NEWS

Ninetnine launches 10 premium linear Arabic channels on Sling TV in the US

Ninetnine, a content provider to cable and OTT platforms, has launched 10 premium linear North African channels in the US on Dish Network’s OTT service, Sling TV. The channels, which will be available free to households across the US as part of an AVOD business model, include Nessma TV, Samira TV, Lina TV, 2M Monde and Al Aoula. This is Ninetnine’s first step into the US content distribution market.

Ninetnine co-founders Samir Zehani and Adel Hamla said: “We know exactly what North Africans living abroad want to watch. We’ve already generated pay-TV revenues for some of these TV channels in France via our pay-TV service Le Bouquet Maghreb. The focus now is conquering new territories. Sling TV was the best fit for our requirements, and we are excited for the launch.”

Tarak Ben Ammar, an international film producer and investor in Nessma TV, added: “Our partnership with Ninetnine has been paramount in our international expansion. Their expertise in taking our content to new audiences is valuable, and now we are glad to explore the opportunities of AVOD with one of the best platforms in the US.”

Ninetnine and Dish Network decided to launch the channels free-to-air based on the uptake of AVOD services across the US over the past year. A recent Global AVOD Forecasts 2021 report stated that the US has the most developed OTT sector in the world and the most developed advertising market. It also said: “US AVOD revenues will triple between 2020 and 2026 to $31bn. Rather than lose market share as other countries catch up, the US will grow its share of the global total from 37% in 2020 to 47% by 2026.”

To meet the demands of this audience, Dish Networks, which launched the Sling TV service in 2015, has recently launched a new beta app which includes a powerful personalisation engine to make content discovery more intuitive and engaging.

With US AVOD revenues predicted to triple between 2020 and 2026 to $31bn, Dish TV hopes to enjoy a bigger share in the US market with its content strategy.

Hariharan takes over from Anurag Agrawal as MD of Canon Middle East

Hariharan has been working with Canon ME for the last 15 years.

Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan took over as Managing Director of Canon Middle East and Turkey (CMET) last month from Anurag Agrawal, who has retired and moved back to Canada.

In his new role, Hariharan will oversee the immediate post-pandemic transition, business recovery plans and Canon Turkey integration, as well as focus on longterm goals of geographical expansion into key markets, driving the customer and people-focused agenda, product diversification and strengthened digital transformation.

BeIN Sports secures several MENA broadcast rights deals

BeIN has signed a new agreement with Bundesliga Worldwide, extending its broadcast rights to Bundesliga matches in France, held since 2012, up to 2025. The two parties have also signed a new deal that gives it rights to broadcast the games in Turkey. The exclusive agreements grant beIN rights to all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga matches in the two countries.

In other news, BeIN Sports secured exclusive broadcast rights to this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup 2021 in 24 countries. The matches were aired in France, Turkey, MENA and APAC (excluding Australia and Indonesia). It also broadcast the 2021 Wimbledon Championship live and exclusively across MENA on dedicated channels in three languages – English, Arabic and French.

KSA's Ithra Film Productions teams up with Mohamed Hefzy for two films

Ithra, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, has announced two new film productions at Cannes Film Festival. They follow the successful international release of Ithra’s first commissioned film Joud, described as “an unconventional meditation on the cycle of life” and an “ancient poem for modern times”.

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is joining hands with Ithra on Sea of Sands (working title), a coming-of-age story centred around a young orphan Bedouin and a camel who form a special bond and embark on a journey across Saudi Arabia. Hefzy has written, produced and coproduced nearly 40 feature films in Egypt, the US, the UK and the Arab world.

Ithra is also producing Saudi filmmaker Khalid Fahad’s Valley Road. The film follows the odyssey of Ali, an autistic young man who gets lost on the way to see a doctor in a nearby village. Ali finds himself alone in the middle of nowhere, where a series of obstacles and challenges cannot stop him from discovering the world ahead of him.

The films are part of Ithra’s commitment to nurture and develop talent across the Kingdom’s creative industries. Both movies, produced under the Ithra Film Productions banner, are scheduled for release in 2023. Ithra said the cast and crew for both would consist of aspiring Saudi talent, which would nurture a generation of film creatives.

Red Sea Film Festival announces availability of $14m in funding for projects by Arab and Saudi filmmakers

This funding will help the festival support 100 projects from the Arab world.

The Red Sea International Film Festival, which previously announced a $10m fund for projects, recently received an additional $4m from the Saudi Film Commission to support the development of 40 new films from Saudi and Arab filmmakers. With this fund, the department can now help produce 100 feature films and short projects as well as episodics with directors from the Arab world and Africa.

The fund, currently open for submissions, will also help restore up to 10 classic Arab films. This support is in addition to funding awarded to Saudi and Arab filmmakers through the Red Sea Lodge, which has had a hugely positive impact in supporting diverse projects, awarding production grants of $500,000 to Sharshaf by Hind Alfahhad and Bullets & Bread by Mohammed Hammad.

The fund is part of the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation’s commitment to the regional screen sector, which also includes the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival that will take place from December 6-15, 2021, including its marketplace, the Red Sea Souk, from December 8-11.

The festival also recently appointed Mohammed Al-Turki as Chairman of the Festival Committee. Al-Turki is a renowned producer from the Kingdom with a career spanning over 10 years in both Hollywood and the Arab world.

YouTube Shorts launches in the UAE

YouTube has launched the beta version in the UAE of YouTube Shorts, its new short-form video experience to create short, catchy videos from mobile phones. First announced in September 2020, YouTube has since expanded Shorts to 26 countries and it will now be available across more than 100 countries, including in MENA.

DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor Introducing a new generation of fast editing by combining the cut page with a custom edit keyboard.

DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor is designed in conjunction with the cut page to make editing dramatically faster. You get physical controls that make the experience faster than software only editing. The machined metal search dial with soft rubber coating allows accurate search and positioning of the timeline. Plus trim keys allow the search dial to be used for live trimming, which is faster and more accurate! Intelligent Edit Modes

Cut page editing functions are intelligent and take advantage of the speed of a keyboard. They use the ‘smart indicator’ in the timeline to work out where to insert, so you don’t always need to place in or out points to do an edit! Each time you edit, the cut page saves time by staying in the source tape. It’s much faster as you can keep browsing, throwing clips into the timeline!

Search Dial Control

The search dial is very large and has a weighted feel so it can be spun fast to move up and down the timeline quickly. However the search dial is more than this, simply press one of the trim buttons and it transforms into a large adjustment knob for real time, precise trimming! You can select various trim modes with your left hand and adjust the trim with your right.

Source Tape for Scrolling Clips

In the old days, editing using videotape had the advantage of all media being on a tape that could be scrolled up and down so you could see all your shots! Now the cut page has a modern version of the videotape called ‘source tape’. Simply push the source button and use the search dial to scroll through all the media in your project! Plus, the current clip is highlighted live in the bin! Sync Bin Multi-cam Editing

The sync bin lets you do multi-cam editing by searching through all your media and showing you any matching clips to use as cutaways. It makes multi-cam editing fast! You can select cameras simply by pressing the number on the keyboard. Or you can hold down the camera number while spinning the search dial to paint the cutaway into the timeline directly! It’s so fast!

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Arab Telemedia and OD Media sign content distribution deal

Jordanian firm Arab Telemedia and Dutch content services company ODMedia, which recently opened an office in Dubai with Fatme Kayed helming the operation, have signed an aggregation and distribution deal. Under the agreement, viewers will have access to exclusive movie titles from Arab Telemedia. As a result, viewers in 150 countries will be able to preview Arab Telemedia’s 75 neverbefore-seen movies on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.

In addition to offering the full range of technical delivery services, ODMedia acts as an aggregator for the major platforms, providing digital rights management, monetisation, target audience development and cross-promotion.

Spacetoon achieves over 2bn YouTube views and 6m subscribers

Spacetoon has announced reaching 6m subscribers and over 2bn views on its YouTube channel, and claims to be the first Arabic animation TV channel to hit this number. The Spacetoon YouTube channel recorded 1m subscribers, 4.5bn impressions, over 400m views and 26.8m hours of watching in Q1 and Q2 of 2021.

The company revealed that part of this increase came as a result of new original animation The Moshaya Family Animation, which has contributed to boosting overall views on the YouTube channel since the show premiered in January.

Yas Creative Hub to launch in Abu Dhabi in November 2021

Twofour54 Abu Dhabi has announced that Yas Creative Hub, the home for Abu Dhabi’s media, gaming and entertainment sector, is set to open its doors in November with a diverse group of global companies, SMEs and freelance professionals. The 270,000sqm project is expected to create jobs for up to 16,000 professionals by the end of 2031, tripling the number of people employed in the sectors in the capital.

The hub will become the new home of twofour54 Abu Dhabi. Facilities will include five towers, the Arab Film Studio, a 26,000sqm external amphitheatre and 26,000sqm of rooftop space. The campus will double the amount of studio space available in the emirate. There will be a 6,500sqm studio and production space at the hub that will help to double the number of international and local productions Abu Dhabi can host each year. The site will be the size of 40 football pitches when completed.

Yas Creative Hub will be the new home of twofour54 Abu Dhabi.

Jordan in AV co-production agreement with Belgium

The Embassy of Belgium in Jordan and the Government of Flanders in Belgium have signed a fiveyear audiovisual coproduction agreement with the support of the Royal Film Commission in Jordan (RFC). The agreement aims to establish a framework between the two countries in the AV sector, and specifically for co-productions. The signing took place at RFC’s premises in Jordan.

The nineteen articles of this agreement detail the conditions for obtaining an AV co-production status including the eligibility of beneficiaries, the rights of co-producers, the conditions for participating in international film festivals, co-productions with third parties, facilitating the entry and residence of the related creative and technical personnel in the two countries, facilitating the import and reexport of equipment for the production and distribution of works that fall within this agreement, and crediting the Jordanian and Belgian governments in the credit titles of the co-produced works.

IP Studios manages production and broadcast for UAE's Social Knockout

Abu Dhabi-based IP Studios recently completed the broadcast production and management services for the UAE’s first-ever influencer combat event, Social Knockout, on July 30 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. IP Studios was awarded the contract by UAE MMA pioneer Tam Khan, who is also the founder of TK Fight Nights, TK MMA and Fitness Dubai.

Social Knockout featured young Dubai businessman and influencer Rashed Saif Belhasa, aka Money Kicks, who has millions of followers on social media, alongside international YouTube star Anas Elshayib, who boasts 2.7m subscribers on the platform.

“This was the first event of its kind involving social influencers and celebrities,” Mohamad Yehya, CEO and founder of IP Studios, told BroadcastPro ME. “Rashed Saif Belhasa and Anas Elshayib made their Middle East boxing debut at the event.”

At least 10 exhibition fights featured on the night. Rappers Fat Joe and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie as well as Indian music sensation Guru Randhawa performed at the event.

“More than 30 crew members between camera operators, sound engineers, directors and technicians helped cover the event. IP Studios deployed an OB van fully loaded with various kit, including EVS video mixers, HD cameras, remote cameras and 2-XT4 EVS systems. We had cameras distributed all around the arena to cover the action inside the ring, the walkouts, as well as wide shots. The production team also used a Steadicam and a Jimmy Jib arm, which plays a critical role in fight coverage,” added Yehya.

DKL Studio shoots three films in parallel for Saudi market

Fadi Ismail.

Dubai-based DKL Studio is currently producing three films, Fadi Ismail, owner of the company and producer, told BroadcastPro ME. Two are being shot in Egypt, and a third in Abu Dhabi. All three target Saudi viewers and are scheduled for a summer release.

“While all three are Saudi-centric films, they are not being produced in KSA primarily because of difficulty in travelling to and from the country. Besides this, there were quality and cost considerations,” clarified Ismail.

“All the lead cast, however, are Saudi nationals and we have a mix of celebrities and newcomers in the three films. We have attempted horror with one film, while the other is a romantic comedy and the third is a social drama.”

Ismail has signed deals for the theatrical release of two of the films and the post-theatrical release of the third.

OSN collaborates with PUBG MOBILE

PUBG MOBILE players will have access to OSN Streaming App content as part of this deal.

OSN and PUBG MOBILE, a multi-player video game, are exploring synergies in a first-of-its-kind partnership in the MENA region.

The deal will see PUBG MOBILE players secure exclusive opportunities to access OSN streaming app premium entertainment and original content.

Zahra Zayat, Senior VP, OTT Digital & Telco, OSN, said: “This first step into the gaming territory with PUBG MOBILE is a landmark milestone for OSN’s growth ambition in the entertainment industry, consolidating content, gaming and others. The MENA region is home to a highly engaged gaming audience, with gaming unlocking exponential growth, fifty times the OTT potential. We are confident that the synergy exists between entertainment and gaming, especially with content, movies and series based on popular games and vice versa.”

StarzPlay establishes HQ in Abu Dhabi

StarzPlay has partnered with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to establish the company’s HQ in the UAE capital. Building on existing cooperation with Abu Dhabi Media, twofour54 and Image Nation Abu Dhabi, StarzPlay will partner with local production houses and animation studios to produce original content.

As part of the partnership, StarzPlay will build a nextgeneration private cloud in Abu Dhabi to meet the growing consumer demand in the region. It will also offer its private cloud to other media companies as a fully managed and turnkey OTT solution.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO and co-founder of StarzPlay, said: “Building the new cloud facility will bring us closer to our fans to serve them with a richer and more personalised experience. These are pivotal steps in our evolution as a regional tech and media champion and we are grateful to ADIO for supporting our strategic growth vision.”

As part of the Innovation Programme partnership, ADIO has awarded StarzPlay competitive financial incentives, including rebates on high-skilled payroll, technologyrelated capital expenditure and other operating expenditure, as well as non-financial incentives, such as assistance with company establishment and engagement with Abu Dhabi ecosystem partners.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO and co-founder of StarzPlay. Dr Tariq Bin Hendi, DG of Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

Bahrain TV deploys Lawo solutions in newly built outside broadcast vans

Bahrain TV has added two new medium-sized OB vans to its fleet, with two Lawo IP-based mc² audio production consoles in the audio control rooms and a VSM Broadcast Control System architecture for the overall control in both OBs. They are part of the framework governing the modernisation process of the direct TV broadcasting system. Dubai systems integrator Broadcast & Studio Solutions (BSS) was responsible for this project.

BBS equipped the OB vans with high-definition TV broadcasting technologies, following stringent international specifications, security and safety standards to ensure the vans were well kitted out to cover all official events, exhibitions, conferences, and local and international sporting events.

The new OB vans are controlled by Lawo’s VSM Broadcast Control and Workflow Solution, in combination with VSM servers in a redundant set-up at the heart of the control system. vsmSTUDIO software handles all administration and configuration tasks, while control interfaces in the form of a wide range of hardware LCD button panels and software panel clients allow simplified operation from flexible and custom-designed configurable GUIs.

Additional VSM hardware includes GPIO interfaces, UMDs for dynamic labelling and SmartHubs, which convert control signals from serial to TCP/IP and vice versa. SNMP monitoring capabilities are provided by the vSNMP editor software tool, which runs on a separate server.

The audio infrastructure integrates a 48-fader Lawo mc²56 audio production console with 384 DSP channels, a routing capacity of 5120×5120 mono channels, and local I/Os directly available at the audio desk. An additional mc² Compact I/O system provides remote I/Os for high-profile productions. The smaller OB van carries a compact but powerful 24-fader mc²36, again with a multitude of remote and local I/Os controlled by 192 DSP channels via a 512×512 matrix.

The new OB vans are controlled by Lawo’s VSM Broadcast Control and Workflow solution.

For-A enables distance learning for UAE Ministry of Education

The UAE Ministry of Education used For-A's HVS1200 video switcher to drive a virtual studio system for distance learning programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The system was supplied by United Broadcast.

The system was installed last year at the new MoE HQ in Ajman, with most of the crew training completed during the lockdown period. The virtual studio set-up is built around a Brainstorm InfinitySet Lite, with three Panasonic 4K PTZ cameras controlled from the HVS-1200 switcher. The system was designed to be operated by a single operator. It is used to produce up to five hours of live video instruction daily and can support 4K or HD production.

Rayan Nasser, Sales Manager for United Broadcast, said: “The aim with this project was to ensure that even non-technical operators could confidently use this system. The customer can work directly with HD and 4K requirements whenever they want without any complications or cabling issues. For-A’s switcher delivers excellent virtual studio imagery and positions the MoE for a 4K future.”

Mohammed Abu Ziyadeh, System Engineering Manager at For-A, added: “After all the schools closed because of the Covid-19 lockdown, the MoE turned to distance learning. With so much content to produce, they needed a system that was easy to use but could present engaging content for students across the country. United Broadcast delivered a solution that combines the flexibility of virtual set technology with the reliability of our HVS-1200 switcher.”

The HVS-1200 features 10 inputs and outputs in 4K mode, including two outputs for HDMI 2.0. Mixed inputs of 12G-SDI and quad-link 3G-SDI are supported. MELite technology extends the switcher’s 2 M/Es to 6 M/E performance, while FLEXaKEY technology transforms a traditional AUX bus into functional mix effects with cuts, mix, wipes, keys and DVE including full preview. The switcher also includes two multi-viewer outputs, each supporting up to a 16-split display, one colour corrector and one still/clip store in 4K, and a built-in web server for set-up on a PC or tablet.

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Indian media group targets UAE investors to raise $67m

Indian firm NV Capital, a credit fund focused on the media and entertainment sector, plans to organise virtual roadshows to tap investors across the UAE to raise AED 246m ($67m). Founded by former corporate bankers Nitin Menon and Vivek Menon, the fund will invest in content creators, OTT platforms, gaming and entertainment startups, NV Capital said in a statement. The fund recently received a nod from SEBI as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund.

Given the active involvement of the Indian diaspora investing across various equity and debt instruments in India, as well as exploring new alternative asset classes, NV Capital is looking to raise funds from high-networth individuals (HNIs), NRI investors, family offices and financial institutions based in the UAE.

Vivek Menon, co-founder and Managing Partner, NV Capital, said: “Given the rise of the UAE as a preferred destination for global FPIs, it is eminent for the country to become the gateway of new-age sectoral funding to countries like India. At the same time, owing to cultural similarities, a large expat population of Indian origin and sustained tie-ups with the Indian media and entertainment industry, the UAE remains a key market for garnering funds for our pioneering offering.”

The value of the content market has been growing exponentially in recent years, with close to 1,500 movies being released each year. Combined with the rapid rise of multiple OTT monetisation platforms which has showcased 180+ web series and 80+ direct-toOTT film launches in Hindi alone since last year, the value of content has been growing exponentially, the company said. This trend highlights the scope and opportunity in entertainment financing, where content creators are in constant dearth of capital to scale up.

In addition, the digital media and gaming subsegments are also growing, with online gaming alone expected to grow at a CAGR of over 25%. NV Capital is set to leverage the absence of institutional credit in the sector and provide financing for these sunrise verticals.

The key sponsor of NV Capital is Jayantilal Gada, Chairman and Managing Director of Pen Studios, an industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry.

WarnerMedia's new Executive Director of Turkish Content Acquisitions Mia Edde to be based in Dubai

WarnerMedia has appointed Mia Edde to the newly created role of Executive Director of Turkish Content Acquisitions. Based in Dubai, Edde will report to Hannes Heyelmann, EVP and Head of Programming, EMEA and Tomas Yankelevich, EVP, Chief Content Officer, Latin America. Edde joins the company on 1st August.

In her new role Edde will be responsible for leading acquisitions of local language programming in Turkey for HBO Max in EMEA and Latin America. She will also work closely with the acquisitions and programming teams led by Ragnhild Thorbech, Head of Programming and Acquisitions, EMEA and Andres Mendoza, Head of Acquisitions and Negotiations, Latin America. Additionally, Edde will work with Antony Root, EVP and Head of Original Production, EMEA on the commissioning and production of original Turkish language content.

Mia Edde.

Singapore’s VMC to form new UAE entity, expand Arab media content reach

Singaporean media investment holding company Vistas Media Capital (VMC) has set up Vistas Media FZ-LLC in twofour54 for content and entertainment events production services in the region, and plans to move to Yas Creative Hub after it opens later this year.

The content production services arm of Vistas Media FZ-LLC will provide and facilitate prefilming, production and post-production services for Arabic, Indian and Hollywood films in Abu Dhabi.

It will launch the first Abu Dhabi Media Fest in November 2021 – a nineday event which will include a film festival showcasing films from the South Asian and MENA region selected by an international jury; a film market bringing together filmmakers, investors and content buyers; master classes and workshops across filmmaking, acting, production, animation and visual effects; and a gala closing ceremony with a film awards night.

Vistas Media FZLLC will be headed by VMC co-founder Piiyush Singh.

US VC invests in Abu Dhabi firm Majarra

Global digital media investor North Base Media (NBM) has announced its investment in Abu Dhabi firm Majarra, a technology company that provides Arabic content online.

Abdulsalam Haykal, Majarra Executive Chairman, said: “We’re delighted to have a high-quality and specialised investor like North Base Media as a believer in our vision for a new business model that addresses the massive inefficiency of Arabic online content. NBM’s global perspective and unique insight into the industry strengthens our commitment to deliver the best content and user experience for the Arabic-speaking internet users in the region and around the world.”

Majarra, formerly Haykal Media, announced a plan earlier this year to offer a single-subscription sign-on to a network of reliable, high-quality online content platforms in Arabic. The network so far includes Harvard Business Review Arabia, MIT Technology Review Arabia, Stanford Social Innovation Review Arabia, Popular Science, Fortune and Manhom, the largest Arabic-language professional profiles service.

Marcus Brauchli, NBM Managing Partner and former editor of both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, will join Majarra’s board of directors.

Carlyle to acquire LiveU to further accelerate global growth

Global investment firm Carlyle has acquired LiveU from Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specialises in partnering with technology businesses. Details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Carlyle will use its experience in the media tech sector to support LiveU’s growth ambitions, represented by existing investments in Disguise and NEP alongside prior investments including The Foundry, Vubiquity, BTI Studios and The Mill. It will further consolidate LiveU’s market position through M&A activity and organic growth, while capitalising on the rapidly growing demand for high-quality live video transmission. It hopes to leverage its extensive global network to further expand LiveU’s customer base and help to develop relationships with some of the world’s leading content providers.

Equity for the investment will be provided by Carlyle Europe Technology Partners IV, a fund that invests in middlemarket technologyfocused opportunities in Europe and the US.

Maroc Telecom launches OTT service

Maroc Telecom has launched a new OTT platform created, operated and managed by Molotov Solutions. MT TV consists of three packages of local and international linear channels, as well as premium SVOD offers such as StarzPlay, OSN and PlayVOD. Maroc Telecom is also using payment technology from Digital Virgo, Molotov Solutions’ preferred partner. The Moroccan operator is using the Molotov package to aggregate and distribute linear, replay and VOD content, EPG, start-over, NPVR, accessibility, subtitles, search, follow, share, HD, UHD, download-to-go and virtual reality. There’s also Arabic language localisation.

SynProNize acquires two Arabic series for distribution in Africa and Pakistan

Dubai content distribution and production company SynProNize has acquired two Arabic drama series – Beirut Bride from MBC Group for distribution in Ghana, and Egyptian production Al Nihaya from Synergy Advertising for Pakistan.

SynProNize co-founder Hasnaa Descuns said: “SynProNize has always strongly believed in the potential for Arabic content to be consumed by audiences from beyond just the MENA region. These deals are just the beginning of an ongoing effort by us to take Arabic content to the rest of the world.”

Beirut Bride has been acquired for distribution in Ghana.

Nigeria’s BossFM 95.5 station goes virtual with Lawo IP radio software

BossFM 95.5, a contemporary FM radio station operating out of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, recently replaced the digital console at its on-air studio with R LAY, Lawo’s IP-based virtual radio software, to ensure its talent’s work was made as straight-forward and intuitive as possible. With this upgrade, BossFM 95.5 claims to be the first actual virtual radio station in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

The talent-first design and immediacy of the on-air studio’s desktop layout are provided by Lawo’s professional and affordable R LAY software suite, which offers a full-blown broadcast mixer and more: mixing, processing, and routing can be performed on a touchscreen connected to an off-the-shelf PC—or on a laptop, for on-location shows.

R LAY allows BossFM to mix 24 audio sources as well as AES67-compliant AoIP signal streams directly on the station’s PC, for pristine audio production and output.

BossFM 95.5’s owner especially appreciates the fact that “Showing our on-air talent and staff the basic functionalities of this novel tool took just a couple of hours. The first show presented with our new virtual setup went live that same afternoon.”

R LAY’s seamless integration with third-party hardware and applications has allowed BossFM to turbocharge its capabilities, with enough resource capacity to expand even further, in line with future needs. Other members of the R LAY product family, like VPB Virtual Patch Bay, VSC Virtual Sound Card and AES67 Stream Monitor software, provide comprehensive tools that make it possible to have an all-in-one radio station right on a PC.

Opeyemi Ogunsaju of Mega Cyber Plus, Lawo’s partner in Nigeria, who was in charge of system integration and service support, confirmed: “R LAY’s simple and straightforward looks are deceptive. This virtual radio suite brings professional radio production to any radio station, complete with Audioover-IP and internal routing.”

The team at BossFM in Nigeria.

IBC announces 2021 Innovation Awards shortlist

IBC has released the shortlist for its 2021 Innovation Awards. Winners and their technology partners will be honoured at an awards ceremony held as part of the event that will take place from December 3-6 at the Rai in Amsterdam.

The Content Creation shortlist includes Netflix for creating the first-ever hand-drawn anime with experimental 4k and HDR; RRN and Riedel for the first fully decentralised production of a live, global music event; Songbird, the first American feature film to return to production during the covid lockdown using camera to cloud technology; and Timeline Television for its remote broadcast app Stream Anywhere.

There are five on the shortlist for the Content Distribution category: Boeing live-streamed the Starliner’s return from orbit in HD broadcast quality, with sub-one second latency from a remote desert location for NASA TV, BT Sport delivered fully remote coverage of the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final from Poland in 4k HDR and Dolby Atmos sound, MGM Studios launched a new blockchain-backed platform with Eluvio that provides a more efficient, secure and cost-effective way to deliver ultra-low latency video, Migo created an entirely new way to deliver digital content in countries that lack a widespread broadband infrastructure, and Riot Games used JPEG XS compression for two major trans-Atlantic esports tournaments.

The Content Everywhere category also sees five projects honoured: BT Sport developed new technologies to recreate the match day experience for live sports fans watching their teams at home; Deutsche Fußball Liga enhanced the Bundesliga world feed with an interactive service; In The Room used AI and exclusive Ultra HD content for consumers to interact “faceto-face” with personalities like Nile Rodgers; Mediapro was shortlisted for the rapid growth of Ubeat, its free esports and entertainment multiplatform; and Sky Sports and SimplyLive for their remote production partnership.