BroadcastPro ME July 2019

ISSUE 109 | JULY 2019

Publication licensed by Dubai Production City

AR and VR h it w l e v e l t x lling to ne e t y r o t s s e k a bia t Sk y News Ara

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PROINTRO

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

Welcome

Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Assistant Editor Rachel Dawson rachel.dawson@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5478 Contributing Editor Garima Rawat Sub Editor Aelred Doyle ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Sandip Virk sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 50 929 1845 +44 (0) 773 444 2526 DESIGN Art Director Simon Cobon Designer Percival Manalaysay MARKETING Marketing Manager Sheena Sapsford sheena.sapsford@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5498 CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION Production Manager Vipin V. Vijay vipin.vijay@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5713 Distribution Manager Phinson Mathew George phinson.george@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5476 DIGITAL SERVICES Mohammad Awais Sadiq Siddiqui

BeIN Sports let go of a fifth of its staff last month, and OSN, which has been trimming its staff periodically in recent months, has finally made the decision to discontinue Pehla on July 15, after the ICC Cricket World Cup concludes on July 14. Both companies have attributed their decisions to rampant piracy in the region.

The question to ask, however, is if piracy alone is to blame, especially in the case of beIN Sports. There is no doubt that the media house has been seriously impacted by piracy. Sceptics, however, have also questioned the wisdom of paying ridiculously high rates to secure MENA broadcast rights for sports, when the ARPUs in most North African countries are under $4. Of course, the GCC countries have higher spending power, but they don't have the numbers to sustain a successful pay-TV model either. As far back as 2015 and 2016, I recall UAE broadcasters who had briefly dabbled in buying the rights to some big sporting events stating that it was just not commercially viable and they wouldn’t get their fingers burnt again. The solution?

If all the broadcasters in the region collaborate and refuse to bid for

sports rights unless they are available at an affordable premium that makes commercial sense in this market, we will eventually have a win-win situation.

In the meantime, we have just returned from ConnecTechAsia in Singapore, where I always hear the start of conversations before they pick up pace at IBC, NAB and CABSAT. Although there were several interesting discussions, the one that caught my attention was 5G adoption. It is believed that the increasing demand for online video content, especially 4K, VR and UHD content, will be the main catalyst for 5G adoption. On the other hand, an industry professional at our anniversary party last month whispered ominously in my ear that 5G would see the end of television “as we know it”. Change is no longer coming. It is already here. Let’s move with the times.

I leave you with that thought as I head to Tunis for ASBU’s 50th anniversary. Will you be there?

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director

FOUNDER Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) ISSUE 109 | JULY 2019

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July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 1

PROCONTENTS

July 2019 Inside this issue

NEWS: SHAHID VIEWERS UP BY 23%

05 NEWS Egypt’s state broadcaster uses ATEME to cover AFCON; OSN to discontinue Pehla; Shahid viewers up by 23%; First use of ARRI primes in the Middle East; and more

13 - 17 th September 11 MASSIVE REVAMP AT SKY NEWS ARABIA

14 A NEW ANCHOR IS COMING TO TOWN Sogou Inc on developing the region's first AI news anchor with Abu Dhabi Media

16 COVER – A WHOLE NEW VIRTUAL WORLD Sky News Arabia ups the game by employing the latest VR and AR technologies in news reporting

16

Book a meeting to discover

the most advanced

VSNEXPLORER TRACKING NATURE WITH THE BBC

22 DOWN TO EARTH David Attenborough, Jonny Keeling and Hans Zimmer tell us about the making of BBC’s most ambitious natural history project

22

28 IP DRIVES INNOVATION

INSIDE LOOK AT RASHID & RAJAB

How can enterprises leverage the benefits of IP?

32 A COMEDY OF ERRORS In conversation with the producers of Image Nation’s Emirati comedy Rashid & Rajab

32

36 CONNECTECHASIA2019

INNOVATION AT CONNECTECHASIA2019

A round-up of APAC’s mega technology event

Cloud Ready

Powerful BPs & Automation

Video editing

Multiple Integrations

Book your meeting at:

40

OPEN IP – THE WAY FORWARD An open approach is the best way to drive faster IP integration, says Chuck Meyer

Artificial Intelligence

vsn-tv.com / ibc 36 July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 3

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1 day / 1 evening / 4 panels 23 speakers / 17 awards 1 gala awards dinner 13 November 2019

Sponsorship

Nominations

Information

Raz Islam +971 50 451 8213 raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com

Vijaya Cherian +971 55 105 3787 vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com

Sheena Sapsford +971 4 375 5498 sheena.sapsford@cpitrademedia.com

PRONEWS

Egypt’s state broadcaster chooses ATEME to cover Africa Cup of Nations The Egyptian National Media Authority (ENMA) has employed ATEME’s converged video headend to cover the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, which began on June 21 and will conclude on July 19.

ATEME has provided ENMA with a complete video headend solution based on its Kyrion encoders/decoders and TITAN pure software multiplexer. The system is installed at 12 sites across Egypt to feed ASI signals to DTT television transmitters and the G.703 E3 standard

(L-R) Ahmad Arafat, Mohamed Razik Zaghlouli, Julien Mandel, Michel Artiere, Farah Bouftass, Joseph Soueidi, Eng Ashraf Abouelela and Eng Medhat Ismail.

to existing networks.

ENMA is using BISSCA, the EBU Tech’s new standard for encryption – EBU Tech 3292-s1. The technology has allowed

Royal Film Commission appoints Mohannad Al-Bakri as new MD

Mohannad AlBakri will head the Royal Film Commission of Jordan (RFC) as Managing Director, effective July 7. Al-Bakri is not new to RFC. He served as its

Capacity Building Manager for five years (2007-2012) and has largely contributed to developing the country’s local and regional training programmes.

He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Edu-Feature Programme, through which five Jordanian features were produced.

ENMA to install a highquality video platform, which provides exceptional TV channel encoding from SDI to ASI with video/audio synchronisation. ATEME’s

Saudi Arabia gears up for Entertainment Academy in Riyadh The Saudi Entertainment Academy will be up and running in Riyadh, effective September 2019, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding between two specialist companies and the General Entertainment Authority, as reported by Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Academy will offer specialised entertainment courses and programmes, including a diploma in Entertainment Management aimed

at training and qualifying Saudi Arabians to work in the sector.

MINA Education and Development and Bunyan Development Ltd signed the MoU at GEA’s headquarters in Riyadh recently, in the presence of CEO Amr Bin Ahmed Banaja.

“This move will help integrate efforts of various authorities and achieve harmony between initiatives, so as to come up with projects that bear real added value to the entertainment sector,” Banaja commented.

solution provides ENMA with premium re-muxing capabilities, delivery of high-fidelity video quality to transmitters across the country and reduction of OPEX and CAPEX costs.

“Integrating ATEME’s Kyrion and TITAN family will allow us to not only provide outstanding video quality to our customers for the Africa Cup of Nations, but also expand the range of our services in the future,” commented Eng Mervat Hassan, Chairman of Broadcast Engineering, ENMA.

OSN to discontinue Pehla from July 15 OSN will discontinue its Pehla bouquet from July 15. The pay-TV network commented that with rampant piracy, it was impossible for OSN to continue running the Pehla package, which primarily targets the South Asian audience.

An OSN spokesperson told BroadcastPro: “These changes may inconvenience some Pehla customers, however, they will be given the choice to retain their favourite non-South Asian channels.”

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5

PRONEWS

Nayla Al Khaja film sees first Middle East use of ARRI’s new prime lenses The Shadow, a horror film directed by Emirati filmmaker and producer Nayla Al Khaja, and produced by Epic Films and Señorita Films, will begin principal photography in Dubai with the support of the Dubai Film and TV Commission (DFTC). To ensure a seamless filming and production experience, DFTC worked closely with the director to fast-track the process and obtain all necessary filming permits.

The film is a teaser for an extended feature set to be filmed in the upcoming months. Starring local actors and using the Emirati dialect, the story of a sick nine-year-old in the grip of uncontrolled phenomena – and the desperate measures his mother takes behind closed doors to save his life – is based on actual events that Al Khaja experienced personally.

Al Khaja said: “Worldwide, only five percent of women directors specialise in this genre. I’m hoping to inspire

Nayla Al Khaja, Emirati filmmaker and producer.

more women in the region to follow my lead and venture into filming difficult topics based on more hard-hitting narratives. The UAE lacks female feature film directors of a certain calibre, and it’s about time we see a change in this category.

“This project came to life thanks to the unconditional support of Sultan, Darmaki and Hassan Al Khaja; the Dubai Film and TV Commission; Filmquip Media, who is supplying the

equipment; and ARRI, which will be shipping its latest signature prime lenses for the shoot and taking care of the behind-the-scenes footage. This will be the first time ARRI's new lenses will be used in the Middle East.”

Robbie McAree, Executive Producer and Founding Partner of Epic Films, describes the film as “a unique approach to the genre, implementing a production model that will set new standards

for the local independent film industry”.

“We encourage local and international investors, and cinema enthusiasts in general, to get involved in future movie projects in the UAE. Our production value is undoubtedly reaching the calibre of international productions, and we pride ourselves on utilising as many locallybased movie professionals as possible. The bottom line is to showcase local talent and highlight the huge potential of the UAE’s film industry. The Shadow is a teaser that hopefully will help raise funds for the feature film and create employment opportunities for local screen workers.”

Featuring acclaimed DoP Mik Allen, The Shadow’s crew will shoot across several locations in Dubai during the month of June, with an expected public release of the film at a launch event in Dubai in September, with the support of VOX Cinemas.

Egypt’s first animated feature film to premiere in cinemas this October The Knight and the Princess, which has been 20 years in the making, will arrive in cinemas this October.

Screenwriter Basheer al-Deeq commented that the production budget for the film is estimated to have been $6m.

The film is based on the story of a young man, Mohammed bin Qasim al-Thaqafi, who falls in love while leading the sovereignty of the Umayyad State.

Artist Moustapha Hussein drew all the characters,

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

with the animation work carried out by Egyptian artists from the Magic Company, as reported by local dailies. The Egyptian director said that the exact 2D animation technique used in animated film The Lion King was employed in

The Knight and the Princess.

A number of Egyptian celebrities lent their voices to the movie’s cartoon characters, including Mohamed Henedy, Maged al-Kidwani, Abla Kamel, Medhat Saleh and Donia Samir Ghanem.

PRONEWS

CTME becomes part of Disguise CSP network

Visual tools developer Disguise has announced the integration of AV supplier Creative Technology Middle East with the Disguise Certified Solution Provider (CSP) worldwide network.

With inventoried offices

in Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, CT is a supplier of specialist AV equipment to the sports, corporate and entertainment industries.

CTME used Disguise for the Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremony in 2019, held

Pavarotti, first major documentary to release in KSA Pavarotti, a film on the life of opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, is set to become the first major documentary to be released in Saudi Arabia, on July 25. Front Row Filmed Entertainment and the Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) own all MENA rights for the title, which will be released in VOX and AMC cinemas. Gianluca Chakra, CEO, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, said: “We are incredibly proud to be representing Pavarotti and for it to be the first major documentary to be released in Saudi Arabia as we are firm believers in its potential to captivate audiences in KSA.”

SAF announces winners of film grant

in Abu Dhabi, with two 4x4 pros used as the main machines and a further two used as understudies. Two 2x2 plus were also used for the main production, one as the main and one as understudy. Disguise also supported CTME’s work on projection mapping the oldest building in Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Hosn, using a network of 4x4 pro main and understudy systems in three different locations, with the central location also using this set-up.

Sharjah Art Foundation has announced that filmmakers Julian Alexander (US) and Emerson Reyes (Philippines) are the recipients of its $30,000 Short Film Production Grant, an annual Sharjah Film Platform (SFP) initiative. They were selected from a pool of 350 applicants from over 65 countries who answered Sharjah

Art Foundation’s open call for submissions.

Julian Alexander is a professor at New Mexico State University in the US, where he teaches filmmaking in the Creative Media Institute. Emerson Reyes lives and works in Batangas in the Philippines, and has produced, written and directed multiple short and featurelength films.

SAWA Rights Management launches Insight TV on second platform in MENA SAWA Rights Management (SRM), a Dubai-based content provider and producer has launched Insight TV, a 4K UHD HDR broadcaster and producer of native UHD content, across the MENA region on My-HD, a direct-to-home HD pay-tv platform.

Insight TV’s line-up of content, which features trending topics and behindthe-scenes stories of global social influencers against a backdrop of locations from around the world, can now be viewed

by My-HD customers.

Carmen Chen, CEO, MyHD, commented: “Since our launch in 2012, we continue to strive to bring the best content from around the

Ali Ajouz, CEO, SRM.

world to our subscribers.

Insight TV is a big draw for millennials because its shows reflect the evolving values of this demographic and covers issues and themes that are important and relevant to them.”

“We are committed to delivering our inspirational

and topical content to viewers around the world, and we’re excited to launch on the My-HD platform,” added Graeme Stanley, COO, Insight TV. “We like to take our viewers on an adventure, and we look forward to seeing the reaction from My-HD subscribers.”

Ali Ajouz, CEO, SRM, said: “This is the second distribution agreement that SRM has concluded for Insight TV in as many months. This can only be attributed to Insight TV’s innovative, actionfilled, thrilling original 4K programming strategy, combined with SRM’s distribution reach across the MENA region.”

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 7

PRONEWS

TAC Studios co-produces four new series across Africa TAC Studios, The Africa Channel’s production arm, will produce four new series in Africa for the global marketplace, consisting of a combination of scripted and unscripted projects.

They are May’s Kitchen, a cooking show featuring talented celebrity chef May Yocoubi (a partnership with Filmedia in Egypt); Second Husband, a scripted series based on the Nigerian film of the same name (a

co-production with Biola Alabi Media in Nigeria); The Yard, a drama series set in the hip-hop scene in Nairobi (a co-production with Currency Media in Kenya); and My Design Rules, a competition reality series in the world of real estate design (a partnership with Cardova Productions in South Africa).

Brendan Gabriel, Johannesburg-based Head of Creative and Production for TAC Studios, said:

“We are really excited to continue to evolve our network of relationships across the continent, cementing our studio as a key hub for Pan African content creation. The producers and talent, both established and new, who we are working with bring an authentic voice to their storytelling, and we want to ensure that their stories are now distributed globally and reach vast new audiences.”

Electriclimefilms moves to Alserkal Avenue UAE boutique production house electriclimefilms Dubai, with offices in Singapore and Sydney, has relocated to a larger independent space in Unit 60 at Dubai’s arts hub Alserkal Avenue. The new open studio office space includes a reception/lounge area for clients

and visitors to view the EL portfolio on a large screen, a working station where the creative and production teams come together to work and discuss ideas, an edit suite for live editing and colour grading sessions with clients, and an offline editing station separate to the main one.

The new electriclimefilms facility at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai.

8 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

National Geographic announces 201920 upfront slate National Geographic Global Television Networks President Courteney Monroe has unveiled the latest line-up of premium science, adventure and exploration content throughout the 2019-20 upfront season.

Highlights of the network’s announcements include the return of the Brain Games series; new series Race to the Centre of the Earth, pitting extreme adventurers on a oneof-a-kind journey to win $1m; and Lost Cities with Albert Lin, showcasing up-and-coming National Geographic talent.

French court dismisses beIN allegations of Arabsat links to BeoutQ The Arab Satellite Communications Organisation (Arabsat) issued a press release last month, welcoming the ruling of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, which rejected allegations made by Qatar’s beIN SPORTS and its France-based branch that Arabsat “distributes beoutQ on its satellites”.

BeIN has suffered significant losses due to rampant piracy in the region, especially on the beoutQ set-top box, and alleged that Arabsat has aided in carrying these channels.

A statement on the Arabsat website said: “The French judiciary’s ruling, rejecting beIN’s lawsuit and allegations against Arabsat, has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt our organisation’s valid position from day one, despite beIN SPORTS’ attempts to cast doubt on that position; its media smear campaign.

“Arabsat hopes that the international federations will not drift behind defamation attempts and misleading campaigns led by beIN, whose reputation has been tarnished by criminal investigations in France and Switzerland on charges of corruption and bribery.

“While welcoming the ruling in favour of Arabsat, we reserve the right to take legal action against beIN, its executives and all parties involved in spreading false news regarding the Arabsat ruling.”

Speaker Built in speaker for monitoring audio.

Control Buttons 7 buttons for transport controls, remote and 3D LUT.

LCD Display Shows video, transport controls, audio meters and menus.

Headphone 1/4" audio jack for monitoring audio with headphones.

Cache Optional media cache for fail safe recording.

Transport controls Touchscreen transport controls for easy playback and record.

In and Out Points Set in and out points for performing “tape to tape” style editing.

Audio meters Monitor up to 4 channels using VU or PPM metering.

Playback and Record Select Select which deck you want as a player or a recorder.

Transport controls Traditional broadcast deck transport controls.

Time Display Monitor deck timecode on clear LED display.

Shuttle/Jog Knob Large knob with electronic clutch for jog, shuttle and scrolling recordings.

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PRONEWS

Riedel fortifies presence in Middle East region with Venuetech partnership Riedel Communications has appointed Venuetech, a UAE-based AV distributor, as its regional distributor in the Middle East. As part of the agreement, Venuetech will operate as a distributor for Riedel’s full line of realtime media network and communications solutions in the Middle East.

Based in Dubai, Venuetech is an AV systems integrator and distributor serving the broadcast and AV markets throughout the UAE. Ahmed Magd, GM, Riedel Middle East and Turkey, said: “Venuetech is the ideal partner

(L-R) Nour Assafiri, CEO of Venuetech; Ahmed Magd, GM of Riedel ME & Turkey and Ismat Assafiri, AV Specialist at Venuetech.

to help us bring the Riedel reputation for excellence in signal transport and communications technologies to the UAE marketplace. In addition to their in-depth

Ross Video appoints Trevor Mifsud as Solutions Architect Ross Video has announced the appointment of Trevor Mifsud as its new Solutions Architect, part of the international pre-sales Oceania team, effective immediately. He will be working in Melbourne and the company’s Sydney office, and brings almost two decades of experience to Ross, having worked in the IT and broadcast engineering sectors, specialising in live, pre- and post-production environments.

Mifsud said: “I am excited to be a part of the Ross Video team, helping to deliver high-impact, high-efficiency production solutions to our customers. I look forward to drawing upon my knowledge and experience to help increase the success and growth of Ross Video Oceania.”

10 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

distribution expertise and local market experience, Venuetech has broad and deep knowledge of our product portfolio. The Venuetech team will expand local access to

Cinépolis to roll out 63 screens in Saudi Arabia Cinépolis has announced the locations of six new movie theatres comprising 63 screens in Saudi Arabia. They will be rolled out across the Kingdom over the next two years, with the first due to open in Lulu Mall, Dammam, at the end of this year, four scheduled for 2020 and the sixth for 2021.

The Saudi General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM) issued the fourth Exhibitor Licence for Cinema Operation to Cinépolis International under the entity Luxury Entertainment LLC.

our solutions and provide an outstanding first line of support for our customers.”

Venuetech has installed Riedel’s MediorNet real-time media distribution network, the Artist digital matrix intercom and other product lines in its showroom in Dubai’s Business Bay. Nour Assafiri, CEO of Venuetech, added: “At Venuetech, we take pride in our partnerships with the most prestigious and innovative manufacturers of media networks and communications systems. Riedel is a fantastic addition to our roster.”

GatesAir buys ONEtastic

Bruce D. Swail, CEO, GatesAir.

GatesAir is bringing ONEtastic under its banner. Founded in 2010, ONEtastic develops television, digital radio and RF systems for broadcast, telecom, scientific and government verticals.

The company’s work with high-efficiency, low-power TV and DAB radio transmitters will

strengthen GatesAir’s presence in Europe.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bruce D. Swail, CEO of GatesAir, said: “The acquisition of ONEtastic underscores our commitment to the broadcast market and accelerates the investments we are making in our transmission portfolio.

The addition of a research, development and services team from ONEtastic expands our engineering and support expertise to create new innovations for the broadcast segment and beyond.”

PRONEWS

Shahid viewership up by 23% Rohde & Schwarz appoints Cornelius Heinemann as EVP of Broadcast and Media

The team from Al Hayba, a popular show on MBC4.

MBC Group video-on-demand (VOD) platform Shahid had 27m unique monthly users, an increase of more than 23% compared to the same period last year, as of the end of Ramadan 2019. The content on Shahid’s platforms had also accumulated more than 248m views, an increase of 46% compared to last year on Shahid, and of 62% in terms of Shahid PLUS paid subscribers.

During Ramadan, Shahid added 50 premium programmes and shows to its offering, 28 of them exclusive to the platform. Shahid PLUS also added an attractive selection of kids’ content.

During the first weeks of the holy month, the number of downloads of the Shahid mobile app quadrupled in comparison to regular monthly volumes. This is despite the fact that Shahid has enjoyed the highest mobile app penetration rate in the region for years, with the Shahid iOS and Android apps installed

on more devices than any competitor by a considerable margin, according to mobile analytics and market data platform App Annie.

Johannes Larcher, Managing Director, MBC Digital, commented: “We announced major changes to our strategy and level of investment in Shahid early in 2019, and our solid performance during the first five months of 2019, including Ramadan, proves that audiences across MENA love where we are taking our service.”

Since January, Shahid has made significant progress in improving ease of use, viewing quality, speed and reliability of streaming, and discoverability of relevant content for users.

Shahid has also introduced full HD streaming and the ability to play Shahid content from mobile phones on large-screen TVs, using newly introduced Chromecast and AirPlay functionality.

Larcher also mentioned a

42% growth in unique users outside the MENA region, due to Arab diaspora audiences.

Larcher credits some of Shahid’s success to a comprehensive marketing strategy: “This year, we announced our Ramadan programming grid well before the beginning of the holy month through exclusive promotion on the special portal ramadan.Shahid.net.

This was run in parallel with daily interaction with viewers across MBC’s various social media platforms. We also connected viewers with some of the region’s most prominent social media influencers.”

Looking towards H2 2019, Larcher added: “We aim to further develop and expand our viewership in the coming period, with locallyproduced original content created exclusively for Shahid. We will also continue our efforts to make Shahid more accessible and easier to use for our viewers.”

Cornelius Heinemann has been promoted to EVP Broadcast and Media at Rohde & Schwarz, effective July 2019. He will be appointed to the Board of Directors at the same time.

He was previously responsible for the Transmitter and Amplifier Systems and File-Based Media Solutions business units within the Broadcast & Media Division.

Heinemann has been with Rohde & Schwarz since 1991, and since July 2007 has led the Transmitter and Amplifier Systems business unit. He will succeed Jürgen Nies, who is retiring at the end of the 2018/2019 fiscal year on June 30.

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 11

PRONEWS

Shure launches MXA910 with IntelliMix Shure has unveiled its Microflex Advance MXA910 ceiling array microphone with IntelliMix DSP at InfoComm 2019. The microphone promises to empower integrators, consultants and meeting participants to embrace collaborative speech environments.

Designed for spaces that demand an effortless, seamless and connected audio solution, the MXA910 microphone with IntelliMix DSP enables broad, costeffective deployment in industrial design, suitable for a variety of rooms with specific aesthetic requirements.

Corporate conference rooms, government facilities, special event venues and

even higher education campuses require an audio solution that easily integrates into the space and provides crystal-clear audio.

The new MXA910 microphone combines stateof-the-art array microphone technology with the Shure IntelliMix DSP, comprising

UBMS to distribute Soliton devices to the MEA region

Dubai distributor United Broadcast & Media Solutions (UBMS) has partnered with Soliton to bring its secure video encoding and streaming devices to the Middle East and Africa region.

Soliton is a Japanese supplier and developer of compact, lightweight

mobile video streaming technology. UBMS will supply and integrate Soliton technology and its solutions in the region to meet the needs of broadcasters, production companies and security applications.

The Soliton Zao range of products enables body cams, drone cameras and other external mobile cameras to transmit a secure encrypted video stream back to a command and control centre. It is designed for integration within a command room including thermal imagery, AI layers and more.

12 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

acoustic echo cancellation, noise reduction and automatic mixing to enable control.

Patent-pending autofocus technology continually fine tunes the position of each lobe in real time for consistent sound when participants lean back in their chairs or stand up.

The MXA910 microphone with IntelliMix DSP features “ease of deployment” capabilities, the company said in a statement. According to Shure, these include simplified templates and autofocus technology for immediate out-of-box set-up; designer software compatibility that supports ease of configuration, enabling quick and efficient installation; and direct connection to a hardware or software codec, using the DSP embedded in the ceiling microphone. When used with a Shure audio network interface (ANI), it provides users with a simplified room solution that provides a microphone and DSP in one cost-effective package.

Senna LED lighting systems now available in UAE Croatian company Senna Innovation Factory will be bringing demo units of its complete LED lighting systems with full wireless control to the UAE. Senna’s product portfolio provides complete lighting support solutions for TV, film and broadcast.

The company’s LightStation system is made up of four LED panels controlled with a wireless control plate or through a smartphone app. Remote settings include dimmer and temperature regulation.

The lighting system stores six different light scenes that can be recalled at any point by

simply pressing a button.

Additionally, the fade speed control between light scenes is adjustable.

Strobe and chasing lights with adjustable speed are available.

The LightStation app for smartphone or tablet allows users to make a variety of light scenes.

Users can store different playlists of scenes, which can be loaded anytime.

Scenes and playlists remain stored even when you turn off the system.

The app allows users to give different names to scenes and playlists, set fading between them, and add strobe and chasing light effects.

PRONEWS

Dubai Media Office deploys Sennheiser Digital 6000 as part of HQ audio upgrade The Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO) has deployed Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 solution as part of an upgrade to the conference hall at its headquarters at the Dubai World Trade Centre. A significant aspect of the upgrade was the GDMO’s decision to leverage networked audio.

Salem Belyouha, Director – Media Services at GDMO, said: “Doing so has enabled us to significantly reduce the amount of cabling, simplify interconnectivity, maintenance and troubleshooting, and streamline our technical operations.”

This year, Yamaha and Sennheiser collaborated to enable seamless integration between the Yamaha CL and QL series consoles and the Sennheiser Digital 6000. By choosing to leverage these two solutions, GDMO’s Engineering team has gained the ability to control several parameters of the wireless microphone system’s operating menu, and also to monitor RF levels, gains and battery status of the wireless microphones, all through the console itself.

With flexibility a main selection criteria for the microphone system, as stage layout and seating arrangements in the conference hall change from event to event, the end user looked for a wireless solution. However, as events held at the venue typically result in large numbers of

A number of Sennheiser solutions were part of the GDMO set-up.

mobile phones being used, it was imperative that the system address GDMO’s concerns regarding RF interference and noise.

GDMO thus decided to install the Digital 6000.

Commenting on this decision, Belyouha said: “Our experience with the Sennheiser team has been fantastic. We have worked with them on numerous projects over the years,

and they have proven time and time again that we can rely on them to assist with the implementation of our projects with a high level of expertise and professionalism. They supported us long before we issued any formal RFQ, and long after the project was completed.”

Four EM 6000 DANTE receivers form the backbone of a system that includes

three SKM 6000 handheld microphones. Sennheiser customised these handhelds in GDMO’s corporate colours and provided both a dynamic capsule in the form of the MD 9235 and also the pre-polarised condenser microphone capsule ME 9004, which features the audio specialist’s patentpending shock mount inside the microphone head.

GDMO selected Sennheiser’s ME 104 cardioid microphone capsule from the modular series of lapel microphones, with five SK 6000 bodypack transmitters to provide the best feedback rejection and attenuation of room noise. It also opted for Sennheiser’s latest charging solution, the 19” 1RU L 6000 intelligent charging station, which optimally charges batteries for extended storage periods and has a simple threecolour LED display that provides a quick overview of the charging status.

“Extensive details regarding temperature, remaining charging time, run times, charging cycles and battery quality can all be retrieved via the Wireless Systems Manager (WSM), our free-of-charge professional software solution that also allows the GDMO to remotely set up and coordinate the frequencies of their wireless microphones,” commented Ryan Burr, Head of Technical Sales & Application Engineering, Sennheiser.

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PROINTERVIEW

A photo of the AI anchor that was developed for a Chinese broadcaster.

A NEW ANCHOR IS COMING TO TOWN

Abu Dhabi Media and Chinese internet solutions provider Sogou Inc teamed up to develop an AI news anchor to present news on ADM’s channels. The AI news anchor incorporates industry-leading algorithms and the latest advances in speech synthesis, image detection and deep learning. Wang Yanfeng, GM of Sogou’s Voice Interaction Technology Centre, tells BroadcastPro ME what the AI anchor can do at present and how it can free up time for human anchors What elements of a news anchor’s job can the AI currently do?

The AI news anchor incorporates the latest advances in speech synthesis, image detection and prediction capabilities, and can simulate natural speech and expressions by integrating various language-centric technologies. The AI anchor can replicate the in-studio news reporting experience.

What are the advantages of an AI anchor over a human one?

We believe that human anchors and virtual anchors serve different purposes in a news organisation. We see the AI news anchor as a complement to the work of a human broadcaster. AI anchors won’t replace the human connection that human news

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reporters have, but the technology will improve the efficiency of standard news broadcasts and free up human anchors to spend more time interviewing guests, reporting on issues outside of the studio and producing better quality content.

Can the AI anchor tackle anything that requires analysis, opinion or interaction with people?

The AI anchor generates news reporting by generating life-like expressions based on textual inputs. Multi-round humanmachine interaction is a critical research area for the Sogou R&D team. In the not-too-distant future, we hope to be able to leverage Sogou’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology

PROINTERVIEW

Wang Yanfeng says technology will eventually advance to a stage where natural human-machine interactions can be tailored to support various news scenarios.

to deliver natural human-machine interactions tailored to support various scenarios. Across the entire industry, the technology required to conduct interviews or analysis is still at an early stage in its development and requires further research.

What technologies have gone into creating this news anchor – just machine learning and AI, or more? Essentially, what does it entail to create a virtual anchor?

The AI news anchor simulates natural speech and expressions by integrating various languagecentric technologies. It incorporates the latest advances in speech synthesis, image detection and prediction capabilities, as well as complex algorithms, to generate life-like expressions. Textual input can be transformed into corresponding lip movements, providing users with a highly customisable interactive experience.

Language lies at the core of Sogou’s AI platform and strategy. With a focus on natural language processing and machine learning, Sogou has developed unique capabilities in real-time audio and video synthesis.

“AI anchors won’t replace the human connection that human news reporters have, but the technology will improve the efficiency of standard news broadcasts” Wang Yanfeng, GM, Sogou’s Voice Interaction Technology Centre the core technologies on which it has been developed. These include speech synthesis, natural language processing, image detection and prediction capabilities and AI technologies.

Sogou is already a leader in these technologies. At the core of AI are algorithms and big data. By combining

our multi-language datasets, which are derived from Sogou’s Chineselanguage input software and its AI R&D team’s expertise in algorithms, with Abu Dhabi Media’s position in the Arab media world, we are confident we can deliver a highquality product and user experience.

We will continue to research and develop language-centric technologies that advance natural human-machine interaction, and to upgrade the AI anchor so that it can provide an increasingly realistic and seamless experience.

We look forward to working with Abu Dhabi Media Company to co-develop an Arabic-speaking and English-speaking AI news anchor.

Will virtual anchors become the future of news TV? AI has the potential to revolutionise the way we think about how humans interact with machines. Creating a more realistic virtual anchor will facilitate more seamless interactions and enable this technology to become an integral part of everyday life. There are also other potential applications for the AI anchor in industries such as education, healthcare and entertainment.

What challenges do you face in creating such an anchor?

The pronunciation and expression of Arabic news anchors are different from English and Chinese news anchors, so a lot of work will go into developing an Arabic AI news anchor that can replicate a real-life news broadcaster. For example, there are several factors, such as the Arabic writing system, vowel recognition and the gender, number and case of Arabic words, that pose challenges to Arabic speech synthesis.

What can you do to make the anchor more sophisticated than those currently in use in China?

The ability of the AI anchor to replicate human news anchors is highly dependent on advances in

From left: Wang Yanfeng, GM of Voice Interaction Technology Centre of Sogou, with HE Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Director General of ADM and HE Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi.

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PROCOVER

Snapshot Company: Sky News Arabia Location: Abu Dhabi Key Technologies Driving AR and VR: Zero Density, Unreal Engine, RedSpy cameras, stYpe tracking software and ARRI lighting Main AR and VR Integrator: NEP Physical Set Designs: Jago Design, UK Set Build: Marcoms (Studio A) and IBS Group (Studio B), UAE

A VIRTUAL NEWS Sky News Arabia has employed the latest virtual and augmented reality technologies as part of a massive editorial and technical revamp aimed at staying at the forefront of news reporting.

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PROCOVER

LANDSCAPE In an exclusive tour of the new facility in Abu Dhabi, Vijaya Cherian learns more about how the team intends to use this new generation of tools to drive audience engagement and participation

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PROCOVER

Virtual reality (VR) studio production and augmented reality (AR) technologies are transforming news broadcasting by offering a more immersive experience that brings stories to life as never before. These technologies are also at the heart of Abu Dhabiheadquartered Sky News Arabia’s recent technology and content revamp – the first since its launch in 2012 – aimed at enabling greater audience engagement and cementing its position as a news major in the Arab world across TV, radio and digital platforms.

Sky News Arabia (SNA), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) and Sky Limited, announced a complete editorial overhaul with a fresh line-up of presenters and a special selection of digital-only programming this April. The revamp

“Anyone who has been watching our programmes on TV since the launch would notice a huge difference, and the VR and AR sets have contributed to that wow factor” Wissam Ayoub, Studio Operations Director, Sky News Arabia saw the launch of one of the most advanced newsrooms in the region, with the addition of a brand-new wing that is now home to Studio B, a 400sqm studio boasting the UAE’s largest chromakey background at 15x11m. The large chroma area gives the broadcaster ample room to use a lighting grid for keying objects in positions where the presenters will be on the VR set. The facility also includes an outdoor landscape set

designed for the morning show.

Another major part of the announcement was the launch of Studio A, a 480sqm facility in the old wing that replaces the previous studio. 80% of the news programmes are done here.

Both studios are wired for seven cameras and have outstanding sets designed by award-winning British TV set design company Jago Design and built locally by Marcoms (Studio A) and IBS Group (Studio B), two UAE set builders.

Taking us proudly on a tour of the new studios is Wissam Ayoub, Studio Operations Director at SNA. “It's been seven years since Sky News Arabia was first launched, so it was time to upgrade our facilities and improve the way we tell stories to our viewers. With this in place, we are now better equipped to deliver compelling news and ensure

Sky News Arabia revamped its news studio and news gallery, bringing a new generation of tools to enhance its storytelling.

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PROCOVER

Wissam Ayoub, Studio Operations Director at SNA, says that leveraging AR and VR has enabled the channel to tap into new ways to reach audiences.

that we stay one step ahead of our competition,” says Ayoub.

David Clark, who recently took office at SNA as Chief Technology Officer, reiterates that the backbone of the new set-up is the AR and the VR components, adding that the broadcaster has worked with specific products and partners to realise its vision of creating a broadcasting environment designed for a new viewership that consumes news differently. He makes special mention of the Creative Graphics Designers division of Dutch firm NEP and of virtual studio production specialist Zero Density, who have both gained market recognition for the creative use of Unreal Engine in broadcast environments.

As a key integration partner in this part of the project, NEP’s technical artists and designers worked closely with Zero Density, using its Unreal Engine 4 technology to translate the broadcaster’s ideas into visually spectacular, photo-realistic sets. The result is an integrated workflow created by engineers, who have straddled with ease the traditional world of multi-camera production and a new generation of AR workflows such as keying, rendering, tracking and shading.

The result is three stunning virtual sets – one for sports programme Stadiums; one for The Evening, which analyses some of the big stories in the Arab world; and one for Timeline, which provides periodic news updates.

Ayoub says VR and AR, in combination with new camera and lighting solutions, do not just allow SNA to bring stunning visuals to viewers’ screens, but also create infinite possibilities to continuously revisit

and improve those visuals and backdrops over time, or to introduce new ones as the team gains more expertise in the technologies.

“Anyone who has been watching our programmes on TV since the launch would notice a huge difference, and the VR and AR sets have contributed to that wow factor.

What makes it more real is not just our state-of-the-art technology, but the use of special lighting systems in our studios,” he says, referring to the installation of the latest DMXcontrolled LED studio lighting, which allows greater flexibility with multi-colour set changes.

“These are not just normal lights.

This is a state-of-the-art system that plays with different colours and enhances the visual impact on the screens. It took us some time to achieve this, but we are really pleased with the results,” he adds, referring to the fact that each programme or subject matter can have its own colour scheme.

Another benefit of employing virtual sets with this specific technical combination is the ability to quickly move from one set to another for each programme, explains

The AR studio set for Sky News Arabia’s daily sports show Mala’eb.

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PROCOVER

Studio A boasts multiple sets and seven flexible moveable screens, as well as a 12m wide 4K video wall that can display very high-resolution graphics.

Clark. “Using our virtual sets, we can create different programmes on a single studio floor, and this really elevates our stories from a visual perspective. It also cuts down the time for set-up, so our sets can be used in a rolling 24/7 news environment. Virtual sets have really helped us push the boundaries.”

Although SNA currently goes on air with just three sets, the combinations and permutations possible with VR and AR are limited only by the team’s imagination.

“It all depends on how best we can tell the story and how often we want to use it. We could use it 24 hours a day if we needed to. All our sets have been developed with Zero Density and NEP’s support.

Their expertise has been great in kick-starting the project and helping us get on air. We have learnt a lot with NEP throughout this process.

Now all of our concepts are done in-house, and within the next six to 12 months, we plan to see our staff produce more virtual sets as well as more AR being used,” reveals Clark.

One technology especially worth dwelling on is Zero Density’s virtual studio production technology. This uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the most photo-realistic real-time game engine, as a 3D renderer in combination with Nvidia graphics cards. This software engine has gained a lot of respect in the industry for its fast rendering capabilities and the creative flexibility it offers those working with real-time applications.

Zero Density was quick to adopt this technology to offer creative solutions within the broadcast industry. Virtual studio designs can be rendered in real time with a delay of just one to four frames, depending on the tracking system and the 3D designs. This gives SNA the ability to get the most photorealistic composite output possible.

A majority of TV technologies have also traditionally been designed for presenters with lighter skin

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PROCOVER

The brand-new wing houses Studio B with a 15x11m chromakey area. All the physical sets were designed by British TV set design company Jago Design and built locally.

tones, and such sets are easier to light. When presenters have darker skin tones or wear black attire, shadows have conventionally posed a problem. Addressing this with more light has in the past only led to more shadows and numerous lighting challenges.

Zero Density’s keyer has the ability to embed standard shadows coming from fixed real studio lights into a virtual set design, meaning a viewer cannot distinguish between a virtual and a physical set. The ability to combine the two thus offers limitless possibilities.

Together with virtual lights, the look and feel of a set design can easily be readjusted, moving between day and night. The software allows shadows to change density intuitively, without changing the intensity of the fixed studio lights.

Similarly, when a presenter is holding an object like a bottle of water, the new keying technology allows the viewer to see through it, while the keying background continues to include natural shadows and reflections, and 3D AR objects appear completely real to the audience.

“Zero Density offers a lot more freedom when it comes to keying, which is essentially taking part of the video and making it transparent.

If a presenter is on set, this solution gives us the freedom to work on various elements that enable us to feel like we are operating in a real environment. We faced huge challenges in trying to put this together, but it was a very important learning curve,” Clark elaborates.

To maximise the potential of the Zero Density technology, SNA had to ensure it had the right type of cameras and lighting in place. “We had to put a lot of attention to detail in what cameras would be suitable, how the sets would be lit and how much light would be captured by those cameras to give the best possible experience,” explains

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PROCOVER

David Clark, CTO at SNA, says the VR and AR components are the backbone of the launch.

Clark, adding that the new studios feature Sony HDC-1700 cameras.

SNA also chose the Stype mapping system. With this, the broadcaster can create virtual sets even if the camera moves outside of the purview of the green key area, allowing the creation of ceilings and outside garden views, offering infinite possibilities for virtual sets.

“Zero Density not only gives us real depth but offers a real third dimension to the set, which has allowed us to have something far larger than our 15x11m surface area.

From a news presenting experience, this is really exciting, as it enables us to capture a lot more in terms of the environment, as opposed to a news presenter simply sitting in front of a desk,” Clark points out.

Ayoub cites an example.

“A presenter can be presenting a news story in our studio. With a few clicks of a button, the presenter could become a 3D model impacted by the ambience of the 3D environment, such as artificial lights, the glow of artificial flames and the refraction of artificial glass.”

SNA can also incorporate multiple real-time virtual video screens into

its virtual designs, including live feed interaction. The broadcaster can make virtual objects appear larger as they are brought closer to the viewer via camera, to mimic reality. NEP also delivered an interactive GUI allowing operators to easily control props like virtual screens, F1 cars and so on, and even control virtual lights, shadows and set changes.

Depending on the complexity of the design, a virtual set can be built within one to three months.

VR offers enormous flexibility to change the look and feel of sets, offering endless possibilities in news presentation.

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This is another reason why having such a large green screen has been helpful.

“We have gone with something that is large, in order to take that 3D object and give them the freedom to move within an environment.

The presenters are still getting familiar with how to use the large area within that space. Going forward, the presenters will get a lot more confident and understand how the wide array of tools on offer can help them tell the story more effectively,” explains Clark.

Studio A, where 80% of the news programming takes place, is another spectacular example of how SNA is pushing the boundaries, with multiple sets and seven flexible moveable screens, as well as a 12m wide, 1.2mm pitch 4K videowall which can display very high-resolution graphics.

“We are pushing the boundaries with such a large display. Vizrt with 4K has been implemented on those screens, and that has given us the option of having all of our on-air graphics on screen while the presenter is presenting in the same space. The system gives us the advantage of templating a lot of our content. For instance, a presenter can step into the studio and can use

PROCOVER

the screens to tell their story. With these tools, presenters can take their storytelling to another level.”

The new wing includes a new video and audio gallery, as well as edit and graphics suites, and can serve as a back-up for the main existing galleries, which presently control all the studios.

“When Studio B was created, we also built a new gallery which works online and offline. The most interesting aspect is that it can be used to record content in Studio B as well. All our camera sources are connected across our two galleries, which means that Studio B is not only a back-up to Studio A, but it can act as the main gallery as well,” explains Ayoub.

Interestingly, SNA carried on with seamless production of news while Studio A was being revamped; a small studio in the

“Zero Density not only gives us real depth but offers a real third dimension to the set, which has allowed us to have something far larger than our 15x11m surface area” David Clark, CTO, Sky News Arabia backyard filled in during the transition.

Most of the traditional integration was undertaken by Dubai-based TSL Systems Integration, in consultation with freelance Project Manager Arthur van der Ven, who was also involved in SNA’s integration seven years ago.

Once the VR and AR workflows have become seamless, Ayoub says the team has plans to build more studios and further integrate elements on the studio floor. Besides Sony HDC-1700 cameras,

SNA has invested in the latest Grass Valley Korona vision mixers.

With all these technologies in place, Clark is confident that SNA can significantly increase its editorial output.

“We want to combine that by maintaining the quality of what we deliver and spread that across not just the entire Middle East region, but globally as well. We want to be the best Arabic news source for the entire world. Given that there has been a solid base for the last seven years, we now want to take that to another level and be a world-class organisation.

“We really want to enable the storytelling and be a point of difference for not just an Arabic language news channel, but a channel that reaches across the region and into the rest of the world,” he concludes.

Other areas of the new facility.

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PROPRODUCTION

From FROZEN PLANET II - A Siberian tiger walks through deep snow in the Taiga forest, Russia.

Photographer credit - Ondrej Prosicky Agency.

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PROPRODUCTION

DOWN TO EARTH

With 3,000 hours of footage from across the seven continents, the BBC hopes to release one of its most ambitious natural history productions in late 2019, in the run-up to its centenary in 2022.

BroadcastPro ME learns more about how drone filming and music have enriched this production during a press interview with renowned naturalist David Attenborough; Executive Producer of One Planet: Seven Worlds, Jonny Keeling; and Academy Award-winning music composer Hans Zimmer The BBC recently announced five new natural history programmes in the run-up to its centenary in 2022.

The line-up includes landmark title One Planet: Seven Worlds and other segments of the BBC Planet strand, including Planet Earth III, Green Planet, Perfect Planet and Frozen Planet II. Select sequences from the programme were played at the BBC Studios Showcase in Liverpool.

Narrated by renowned naturalist David Attenborough, the seven-part series is expected to premiere this autumn.

At a roundtable with the press, Jonny Keeling, Executive Producer for One Planet: Seven Worlds, told us: “This is the first time we have told the story like this, which is continent by continent.

From where each continent sits on the planet, and its history, its size and its shape, it has a big impact on the animal life that is found there. Each continent is a one-hour episode, and each has a very different character and personality based on its geology and geography, and that’s our story really. It’s based on the

theory that the planet was initially one enormous continent that was broken apart hundreds of millions of years ago and this brought about a fundamental change that has partly driven the diversity on Earth. So, we have one episode for each of the continents, and they are very different from each other based on their geography and position on Earth.”

Asked about the criteria for selecting one story over the other to represent each continent, Keeling said: “For me, the question is, is it new? Does it have multiple beats to the story, and what is the range of emotional content in it, because we can’t have ten hunting sequences.

We were looking at a different emotional range. In Australia, for instance, we found some very unusual animals, but they were pretty much sitting there doing nothing, so that is not a story. That makes for a great magazine photo. We looked at how to tell a story differently and how it helps to represent the theme of the continent.”

Africa, for instance, is showcased as a furnace, while Australia is depicted as isolated and Antarctica as hostile.

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 25

PROPRODUCTION

“Africa has the largest land mass around the equator and it’s a continent with the most solar radiation in the world, and the volcanic heat beneath it has caused it to lift up and crack. Like this, we have chosen a single point of entry for each of the continents.

With South America, it is so rich because it sits on the equator and there is the wonderful bowl of the Amazon. We have some great desert stories from there,” said Keeling.

“North America’s climate is so dramatic with the mountains in the north and the south, and the polar air and the tropical air. We cover that. In Europe, a continent of 750 million people, we have mostly heard stories around its culture and history.

But Europe also has some incredible hidden wildernesses, and we have some great sequences from there that haven’t been shown before.”

Based on the select sequences we were privy to at the show, other impressive elements of the production are noteworthy.

For one, Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music will compose the theme and score of One Planet: Seven Worlds. Showcase attendees had

“Each continent is a onehour episode and each has a very different character and personality based on its geology and geography” Jonny Keeling, Executive Producer, One Planet: Seven Worlds the opportunity to hear how the music plays out in a sequence where fireflies light up a whole forest, and it provided incredible insight into how much thought goes into scoring a programme.

Zimmer, who has scored more than 150 films as well as Planet II and Blue Planet II, told us: “What I have tried to do through my music in this programme is include humanity… to bring our neighbours with whom we live closer together. Our mission is to recognise

From left: David Attenborough, Jonny Keeling and Hans Zimmer speak about the features that make the BBC Planet series an outstanding natural history programme.

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that this world is in danger. We have run out of time. Telling people all the time that it is dangerous and frightening them is not as effective as moving them. Our mission now is to move audiences a little bit, by including everyone a little bit.”

One big aspect of this programme is the extensive use of drones for shooting. Drones are used to fly through caves in Europe, through volcanoes at night in Asia, and around waterfalls and really close to water and animals. Keeling explained why drone filming has been so crucial to this production and has provided “a brand-new perspective to the series”.

“In some areas, you just could not have got that footage if it wasn’t for a drone. The drones have helped us reach places we traditionally can’t.

We’re able to see things from a long way off and film them, and that’s been the challenge in the past. To be able to look down and see that planned view perspective of the whales coming in, for instance, in one episode, could not have been done without having a drone in the air for most of the day. You can’t have a helicopter up all day because of the cost and the disturbance it creates.

“The view of the landscape from a helicopter is also mostly a forwardlooking shot, as opposed to what you get with a drone. You will see that the views of the landscape, the shapes and patterns of nature we see from drone filming, are very different and it shows our world in a very different light. With a drone, you can film behaviour you wouldn’t normally see, and the perspective

PROPRODUCTION

Fernandina Island, a part of the Galápagos Islands, from Perfect Planet.

Copyright and photographer Tui DeRoy, credit BBC, Tui DeRoy, Silverback Films.

you get of a single animal in its landscape, for instance, helps you suddenly recognise how challenging that landscape is for that animal.”

David Attenborough added at this point that with drone technology having improved vastly since his first drone shoot six years ago, he anticipates a whole new dimension of filming coming to natural history programming in the coming years “that is sure to blow your mind”.

“With helicopters, if you go low down, you go flat on the vegetation; and if you go up, you have to struggle

to get a decent shot. With drones, you can convey the grandeur of these landscapes and the iconic animals that live in these habitats. The technology has moved onward in leaps and bounds and helps you to achieve so much more. You will see this sensational sequence that was shot in South America that you just could not have filmed without drones.”

Keeling explained that he had visited the Andes four previous times over the last few years, but this was the first time he managed to get some amazing footage – thanks to drones. The team spent 10-12 weeks with two camera operators to get the Andes footage.

“It was a huge effort, but most of our drone pilots are young and have grown up with Xboxes and seem so good at flying and manoeuvring their drones through the forest. There are some really amazing shots where they come so close to the water or to the animals,” he said.

While the team joked about losing a few drones during filming, they also lamented the shrinking landscape as they

return to some places. Madagascar, for instance, is said to have lost almost 80% of its forest, leaving behind just small pockets of wilderness.

The sequences we saw, the music we heard and the stories the team narrated are without doubt a reflection of a huge commitment to natural history programming and keeping animals close to the hearts of the audience, with the aim of compelling us to do more to look after our natural resources.

This entire Planet strand was born with the launch of the BBC’s Planet Earth series in 2006. Green Planet, scheduled for 2021, will depict emotional stories and surprising heroes in the plant world. Perfect Planet, aiming for a 2020 release, will fuse natural history and earth sciences, while Frozen Planet II will dig deep into the wildernesses of the Arctic and Antarctica. The third season of Planet Earth will premiere in 2022.

One of the first pictures to be released from the BBC's One Planet: Seven Worlds programme.

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PROTECH

IP DRIVES INNOVATION IN PRODUCTION

While IP has become a given in large operations, smaller outfits like regional TV stations and local radio stations are now warming up to the benefits of this lean way of processing and sharing video and audio data, says Klaus-Jörg Jaspers Remote production is gaining traction all over the world for obvious reasons. It is easier on operators, who no longer need to travel to and fro; it allows broadcasters to control production costs; and broadcasters can make more efficient use of their most talented staff as well as their equipment. This has become possible thanks to the advent of IP as the transport medium of data (rather than signals) from a venue to the broadcaster’s premises and back, on a wide-area network (WAN).

Onward and upward IP makes equal sense in an on-campus setting, and even for OB trucks. In this scenario, IP-based audio and video products offer the advantage of easy local networking, reducing footprint and flexible scalability.

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Fibre-optic or CAT-5 cables can replace a whole bunch of audio and SDI cables, making patchbays and lengthy repatching operations obsolete – excellent news for the weight that OB trucks carry around.

A broadcaster in Abu Dhabi, for instance, has equipped its high-definition OB fleet with IP-native video processing units, audio consoles and overarching, vendor-agnostic VSM control systems. Quite a few radio stations in the area have followed suit.

Simplified cabling, drastic weight reduction and flexible, format-agnostic connectivity are only three advantages offered by native IP solutions. Customer-centric manufacturers have gone one better by implementing open standards to avoid manufacturer lock-in right from the start.

Network connections in the audio and broadcast world

PROTECH

“Resource pooling, scaling and clustering is unthinkable with baseband devices, which would require extensive physical repatching, while long-haul WAN connections are not even an option” Klaus-Jörg Jaspers, Sales Director, Lawo Middle East

are nothing new. But until two years ago, there were almost as many formats as there were manufacturers. Everybody thought they had found the best solution, which also presented a pleasant side-effect: their proprietary format allowed them to sell more gear to existing customers. Or so they thought. True to previous format wars, open standards eventually prevailed. In the case of IP, they were instigated by the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), which fosters the adoption of one set of

common, ubiquitous, standards-based protocols for interoperability over IP. A bunch of far-sighted manufacturers ventured into IP with open environments in mind and actively contributed to the development of standards like RAVENNA, AES67 and Ember+ for interoperability; SMPTE 2110 for the accurate transmission of audio, video, control and timing data; and SMPTE 2022-7 for redundant operation. Nowadays, professional users expect vendors to follow the standards of the AIMS Roadmap.

While IP is starting to be considered a given in large operations, smaller outfits, like regional TV stations and even local radio stations, are warming to the benefits of this lean way of processing and sharing video and audio data, just when everybody thought IP-savvy gear was so expensive that only hefty corporations could afford it.

Outfits still sticking to legacy solutions – baseband devices – believe migrating is too costly, because all existing equipment needs to be replaced in one go. This misconception is put to rest by the availability of IP-native devices that offer a variety of baseband inputs and outputs, and which convert SDI, AES3 and other formats to IP and back.

The migration to IP can be a gradual process where only devices that no longer live up to user expectations or can no longer be upgraded are replaced. Solutions that still perform as expected can be left in place.

There is a caveat, though. Some manufacturers offer gateways – units that convert baseband formats to IP, to allow users to stick to their existing equipment. Other vendors, on the other hand, build this gateway functionality into their next-generation devices with a much more powerful feature set.

The difference between these two approaches is that with a gateway added to an existing solution, users miss out on the power of newer technology. What point is there in equipping a used car with new tires in the hope of making it faster and more fuel-efficient, when other brands offer next-generation models with more horsepower and more efficient and flexible engines? The migration to IP can be a gradual process. Add-on gateways, however, are essentially an attempt to make old technology appear current.

Benefits of IP The benefits of IP include both interoperability and novel approaches to the service potential of IP devices. The most important of these is the possibility to retask devices for a variety of applications: multiviewer applications, up/ down/cross-format conversions, etc. Software-defined hardware allows users to flexibly scale and match their resources according to production requirements, in the same way that computers are used for a variety of applications.

Given the right control software (Ember+, for instance), reconfiguring such a resource pool is lightning fast; at the press of a button, users can select the feature set they need for the task at hand. This reconfigures the hardware in front of them and all required connections (no repatching needed). Broadcast service suppliers and corporations in Germany, Australia, the US, the UK, Sweden and many other countries already work this way.

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 29

PROTECH

Some manufacturers have adopted an all-IP approach in order to grow in a smart and flexible way.

Devices based on fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FGPAs) – i.e. software-defined hardware – can additionally be used in clusters where several processing blades share the workload based on availability.

Advanced routines take care of distributing tasks automatically among the members of a cluster.

The processing blades do not need to be available in one physical location. Like gear hubs, they can be scattered across the globe, allowing operators in one part of the world to leverage the horsepower of FGPA modules in areas where the workload is much lower.

Resource pooling, scaling and clustering is unthinkable with baseband devices, which would require extensive physical repatching, while long-haul WAN connections are not even an option.

Thanks to IP, a lot of users have developed distributed set-ups involving studios in two or more cities. Control formats like Ember+, which are also transported over IP lines, allow a user on the American east coast, say, to remotely control video cameras, mixing consoles and a variety of other devices on the west coast – or in Asia.

“Thanks to IP, a lot of users have developed distributed set-ups involving studios in two or more cities” Klaus-Jörg Jaspers, Sales Director, Lawo Middle East Most users have started to leverage the WAN capability of their equipment to a point where the processing cores are centralised in one city or part of the world, while users in need of that processing power are located elsewhere. A device can be accessed from several locations and thus used to its full potential, which makes financial sense. Installing

The benefits of IP include both interoperability and novel approaches to the service potential of IP devices.

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devices in every facility or studio is far more costly and leaves them unused for longer periods. Sharing them makes a lot of sense.

See you online Are there any downsides to going IP? Not if you accept that IP requires a paradigm shift involving people able to think in terms of data packets and switch fabrics for broadcast applications. This is something that can be learned.

While only a year ago the biggest challenge posed by an IP network was that nobody really knew the routes used by data packets or how to troubleshoot, this has since been overcome by system monitoring and telemetry software that makes the entire network transparent and easy to maintain.

IP is very much here to stay, and the migration is already in full swing.

See you online soon, then?

Klaus-Jörg Jaspers is Sales Director at Lawo Middle East.

The world’s most influential media, entertainment and technology show 13- 17 September 2019 | RAI, Amsterdam

FROM TRADITIONAL BROADCASTING TO OTT, VR, AR AND ESPORTS

Register before 16 August to get your free visitor pass or the early booking conference discount

See it differently.

show.ibc.org

PROPRODUCTION

A COMEDY OF ERRORS

Image Nation's latest production, Emirati body-swapping film Rashid & Rajab, has attracted international attention with a sales agent secured at Cannes. The film’s producers share their experience with Rachel Dawson

At its core, Rashid & Rajab is a film about parallels, not just of characters, but of cultures too.

While humour might be a sign of wit and intelligence, making a slapstick comedy involves ticking the right production boxes to ensure viewers are left with splitting sides, say the producers of Emirati comedy Rashid & Rajab, released in UAE cinemas this Eid al-Fitr.

It is the first live-action feature film from Emirati director Mohammed Saeed Harib, best known as the creator of animated TV series Freej. The film was produced by Emirati filmmakers Ali Mostafa (The Worthy, From A To B) and Majid Alansari (Zinzana), alongside Breakout Film’s Rami Yasin (Shabab Sheyab).

The family-friendly comedy follows wealthy Emirati executive Rashid (Marwan Abdullah Saleh) and carefree

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Egyptian fast-food deliveryman Rajab (Shadi Alfons), who switch bodies after a freak accident on the way to work. As they desperately look for a way to revert to their former selves, the unlikely pair gain a different perspective into each other’s lives.

Speaking on the film’s translation from paper to screen, director-producer Rami Yasin said: “Working on this feature has been extremely interesting for several reasons. The first being that we’ve worked on the script for a long time; also the nature of the film and its storyline, which sees the coming together of different cultures; finally, working alongside Mohammed Saeed Harib, who is an extremely accomplished creative mind and storyteller but had only worked in animation before.”

The scriptwriting process lasted approximately two

PROPRODUCTION

years, says Yasin. Despite the long incubation period, he says: “We all feel extremely proud of the film and the work that’s been done. It was amazing to see how Harib specifically translated his animation style and mood into a live-action feature film. I think people who know his work will see Mohammed Saeed Harib all over the film, even though it’s live action.”

The team of co-producers explain that without their creative collaboration with Harib, the film wouldn’t have been half as fulfilling. Yasin adds that their goal was to enable Harib to “translate the beautiful world he creates in his mind into live action with live performances”.

“This film has been through various stages. I was aware of the project being in the pipeline for years, but it has changed concept over time. So when the concept of Rashid & Rajab came about and I was asked to be onboard as a producer, I immediately said yes,” explains Mostafa, who is director, writer and producer.

He admits that on day one of filming, he observed everything going on and questioned the approach.

“Unfortunately for me, I’m more a director than I am a producer. When I read the script for Rashid & Rajab, naturally, I envisioned the look and feel of the film very differently.

“At the end of day one, I understood that I was not familiar with seeing a bunch of layers of comedy happening, instead of just one. That day I got home and realised that the film offers the viewers comedy with a bunch of high production values. After that, I took off that director’s hat, burned it and threw it away. I put on my producer’s hat to make sure to do whatever it takes to ensure everything Harib envisioned was reflected on the screen.”

Rashid & Rajab is not the first project the three producers have worked on together. They previously collaborated on films

Mostafa was given Esquire Magazine's Man at His Best award in 2014, for his contributions to the development of the Emirati film industry.

Yasin's short, In Overtime, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.

He is currently working on his feature directorial debut, A Dog's Tail.

Variety called Alansari's film Zinzana "a world-class neo-noir thriller" and named him Arab Filmmaker of the Year at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

such as From A to B, Sea Shadows, Zinzana and The Worthy.

Yasin says: “Since we’ve worked together before, we know our styles and strengths, and that’s why it’s very easy for us to work together.

We don’t necessarily need to discuss and lay lines to separate ourselves, and yet we manage to do the same thing, each in our own forte. For us it’s simple – we’re all multi-taskers, we wear different hats, and we help each other with movies. So each of us naturally fell into place, collectively giving Harib the support he required.”

Mostafa adds: “I feel it would have been a tough set had we not had that personal background of working together.”

“There would have been a lot of blood and killing involved had we not known each other,” Alansari jokes.

While this is the first full-fledged comedy the three have worked on together, they enjoy dabbling in other genres. They credit Image Nation for all its support and umpteen opportunities to explore a diverse trajectory of films.

“Over the past three to four years, we’ve worked on From A to B, which is a dramedy, then Zinzana, which is a psychological thriller. Next we went on to work on The Worthy, the first Arabic-language post-apocalyptic film, and suddenly we landed Rashid & Rajab, which is 100% comedy, all thanks to Image Nation,” notes Yasin.

Despite this being the team’s first body-switch comedy, the concept is not entirely new. We asked the producers to share their thoughts on comparisons with Hollywood body-switches.

“I feel like even though the body-switch concept might be tried and tested a thousand times before, our film puts a spotlight on Emirati culture, and this is what makes it stand apart. This film is unique not because of the bodyswitch concept, but because of the characters,” Alansari explains.

Shot across old and new

www.broadcastprome.com | 33

PROPRODUCTION

Dubai, the film covers the entire city, from Downtown Dubai and Karama all the way to the Green Planet, Sheikh Zayed Road and more. “Dubai itself as a city is a character in the film,” says Yasin.

The shoot lasted 36 days. “This has been one of our longest shoots, and it’s probably not apparent in the film, but our days were chocka-block. There wasn’t a single day where we finished before our twelve-hour mark, because there were a lot of shots and a lot of setups. As I mentioned before, having a good team around enabled us to achieve a lot,” Yasin explains.

The medium-budget film had single- and multi-camera days, depending on the sets needed. It also shot on ARRI cameras and used special heavy equipment, such as cranes, for specific scenes says Yasin.

While Yasin took care of the physical side of production, ensuring the crew followed routines and everything was done according to the vision of Harib, Mostafa oversaw various production aspects that dealt with the technical aspect of live-action shots. Alansari was involved in the development, delivery and post-production aspects.

“It was amazing to see how Harib specifically translated his animation style and mood into a live-action feature film” Rami Yasin, Producer, Rashid & Rajab Since music is a critical element of the comedy, Alansari says Harib ensured they got British composer Jerry Lane and the London Contemporary Orchestra to record approximately 80% of the high-energy musical pieces.

He adds that Harib was extremely particular about the score.

Rashid & Rajab was acquired by international sales agent AGC International at the Cannes Film Festival

The cast and crew of Rashid & Rajab at the film premiere in May at the Rhodes Lounge, Mall of the Emirates.

34 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

in France in May, and as a result will be distributed globally. What do the producers hope international audiences take away from the film?

Mostafa says: “That we’re light-hearted and we can laugh at ourselves.”

Alansari adds: “It’s about showcasing our culture to the world.”

Yasin observes: “How can you do comedy if you can’t laugh at yourself too?

“This film is almost like taking the mask off and saying this is who we really are, and these are the challenges in our lives.

There’s an assumption that Arabs and Emiratis are all rich – but at the start of the film, you see a character who is bankrupt.

“International audiences are used to Arab cinema that comes out of festivals – the festival darlings, as we call them.

“With Rashid & Rajab, we’re trying to carve out a new generation of movies that attract regular customers to cinemas so that we can grow our industry. Our hope is that just like audiences in the region, audiences elsewhere can experience a bodyswitch comedy, shot in Dubai, in the Arabic language.”

PROCONNECTECHASIA

CONNECTECHASIA CONCLUDES ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EDITION Asia’s mega infocomm, media and technology event showcased the latest innovations to help the region thrive in the digital age

ConnecTechAsia2019, comprising BroadcastAsia, CommunicAsia and NXTAsia, kicked off on June 18, 2019 in Singapore and showcased the latest technologies and trends shaping Asia's digital future.

The ConnecTechAsia Summit, themed Shaping Future Societies, brought together thought leaders from infocomm, technology, media and enterprises to discuss what is driving digital transformation in the region, and how the latest tech trends and innovations are changing the landscapes of cities, economies, business and media The three-day show attracted several first-time exhibitors such as JVC, ETC and KT Corp. These companies got together at the event to outline the latest tech innovations, create new business and network opportunities, and impart thought leadership to visitors from around the world.

Ranking as the region's largest telecommunication, media and technology event, the show attracted over

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1,700 exhibitors and over 40,000 attendees this year.

ConnecTechAsia also featured a series of panel discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence, IoT and cybersecurity.

BroadcastPro ME caught up with Calvin Koh, Sales Director, Telecom | Media | Technology, Informa Markets, to find out more about some aspects of the show.

Highlights from ConnecTechAsia2019 What’s unique this year at ConnecTechAsia is Informa’s involvement that brings along knowledge and intelligence verticals that supported our event.

We worked very closely with Informa Tech verticals including Ovum, Tractica and Light Reading, and their involvement has put a lot of emphasis on AI, IoT and cloud technologies at our show, especially since these partners are the market leaders in some of these verticals.

In partnership with our knowledge partners, we created

PROCONNECTECHASIA

Calvin Koh says ConnecTechAsia2019 highlighted current digital trends and offered more networking opportunities than ever before.

a more interactive show floor with more opportunities for on-site content. Since early this year, our emphasis has been on generating content for our visitors, media partners and our associations.

The show featured several on-site venues for engagement, such as the TVeXchange Zone, Innovation Hub, Content Stage, 5G Xperience, SatComm Stage and InfoSec in the City.

Local and international exhibitors at the show First-time exhibitors at BroadcastAsia included AEV/TEM (Italy), Anyware Video (France), ASPECTRA (Netherlands), Azdio (UK), The Streaming Company (UK), OPEN BROADCAST (UK) and Simplestream Limited (UK).

85% of these exhibitors were from overseas. We had over 50 country-specific pavilions at the show, including the UK, France, Russia, Romania, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The show had local and international players participating.

One of the strengths of our show is the national government’s support internationally.

Networking and engagement opportunities for attendees This year brought together approximately 200 thought leaders at the summit and an overall 200+ activities and workshops.

We provided exhibitors with complimentary networking opportunities such as the exhibitors’ breakfast and the sun downer sessions. Platforms such as the CIO and CEO Forum provided exhibitors and visitors with several networking opportunities.

The aim was to bring the exhibition to a new level. Instead of a stand-alone exhibition, we wanted to ensure visitors experienced a holistic conference as well as plenty of opportunities to

“The aim was to bring the exhibition to a new level.

Instead of a stand-alone exhibition, we wanted to ensure visitors experienced a holistic conference as well as plenty of opportunities to engage with exhibitors and speakers” Calvin Koh, Sales Director, Telecom | Media | Technology, Informa Markets engage with exhibitors and speakers.

Pre-show roadshows During the run-up to ConnecTechAsia, we held a series of roadshows in Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore.

We also held a number of preshow breakfast tech talks with our knowledge partner Ovum in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. These were part of our continuous engagement with key stakeholders and industry players.

The talks were for C- and seniorlevel executives and we had Andrew Milroy, Head of Advisory Services - Asia Pacific, Ovum, as well as speakers from each country, share insights on the latest innovations and new technologies, as well as highlight growth opportunities in a fast-evolving digital environment.

Trends in the APAC market I think many of the industry

players are looking at how AI can facilitate their operations.

Some esports games have truly benefited from AI. We see AI playing a very significant role, especially in driving advertising.

Exhibitors have realised that with 5G in place, the certain reality is that convergence is going to impact all businesses, and we must come together.

Businesses are trying to grapple with who has the best revenue model and how to sustain them.

I think we’re also exploring cybersecurity and content security with AI and blockchain to reduce piracy.

These are some of the issues that can be addressed with our show coming together. Blockchain, for instance, can help counter piracy.

With the coming together of BroadcastAsia, NXT and CommunicAsia, we can expect AI and blockchain to be truly manifested in a bigger way.

Expectations from ConnecTechAsia2020 Enterprises, media and telecommunication companies will eventually rely more on 5G. With that in mind, and in view of providing more convenience for visitors, we will bring the event back to Marina Bay Sands in 2020.

The show will take place from June 9 to 11, 2020.

One thing to look forward to next year is the continued partnership with our Informa partners. We plan to continue to create a series of roadshows as part of our outreach program by June next year.

BroadcastAsia will be held at Basement 2 of MBS, CommunicAsia on Level 1, and NXT on Level 5.

What we want to do is reshowcase what ConnecTechAsia is all about – after all, it’s about the converging of each of these sectors and verticals, and we have to live up to that.

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 37

PROCONNECTECHASIA

VITEC offers ultra-low latency with new encoders VITEC’s ultra-low-latency and time-synced IP contribution solutions in broadcast-grade HEVC and its EZ TV IPTV & Digital Signage Solution were in focus at BroadcastAsia this year.

"With ultra-low-latency streaming in HEVC, VITEC provides a solution where every bit and millisecond counts for workflows within the broadcast market.

A high-quality and ultra-fast HEVC encoder is paramount to reducing latency and bit rate while

SPOTTED IN SINGAPORE “X-dream is a software distribution company offering desktop tools and server software for everything from ingest, transcoding and editing to workflow management, asset management, news production, crossmedia publishing and scheduling.

“The big topics for our

maintaining excellent video quality during transmission," said Bruno Teissier, international sales and marketing director, VITEC. Featured were the MGW Ace Encoder and MGW Ace Decoder pair that delivers zero-latency contribution with 16 ms glassto-glass latency thanks to the VITEC HEVC GEN2+ codec. This codec provides best-in-class HEVC video quality up to 4:2:2 10-bit, setting new industry standards in video quality.

customers centre around archiving and making their content searchable on their platforms. All our software is on-premise or softwareas-a-service (SaaS). Our European customers prefer on-premise solutions because they don’t want to share it on public cloud.

Those with bad internet connectivity also prefer on-premise solutions. Our smaller customers prefer SaaS. Everybody needs to get content out of their archives and get it digitised, if they are to monetise it.

Our job begins after the content has been digitised.

Our tools have the ability to enrich metadata and use machine learning to add more metadata.”

Jutta Schonhaar, Managing Director, x-dream

38 | www.broadcastprome.com | July 2019

SPOTTED IN SINGAPORE “It’s the demand for online video content, especially VR, 4K and UHD content which require a lot of bandwidth, that will catalyse 5G adoption.

“I see broadcast starting the trend, followed by IoT, which will take advantage of the high speed that 5G offers, ensuring its more widespread adoption. The

big technical issue is that the current LTE technology already uses a lot of cells.

5G will require even more transmitters within each location, and this requires a lot more investment and time to roll out.

“The IABM is looking to educate and help its members have common goals for the usage of technologies like 5G. There are industry discussions on how 5G will work with DVB and ATSC, for instance.

I see a hybrid solution that combines DVB and ATSC with 5G as the ideal solution, where devices can switch between DVB and 5G seamlessly as they move from linear live broadcasts to on-demand content on different devices.”

Stan Moote, CTO, IABM

ChyronHego in PRIME position at APAC show ChyronHego's PRIME graphics platform is the next generation of the ChyronHego Lyric realtime graphics solutions.

Stacking an array of diverse applications into a single design, authoring, and playout solution, the PRIME Graphics Platform is designed to deliver complete solutions for any use

case, resolution and workflow.

Designed with versatility in mind, the PRIME Graphics Platform can be configured for character generation, channel branding, clip server, video wall, and touchscreen production needs.

ChyronHego was at BroadcastAsia with partner Magna Systems & Engineering.

PROCONNECTECHASIA

TAG Video Systems takes software approach TAG Video Systems’ software IP-based UHD platform targets the three primary media applications – live production, playout and distribution.

TAG’s software approach, operating on standard COTS server hardware, promises to enable broadcasters to leverage the scale and agility

SPOTTED IN SINGAPORE

that comes with softwaredeployed IP solutions.

The company’s MCM9000 platform combines monitoring of compressed and uncompressed signals.

TAG’s technology allows low latency to display, along with features such as Tally and dynamic UMD integration for live production applications.

“The APAC market is huge for us when we include China. This is the first time we are offering the Bolero Standalone Application in the APAC market. The stand-alone product is a plug-and-play solution with no IP configuration needed. All you need is an antenna, the belt packs and the charger. With

and that’s something only we offer in HEVC compression. At APAC, we have demonstrated our wireless camera technology. MENA is largely similar to APAC in terms of the kind of technology needs. Their demands in SPOTTED IN terms of compression and modulation techniques are SINGAPORE very similar. The need for low latency is a big driver for our products. Today, “Vislink has come together data and content is the new with IMT and taken a best- currency, whether it is social media or broadcasting. So of-breed approach. Our new product set comes with essentially, people want much better picture quality HEVC compression, which and very high efficiency allows 4K transmission for at the lowest possible the industry; it supports bandwidth and latency.

HDR compatibility and And that’s something we have the smallest, we offer efficiently.” lightest and lowest latency David Robbins, Global in the industry. We have Sales Director, Vislink just a one-frame delay,

the Bolero Standalone Application, antennas are daisy-chained in a line or a redundant ring via a low-latency, synchronised TDM network.

“We have a singleRU, half-width external interface box that connects directly to any antenna system and can be patched into an existing intercom system. It is easily configured via a web GUI internal to the antennas.

It also offers Bluetooth support and a new beltpack QuickMute feature to set the volume of all channels to zero. This is now being used in a lot of challenging sports environments.”

Christian Bockskopf, Head of Marketing and Communications, Riedel Communications

Grass Valley exhibits app-driven solutions Grass Valley demonstrated how its solutions enable seamless workflows for live and at-home/ remote production.

The latest version of Grass Valley’s live highlights and replay system LiveTouch, which integrates 4K UHD slow-motion

replay, direct playout and full super-slow-motion support, was on display, along with the Kula production switcher with IP I/O. This compact switcher packs the functionality of a larger switcher into a 2RU space, making it ideal for a wide range of applications.

July 2019 | www.broadcastprome.com | 39

PROGUEST

“An open IP approach enables [end users] to add workflows and spin up and take down services as needed”

Standards drive momentum as IP gathers pace Smartphone user numbers will reach 2.87bn worldwide by 2020, according to Statistica, driving consumers to access content in more diverse ways. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is no exception, seeing strong growth in mobile broadband usage; the GSMA expects penetration rates to reach 90% in 2025, up from 59% in 2017.

Combined with the growing fragmentation of the market – thanks to new OTT and pay-TV providers – broadcasters are under pressure to deliver services across a wide range of platforms, giving consumers anytime, anywhere access on any screen. MENA SVOD revenues will reach $2.13bn by 2024, according to forecasts from Research and Markets, with SVOD subscriptions rising to 26.51m in the same period.

Major regional broadcast networks like MBC, Rotana, Nile TV and Dubai Media Inc (DMI) are responding by diversifying their offerings to OTT, on-demand and live streaming options.

However, adding these new services brings added complexity to the back office and can slow down workflows.

At a time when the 4K transition is in progress, consumer demand for stunning images, simultaneous access to content on all platforms, social media integration and captivating viewing experiences puts enormous pressure on traditional SDI environments.

As they take on these challenges, broadcasters and media houses need more flexible, scalable and agile infrastructures that can

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support multiplatform services, are format agnostic and can rapidly scale up or down as needed.

The solution lies in Open IP. IP is an effective way of meeting the challenges that media organisations face. Work by bodies such as the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and the ratification of the SMPTE ST2110 standard have gone a long way to addressing early concerns about interoperability, price and the need for comparable functionality to SDI environments.

This is driving market momentum.

Initiatives by AIMS and SMPTE enable customers to select best-ofbreed solutions from multiple vendors, knowing that they will all work together.

Additionally, a standards-based approach allows facilities to operate in an all-IP environment, eliminating the need for separate SDI and IP switching and routing infrastructures.

As with any technology migration, the move to IP must align with customers’ strategic objectives. An open standardsbased approach to IP allows OB companies and service providers to deliver the quality of service that clients have come to expect from SDI. SMPTE ST2110 also provides greater bandwidth efficiency; reliable, fast SDI-level performance; full operator transparency in IP environments; independent audio and video routing; and clean switching.

Proprietary, closed environments are limited in their ability to adapt as broadcast requirements change.

In a market where the needs of broadcasters and media organisations can change in a six- to eight-month

period, protecting investments longterm is critical. An open IP approach enables them to add workflows and spin up and take down services as needed.

The effort behind SMPTE ST2110 has gone a long way towards pushing IP migration forward. Many vendors today offer native IP connectivity – from cameras to production switchers, processing to multiviewers, routers and servers. Solutions from multiple vendors will be compatible with one another. This option further cements the need for open standards and their inherent interoperability.

OB customers such as Mobile TV Group (MTVG) are now investing in glass-to-glass open standards-based infrastructures for new trucks, and this trend will continue.

The real potential of IP, however, lies in transforming the way production teams work – especially in the live production environment. Remote at-home production is just one way that IP can radically shift broadcasters’ approach.

Using IP connections allows cameras and base stations to be separated by very long distances. Once signals are received in the production centre, operators can match the cameras using operational control panels (OCPs) and switch the programme as they would in a standard live production set-up.

As IP technology matures and price points come down, IP will no longer be a solution reserved for large facilities or premium events with big budgets.

Customers are already looking at creating innovative workflows underpinned by scalable, agile IP infrastructures.

Chuck Meyer is CTO Production at Grass Valley

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