartner).

Most significantly, customer experience will become the key brand differentiator.

Customers increasingly expect technology to simplify every aspect of their lives. in the world of TV, this translates to the shortest path to content, without any detours. This is a reversal from many of today’s experiences, where customers first need help understanding the technology before they can learn how to find what they want from it. it means simpler user experiences across all

platforms and screen sizes, and a more connected service journey while they discover, learn and use a service.

Naturally, new technologies delivering simpler experiences require a new design approach. Content is king, and therefore at the centre of the experience. A well-thoughtthrough content taxonomy and publishing strategy ensure personal experiences. The right content is delivered to the right person at the right time. brand informs every aspect of the experience to make it instantly recognisable.

A broad experience language consisting of graphic, motion and sonic guidelines ensures consistent and ownable experiences for the service or content provider across the entire service journey. reusable templates optimised for the chosen technology stack ensure efficient and effective workflows across internal departments.

Whether you’re a content creator or distributor, customers want content. Your brand needs to deliver value and you need to be efficient across an ever-expanding

digital ecosystem of platforms and devices. The challenge for content creators is to be able to manage content ownership, build brand equity and grow customer loyalty. Content distributors need to determine how to add value above and beyond the consumption of content in order to stay relevant.

Very few will succeed at both, no matter how hard they try, unless they have the scale of Netflix, Hulu or Amazon prime. in any eventuality, we have already entered the golden age of TV, with better content than ever before. Now we must add great technology into the mix, and TV can truly be great, in the comfort of the living room or on the go. PRO

fabian birgfeld, is director and Co-founder of W12 studios

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PROIBC2018

IBC 2018: A CAtAlyst For InnovAtIon

With profound shifts in consumer behaviour, IBC 2018 presents new opportunities across the value chain, with thought leaders offering their insights on how to thrive in the face of disruption. For our preview, we begin with innovations on the exhibition floor, which in 2017 attracted more than 57,000 attendees from 170 countries

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PROIBC2018

Rohde & Schwarz to launch next-gen storage

Rohde & Schwarz will showcase the latest advances in scalable storage, satellite amplifiers and transmitters at IBC 2018, and launch a next-generation storage product – an extension to its shared storage solutions for collaborative media production networks.

Also making its debut at IBC is a new transmitter product, r&s tMU9evo, an air-cooled transmitter for UHF applications.

Also new at IBC, rohde &

DON'T MISS!

schwarz will further extend its r&s PKU100 family of satellite uplink amplifiers with the addition of its first outdoor satellite variant. It is the first on the market to combine the best of two worlds, the company claims, taking solid-state amplifiers to the next level by incorporating adaptive predistortion and the advantages of tube amplifiers such as compactness, light weight and high efficiency.

More Blam with Blue Lucy Software development consultancy Blue Lucy is launching a new version of the Blam at this year's IBC, with a redesigned UI, new API and an upgrade to the Adobe Premier plug-in. the Blam is a media and operations management toolset which provides asset and workflow management from a

scalable cloud-native platform.

Blue lucy will launch the new Blam asset and workflow management software with a significant upgrade of the Blam Adobe Premiere plug-in designed to reduce mundane administrative overhead in edit and streamline the creative.

Stand 7.D43

Stand 7.B21

New at IBC: The Cyber Security Forum sits alongside the Telco & Media Innovation Forum and Leaders’ Forum as part of IBC’s Executive Forums programme.

Cloud innovations from Broadpeak Cloud PVR from Broadpeak will be a key highlight at IBC 2018, following what the company calls a record year of deployments worldwide, including with several tier-1 operators.

Providing operators with a simple, scalable and flexible solution for delivering time-shifted tv services, Broadpeak’s solution reportedly enables subscribers to launch multiple recordings on various channels simultaneously without any constraint on available bandwidth or number of tuners on the reception device.

With Cloud Pvr, service providers can deliver startover and catch-up tv as well as impulsive recording, using a shared or private copy model. the recorded content can be processed on the fly to be viewed on any device type, the release stated.

At IBC 2018, Broadpeak will demonstrate its solutions for not only cable, telecom and satellite operators, but also for content providers, including a CDn for managed networks and ott distribution, origin packager, ad insertion and video delivery analytics.

Stand 5.B78

Crystal flexes platform with IP

Crystal Vision will demonstrate its flexible IP platform, the Marble-V1 media processor hardware and the initial six software apps which run on it. these apps are IP gateways between sDI and sMPtE 2022 or 2110, and IP to IP translators for making adjustments to IP flows – including protocol conversion between st 2022 and st 2110. Among the full range of modular sDI interface

and keying products on show will be the safire 3 real-time chroma keyer, which now combines, the release states, its high-quality keying, easy workflow and five-year warranty benefits with a significant price drop.

Also on display will be Crystal vision's range of sDI interface, including up and down converters, logo keyers, video delays, fail-safe routing switches, synchronisers, colour correctors, audio embedders, and fibre transmitters and receivers.

Stand 2.C28

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PROIBC2018

Facilis fast tracks file system advancements

At IBC 2018, Facilis, a supplier of shared storage solutions for collaborative media production networks, will demonstrate Version 7.1 features and FastTracker 2.5 for the first time in Europe. the latest release of the Facilis shared File system builds on version 7.0, which

DON'T MISS!

includes an all-new web console interface and shared file system enhancements. version 7.1 includes additional features that will help with the administration of large and small environments alike, the release stated.

With Facilis Fasttracker 2.5, users can get organised with custom ingest-toarchive workflows to ltFs and disk-based back-up. the new Facilis Hub server will also be on display.

Barnfind to unveil ‘game-changing’ frame Barnfind Technologies has revealed plans to show what it calls a gamechanging frame at IBC that incorporates future-proof technology to support all emerging signal formats, including 4K and IP, and adds a long-distance component to its multifunctional, signal-neutral fibre transport platform. the new BtF1-41

features a network of functions and the capability to reportedly transport any signal format, making it suited for a variety of applications including sports, telemedicine and government projects. the BtF1-41 will be shown alongside enhanced versions of Barnfind’s core Barnone and BarnMini families that reportedly now offer more control options, advanced functionality and improved configuration capabilities.

Stand 8-A41

Stand 7.C14

The inaugural Global Gamechangers stage will host the thought leaders in business, digital, creative, transformation and news, all future-facing talent, from around the world.

Slomo.tv ready to play ball with videoReferee

Tedial goes Smartlive

MAM solutions provider Tedial will showcase its new live sport solution, Smartlive, and its Hyper IMF end-toend IMF platform. It will also bring Evolution aStorm, its future-proof, hybrid content management solution to IBC. smartlive, a live event solution for remote logging, PAM support and automated storytelling, leverages AI tools and provides compatibility

with existing PAM systems such as Evs and sAM. Marrying AI to MAM, smartlive is reportedly capable of automating the event metadata ingest process and creating a production environment for teams, managing multicamera and multi-venue feeds. In addition, smartlive can provide multiple, instantaneous live searches to bring historical archives to live events, and automatically generates highlights and delivers them to digital platforms and social networks.

Stand 8.B41

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Slomo.tv will introduce an integrated video assistant referee (VAR) system based on the latest generation of its videoReferee FC. The system, which has been used for many years across sports such as ice hockey, basketball and handball, has now been adapted to accommodate football’s recently introduced obligatory FIFA requirements.

Designated videoreferee

FC, the compact 4U video server records up to 24 3G/ HD channels and has four graphics outputs. It has a separate multi-viewer for all channels capable of displaying live and delayed video. video inputs can be displayed from a single camera, in quad view (four cameras) or multi-viewer format for off-site situations.

Stand 8.B40

PROIBC2018

Back to the future with Shotoku's manual tripod Shotoku Broadcast Systems brings a new manual tripod series to IBC 2018 – the SD and SE ranges. The SD range has been developed to provide a

quality, affordable system for handheld cameras.

Available in two variants, the SD20 will support 3kg and the SD40 5kg cameras. the sE range has evolved from a concept of providing support with high functionality and wideranging applications for the extended range of camera systems now available. other products include smartPed, a fully robotic pedestal; smartrail, shotoku’s railbased system; an upgraded tr-Xt remote camera control system with an enhanced external control automation interface (ECI); and a free-d2 absolute tracking system.

Stand 12.E42

DON'T MISS!

Cobalt Digital to demo advanced processors At IBC2018, Cobalt will show the 9904-UDX-4K, its latest generation of advanced image and audio processors for the openGear platform. The base card provides quad 3G-SDI and 12G-SDI I/O with SDI muxing and demuxing and up/down/cross-conversion.

Options include RGB colour correction and SDR-to-HDR up-mapping via Technicolor's HDR Intelligent Tone Management (ITM) processing.

Also on display will be Cobalt’s new 9971-Mv184K series of openGear multiviewers, which support the latest signal types with a

high-density modular design that can be expanded as required. the Mv18 is equipped with 18 4K 12G-sDI autodetect inputs, which can be scaled as needed across a full 3840x2160 UHD raster output.

IBC2018 will also be the stage for Cobalt's new 9992-EnC4K-HEvC H.265 streaming encoder for openGear.

Stand 10.B44

New ‘Smart Connectivity and Multiplay Devices’ track to provide a platform for dialogue between telecoms providers, media players and the OTT sector.

TVU's AI-driven platform to redefine workflows Live IP video solutions provider TVU Networks will showcase the AI-driven TVU MediaMind Platform, which the company claims will potentially change how content is produced and consumed. the core of the MediaMind Platform is tvU’s metadatadriven workflow engine.

Combining real-time speech,

object and face recognition with tvU’s real-time search engine, users are able to find the video assets most relevant to the story they are covering. the tvU IBC stand will also demonstrate how to stream and monetise video through its video marketplace, tvU Grid.

Stand 2.B28

Anton/Bauer charged for IBC with Dionic series The new Dionic XT line of batteries will be shown in Europe for the first time at IBC2018.

Dionic XT is the newest generation of Anton/Bauer’s Dionic battery series for broadcast and 14.4V cinema applications.

Available in both v-Mount and Gold Mount, the Dionic Xt is a 14v li-Ion battery capable of delivering up to 12 amps of continuous power for cinematographers, broadcasters, rental houses and other customers for

whom battery performance and reliability are essential.

Available in two models – the Dionic Xt90 and the Dionic Xt150 – the Dionic series features ABs and rubber construction that cushions and protects the battery.

Stand 12.E65

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PROGUEST

“The programme-making and special events' category by the ITU and the TRA will… [offer] a voice to those who manufacture and operate wireless equipment”

Negotiating a wireless approach There has been a huge reduction in the amount of ultra-high frequency (UHF) spectrum available to production companies and broadcasters for all the wireless equipment they use, in an age when more and more production equipment, such as cameras, DMX, comms and IEMs, is becoming wireless. We will soon reach a tipping point, and regional regulators have been quick to observe and react to this.

The journey so far In 2009, we were providing wireless products in frequency ranges that included 700MHz, 800MHz and sometimes 900MHz, driven by the demands of our customers and without much scrutiny from regulators in the region. Then, in late 2011, we became aware of a drive by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the UAE towards more comprehensive compliance on the import of short-range devices (SRDs) in the UHF spectrum.

The new policy includes a check and certification by the TRA to ensure that wireless equipment follows the ITU guidelines for Region 1, which the UAE is part of. It specifies where in the UHF spectrum it can be used and its maximum power output. In taking this proactive approach to programme-making and special events (PMSE), the TRA invited some of the

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key stakeholders in the industry to be part of a consultation process. This allowed them to better understand the challenges we face as an industry and what is required to be able to support PMSE as a significant economic contributor to the government, especially within the important entertainment and tourism sectors.

As the new local policy based on these discussions was being introduced, there were changes taking place in ITU policy on the 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz ranges to make room for mobile telecoms operators and other services.

Ensuring compliance and safeguarding investments The TRA decided to be an early adopter of the changes being planned by ITU and only allow manufacturers to bring wireless equipment in the 470-690MHz range into the UAE, with most other GCC countries following suit.

This has prompted vendors to explore different methods and areas of the spectrum to transport signals wirelessly, such as more efficient usage of available bandwidth and manufacture of products that operate in the 1.9GHz range – an area of the spectrum where the ITU has already established guidelines that are unlikely to change.

Perhaps most importantly, manufacturers have needed to

start type-approving their wireless equipment to ensure that their partners can get stock into the UAE, and other Middle East countries that will undoubtedly implement similar policies, without having to go through the process themselves. This not only affords manufacturers the ability to sell the equipment in the region, but also safeguards the many production companies that carry out cross-border projects in the region.

While these new type-approved technologies come at a cost that is worked into the price of the solutions, rental organisations are likely to face far greater financial overheads if they invest in equipment that cannot operate at permitted frequencies, as they could potentially be left with systems that simply cannot be used in the region. It is therefore critical to safeguard investments by ensuring the equipment purchased has the necessary type approvals.

The introduction of the PMSE category by the ITU and the TRA will no doubt afford some kind of protection, or at least a voice, to those of us who still need to manufacture and operate wireless equipment for production. This will only remain the case if all of us engage in the licensing process and use the facilities offered by the regulators.

Ryan Burr is Head of Technical Sales & Application Engineering, System Solutions at Sennheiser Middle East.

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