ISSUE 119 | MAY 2020
Licensed by Dubai Development Authority
RAMADAN MUSALSALAT The inside scoop on how productions have fared this year
VOX POP MEDIA LEADERS DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
BACK IN
BUSINESS CEO Patrick Tillieux on what it took to get OSN back on the road to recovery
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Welcome
Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Assistant Editor Shifa Naseer shifa.naseer@cpitrademedia.com +971 (4) 375 5478 Contributing Editor Paul Godfrey 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 Assistant Aysha Sultan aysha.sultan@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 Abdul Baeis Sadiq Siddiqui FOUNDER Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015)
Ramadan Mubarak to all our readers. What an unusual Ramadan this one will be especially for the entertainment industry that relies on this period to make most of its annual revenue! But I have some good news. Despite the lockdowns, broadcasters have managed to announce several premium shows, which means some of them have been completed. And just as we head to press, there are reports that governments may relax movement restrictions for production houses so they can complete their shoots for the Holy Month. In the meantime, we have all the scoop on completed shows, incomplete ones and who secured which programmes in our exclusive Ramadan Q&A with Heba Korayem. Interestingly, with the lockdown, most company heads are also stuck in town. We took that opportunity to ask analysts and senior executives representing different sectors of the media and entertainment industry to share how their respective sectors or companies are coping with the impact of the pandemic, and what emerging business models and shifting consumer behaviours they have observed. We bring you some fascinating insights from those conversations in this edition as part of our Vox Pop.
Of course, one obvious observation is that while cinema has taken a temporary hit, TV and streaming seem to have seen a significant spike in viewership with OTT claiming a large part of the pie at the moment. As one executive pointed out, this makes the case for SVOD much stronger now in this market, where FTA has maintained supremacy. Not everyone, however, has been able to monetise this as advertisers are treading with caution and consumers are wary of spending on entertainment. Still, some streaming services have said their subs have gone up by 30-35%; OSN claimed its subs tripled last month. The addition of Disney+ Originals to OSN was a fantastic strategy that may have given the platform the boost it needed. This brings us to our cover story this month with Patrick Tillieux, CEO of OSN, who took the reins of a floundering company 15 months ago and has put it well back on the road to recovery. It is a story of hope and positivity, and a strong reminder to all of us that we shall overcome!
Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director
Published by Issue 119 | MAY 2020
The publisher of this magazine has made every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content are published in good faith. No part of this publication or any part
Licensed by Dubai Development Authority
RamadaN muSalSalaT The inside scoop on how productions have fared this year
On this month's cover…
vox pop media leaders discuss the impact of covid-19
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BACK in
business CEO Patrick Tillieux on what it took to get OSN back on the road to recovery
Patrick Tillieux, CEO of OSN.
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May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 1
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PROCONTENTS
Inside this issue 05 NEWS Regional players reveal Ramadan lineup; Jordan Media City upgrades with Pebble Beach Systems; Al Arabiya rebuilds studios; Ruptly announces Arabic platform; Al Kass chooses Nevion; Weyyak collaborates with STC Bahrain; BeIN launches cinema service; StarzPlay signs deal with Warner Bros; OSN and Intigral partner; Twitter announces new shows; new appointments; and more
May 2020 NEW TV SHOWS FOR RAMADAN 2020
AL ARABIYA GETS A MAKEOVER
06
05
PATRICK TILLIEUX RAISES THE BAR
THE SCOOP ON RAMADAN SHOWS
14 RAMADAN NOTES Heba Korayem talks about the strategies regional players have adopted this Ramadan to cope with the challenges caused by COVID-19
18 COVER: IT'S PAY TIME! OSN CEO Patrick Tillieux on how he got the floundering pay-TV network back on track through new initiatives and partnerships
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18 SENIOR EXECS ON COVID-19 IMPACT
24 VOX POP - COVID-19 Media industry leaders share insights about the economic impact of COVID-19 and their response to the situation
30 BEHIND THE SCENES Director Anastasia Mikova and colourist Stéphane Azouze talk about the making of the documentary Woman
24 DIRECTOR'S TOUCH - FILMING WOMAN
PRODUCT LAUNCHES IN BROADCAST
34 PRODUCT LAUNCHES A look at the newest products primarily intended for an NAB 2020 launch
40 OPINION How to stay ahead of the competition with an effective OTT strategy
30
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Jordan Media City upgrades playout with Pebble’s Marina automation Jordan Media City (JMC) has ordered a significant expansion to the Marina automation solution at its Amman headquarters, expanding on its current solution from Pebble Beach Systems that is already in place. The system to be deployed is a 12-channel expansion to the current six-channel HD/SD fully redundant playout system. This features automatic media management from a near line store and a DIVA archive, all of which is managed by the Marina enterprise-level automation and content management application using a single database. “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with JMC as they migrate
The upgrade is due to go live this summer.
all of their channels to Marina,” said Samir Isbaih, Pebble Beach Systems’ VP of Sales ME and APAC. “With more than 400 channels already on air in the MENA region, Marina is the
Ruptly boosts MENA services with new Arabic-language platform
Ben Diab.
Global multimedia agency Ruptly has unveiled an Arabic-language service platform for clients to access content tailored to the MENA region. The company first announced plans of expansion last March during CABSAT 2019 and has spent months developing the platform, which offers regional and local stories. Ruptly also has platforms for English,
Russian and Spanishspeaking clients. Ruptly CEO Dinara Toktosunova said: “This service recognises the importance of providing Arabic-language content and facilities to customers globally. It also highlights our commitment to delivering value to our clients as we continue to grow in the region,” Ben Diab, MEA Content and Territory Manager at Ruptly, remarked: “This is a fully localised, comprehensively populated website and live platform. We are now more accessible and able to cover the stories that matter to our Arabic-speaking clients. We will keep on listening and enhancing this new service.”
most modern automation platform in the market and continues to transform the playout capabilities and the service agility of users. It continues to be actively developed and features a number of enhancements – including Arabic language support – which were specifically developed for the Middle East.” Radi Alkhas, MD of Jordan Media City added: “Our years of experience with Pebble Beach Systems’ technology and their responsive and knowledgeable team of engineers gave us the confidence to migrate all our channels from Neptune to the Marina platform.”
Ross Video completes Coiron buyout Ross Video has acquired USbased technology company Coiron to develop a suite of popular applications for use with the XPression family of real-time motion graphics systems. With
the acquisition, Coiron’s CEO Carlos Vasquez will now become part of Ross Video’s graphics division as Technical Product Manager for the Ross Virtual Solutions group.
New CCO at Shahid MBC Group has appointed Jakob Mejlhede Andersen as Chief Content Officer (CCO) of its VOD platform, Shahid. Andersen will be responsible for the overall content strategy for both Shahid and its premium offering, Shahid VIP, whilst ensuring that the network’s over-the-top (OTT) offerings are strong across the MENA region. Previously, Andersen was CEO of NENT Studios UK, where he was responsible for building the entity into a leading European integrated content studio with a focus on storytelling excellence and high-end productions.
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PRONEWS
Al Arabiya revamps, unveils new look Al Arabiya unveiled a brandnew logo, idents and graphics across its TV and digital platforms last month as part a larger revamp across the network’s studios that included the deployment of new set designs and technology aimed at offering viewers a more immersive experience. As part of the project, Al Arabiya’s four studios were rebuilt and three new standup locations created for social media shows. The studios have been distributed across the newly-built newsroom and integrated seamlessly with it. Mamdouh Almuhaini, GM of Al Arabiya Media Network
The newly revamped Al Arabiya facility in Dubai.
said: “We are relaunching with new studios, a new design and more importantly, taking advantage of new technologies that will take the viewer into the next generation of journalism across not only our television screens but also our social media and digital offerings.”
Abu Dhabi TV and Emarat TV unveil shows for Ramadan Abu Dhabi TV and Emarat TV have announced a raft of shows for viewers in the region during Ramadan. The shows include 13 Emirati and Arabic-language series and more than nine diverse programmes. These will be showcased on the linear TV channels and the ADTV app. The list includes local and regional dramas, regional comedies, Ramadan competitions as well as daily news programmes, all of which will run from 3:00 pm until 2:00 am. The channels will also air informative and educational content focussed on highlighting the history and values of the UAE. In addition, Emarat TV will continue to provide
special coverage and the latest updates on COVID-19 through a daily airing of the UAE government media briefing sessions, as well as through Al Alam Fi Mwajahit Corona, an exclusive programme presented by Ahmad Al Yammahi; and Maan Nahno Bekhair in collaboration with Ma’an Authority for Social Contribution, which will air every Friday.
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The entire set has been designed by New York-based Clickspring Design, Fadi Radi, Head of Creative at Al Arabiya Network said. “The studios are equipped with 13 robotic cameras – 10 Cambot cameras from Ross Video, two from Electric Friend and one
ZEE5 offers Bollywood films in Arabic for free ZEE5 has made Bollywood films in Arabic available for free exclusively for Middle East audiences. Bollywood films dubbed into Arabic include Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Padman, Veere Di Wedding, Commando 2, RaOne, Welcome, Bareily Ki Barfi and classics such as Mr. India and Pardes. The launch of Arabic dubbed films comes as an extension of the ZEE5 Global campaign to encourage their audiences to stay home during the lockdown period.
from Blackcam. All of the cameras support Augmented Reality. Vizrt systems form the backbone of this setup. We have 200 sqm of LED screens that are all driven by the Viz engine. We can change the mood of the studio with the lighting and graphics based on the show. We have integrated AR solutions with mixed reality within this setting and can also create completely interactive environments on our new Barco video wall. The whole setup offers us so many creative options to play with and is designed to offer our viewers a great immersive experience,” Radi added.
Cinema Akil and Mubi partner for free films Dubai-based independent film house Cinema Akil has partnered with VOD platform Mubi to offer a 90-day free movie streaming starting April 2. While Cinema Akil remains closed, the films will be free for three months. This will give viewers a chance to watch films offline on their IOS or Android devices. Films will be hand-picked each day and available to watch for a whole month. There will be 30 titles from a rotating selection to choose from.
PRONEWS
Weyyak collaborates with STC Bahrain, eyes ME expansion Weyyak, Zee Entertainment’s Arabic VOD streaming platform, has collaborated with STC Bahrain as part of its ongoing expansion with TPay Mobile, its telecom aggregation partner and digital payment enabler. Weyyak aims to have long-term aggregation deals with TPay in multiple countries, allowing users to choose their preferred mobile service provider for quick and easy subscription payments. The OTT platform also launched with other telcos in the UAE, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia and Jordan in collaboration with TPay. Nadine Samra, Chief Business Officer at Weyyak, said: “Due to people spending more time at home, we
have noticed a spike in the consumption of our content. We are committed to delivering the best to our audience and especially during this tough time.”
StarzPlay signs exclusive deal with Warner Bros. StarzPlay has announced a multi-year deal with Hollywood studio Warner Bros. The deal will see StarzPlay bring new and exclusive content franchises from Warner Bros. to the MENA region including DC
series such as Batwoman, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing and the Harley Quinn animated series. Episodes of other awardwinning TV series from Warner are also expected to stream shortly after
they premiere in the US. The new deal also covers premium boxsets such as Supernatural, Castle Rock, Pennyworth and Young Sheldon, and library titles like The O.C, Fringe and Two and a Half Men.
Deezer launches podcasts in MENA Deezer has launched a number of podcasts for MENA listeners. Users can access the English and Arabic podcasts in Deezer’s new ‘Shows’ tab which includes content in over 15 categories like music, self-help, cooking, history, business news and talk shows. In Arabic, users
may listen to documentary series Dom Tok, news podcast Almostajad, interview show Al Empire, B’ Hob, 1001 Nights, sports podcast Man2Man and the Yalla Podcast. In English, users can listen to BBC Global News Podcast, Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations,
Pop Culture Happy Hour and When Women Win. New research has revealed there are 5.1m regular listeners in Saudi Arabia, with one in four women (21%) listening to podcasts every week, according markettiers MENA in collaboration with 4DC.
BeIN Media Group unveils e-cinema service and Ramadan shows BeIN Media Group has launched a cinema streaming service that offers films for the price of one cinema ticket ($10). More than 20 new movies are being released on beIN On Demand under the Cinema category in April and May. The lineup includes The Song of Names, Into the Labyrinth and Hope Gap. The platform has also announced a new line-up of content during the month of Ramadan. New drama specials from beIN include Lebanese titles Bel Qalb and Ghorba, Egyptian series Hob Omry and drama-comedy series Cinemaeyat. BeIN will also host exclusive cooking shows on beIN Gourmet and Fatafeat. Programmes to look out for include Fatafeat Shu Bihib El Orf season 2, Bil Afya Ma’ Hayat season 2, and The Queen of Arabian Kitchen. Special programmes for children on beIN's Jeem TV and Baraem Channel include season 2 of Maya the Bee, Misho and Robin, Wussywat, season 10 of Hourouf wa Rousoum, season 3 of Voltron Legendary Defender and Sahbat Al Ayaat.
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 7
PRONEWS
Al Kass Sports Channels picks Nevion for SDI to IP transition
The Nevion Virtuosos are used for real-time IP adaptation and transport protection for video, audio and data.
Al Kass Sports Channels has chosen Nevion’s flagship products VideoIPath and Virtuoso to connect its main facility with three other broadcast facilities across the country through a flexible IP-based media network infrastructure. The Nevion Virtuosos are used for real-time IP adaptation and transport
protection for video, audio and data, and provide encoding and decoding capabilities for both HD and 4K/UHD video feeds. VideoIPath provides deterministic routing of all media and data streams in the IP media ring network and keeps track of bandwidth allocation on each link within the network. The new solution will initially provide reliable
Hulu founder Jason Kilar joins WarnerMedia as CEO Hulu founder Jason Kilar will take over as CEO of WarnerMedia, effective May 1. Kilar will report to John Stankey, President and Chief Operating Officer at telecoms company AT&T which owns WarnerMedia. Previously, Kilar was the founding CEO of Hulu and SVP at
Amazon. Kilar was CEO of Hulu from its start in 2007 until 2013. Also, Kilar was co-founder & CEO of video streaming service Vessel from 2013 to 2017.
ultra-low latency IP transport for uncompressed and compressed HD-SDI, DVB-ASI, intercom and data between the sites over a ring network topology. It will also be geared in the future to handle 4K/ UHD, HDR and SMPTE ST 2110 to support Al Kass’ plans. Samer Younes, Consultant Engineer at Al Kass Sports Channels, said: “Nevion has played a significant role in our move from SDI to IP. The new IP-based network is allowing us to get more from other facilities, improving the quality of our transmissions and enabling us to create a more economical, futureproof proposition, including much greater scope for remote production.”
ViacomCBS completes Miramax transaction ViacomCBS has completed its acquisition of a 49% stake in Miramax from beIN Media Group for $375m. BeIN retains a 51% stake in the company. Miramax’s current leadership will continue in their existing roles. ViacomCBS paid around $150m while closing the deal and has committed to invest $225m for new film and TV productions. In addition, Paramount Pictures has entered into a long-term distribution agreement for Miramax to develop, produce, finance and distribute new projects based on Miramax's IP.
Huawei unveils video streaming service Huawei has unveiled a streaming service app in the UAE offering a range of Arabic and global content. Users can access the new service by logging into Huawei Video with their Huawei ID and browse, search, playback and cache online videos. The app comprises a library of more than 10,000 hours of Arabic content and millions of videos.
Bollywood's Eros merges with STX Eros International has merged with STX Entertainment to form a combined venture, dubbed Eros STX Global Corporation. The new company is projected to release approximately 40 feature-length films, including seven sequels to prior hits and 100+ originals of episodic content this year. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 of 2020.
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Insys and To-Do Media bring Arabic content to mobile devices Insys Video Technologies and To-Do Media have partnered to deliver video content to Arabic-speaking users across the world. Insys developed the backend platform for the H+ video service, which runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Home Plus Network (H+) is an Arabic content aggregator that works with regional content providers to gain access to a global audience. Users can access thousands of hours of Arabic content through H+ on Huawei mobile devices. Insys Video Technologies provided the tools and backend infrastructure for H+ as well as integrating it with AWS Elemental Media Services to ensure reliability and easy scalability. Insys created a dedicated interface to enable video delivery to Huawei devices.
Netflix ropes in Haifaa Al Mansour to direct The Selection Netflix is set to adapt Kiera Cass’ book series The Selection with Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour on board to direct the feature. Al Mansour, KSA's first female director, made waves with Wadjda, Mary Shelley and The Perfect Candidate.
To-Do Media can upload content and manage the H+ platform using the Insys VT administration panel. The H+ platform was deployed using AWS CloudFormation, which simplifies provisioning and management on AWS. Videos are transcoded on ingest using AWS Elemental MediaConvert, making them ready for distribution. Insys also integrated a complete content management software solution to enable To-Do Media to apply metadata to all video content, thus improving discovery. With the AWS Elemental MediaTailor integration, To-Do Media can insert individually targeted advertising into the video stream without sacrificing broadcast-level qualityof-service and allowing a
seamless viewing experience. Ammar Hares, CEO/ Founder, To-Do Media, commented: “Enabling local content owners with a managed platform to reach a global audience is important, and with this new service, we bring a wide range of engaging content to Arabic speakers across the Arab world. Having the support of Insys was key to helping us launch fast while integrating seamlessly with AWS Elemental Media Services and the Huawei video platform.” Piotr Czekała, Cofounder and CTO, Insys Video Technologies, added: “The combination of our development expertise and Amazon Web Services allows To-Do Media to ensure a reliable video service that can scale fast as consumer demand grows.”
Spacetoon and Shahid embark on live streaming partnership Spacetoon and Shahid have partnered to bring Spacetoon’s exclusive and classic kids’ content to MBC Group’s video streaming platform. The partnership is expected to help both parties reach a wider audience. Kamel Weiss, Strategy and Business Development Director of Spacetoon said: “We are so impressed with the way Shahid has enhanced premium Arabic content in the region, which has been our approach and focus over the
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past 20 years. We have always been proud of the Arabiclanguage content that we have delivered over the years. This partnership underscores our commitment to offer our audience the best works, all of which are dubbed into Arabic.
Arabic cartoon series Mansour gets over 500m views on YouTube
Bidaya Media has announced that its Arabic animated comedy and action series Mansour has surpassed one million subscribers on its YouTube Channel with over 500m views since launch. Mansour has gained particularly strong viewership in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, the UAE and Kuwait. Mansour targets children between the ages of 6-9, focussing on key values such as the importance of family, creative thinking, and innovation. The series was originally created by Rashed Alharmoodi, the award-winning Executive Producer of the cartoon, and was seed funded by Mubadala Investment Company. It was produced in partnership with twofour54 and Cartoon Network Studios Arabia. Mansour is currently available on Shahid VIP and its YouTube Channel.
PRONEWS
OSN and Intigral seal multi-year deal OSN has signed a landmark deal with Intigral, the media arm of STC, for its Home and OTT service, Jawwy TV. The multi-year partnership sees Intigral secure first and exclusive access for the first few months to a new entertainment channel called OSN Mix. This channel will feature a selection of OSN’s best series, movies, kids and factual entertainment programmes. Besides OSN Mix, Jawwy TV subscribers will have access — as part of their telecom bundles — to OSN-branded channels ranging from “Yahala” and “ART” channels
From left: Intigral CEO Hamoud Al Rumayan and Patrick Tllieux, CEO of OSN at the signing ceremony.
offering Arabic productions, to Turkish series, kids content and documentaries. Hamoud Al Rumayan, CEO of Intigral said: ”Jawwy TV is home to the richest selection of entertainment and we see a bigger collaboration happening with OSN. The
addition of OSN to our large portfolio of content not only enhances the attractiveness of our proposition but also caters to the needs of our beloved clients in KSA and other regional markets.” Zahra Zayat, Senior VP, Digital, OTT and Telco of
Sharjah Broadcasting Authority announces Ramadan 2020 lineup Sharjah Broadcasting Authority has a line-up of more than 90 programmes for its radio and TV channels during Ramadan. The package will include 11 religious, 28 social and cultural programmes, and 20 entertainment dramas and soap operas, in addition to entertaining competitions, and a variety of radio shows and segments. Al Wousta TV will run three new programmes covering the region’s historical landmarks, social topics, oral history
and a traditional food show, in addition to two TV dramas. Sharjah Radio’s daily morning talk show Al Atheer will continue throughout Ramadan. The Holy Quran Radio in Sharjah will offer 15 Ramadan-focussed programmes and segments. English-language radio station Pulse 95 Radio will air a daily talk show titled Night Karak, covering news, sports and inspiring stories with competitions every Wednesday. HE Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Director General of SBA said: “In times of crisis, the media’s role and efforts must multiply to meet the demands of the public. SBA is committed to providing audiences quality and creative content through our TV channels and radio stations during Ramadan.”
OSN, remarked: “Intigral’s Jawwy TV, is the perfect fit for our premium content. This is just one step towards nurturing this very special partnership and more exciting announcements will be shared soon.” OSN content is now available to Jawwy TV customers in KSA, whilst STC subscribers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia can access OSN through a range of bundles and offers. Subscribers of STC, Mofawtar 4 and 5 will be able to watch OSN’s shows and entertainment programmes on the Jawwy TV app.
Etisalcom and Atyaf to offer premium services in Bahrain Bahrain-based telco Etisalcom has signed a deal with Atyaf Home Entertainment, a licensed partner for pay-TV service providers, to launch its premium entertainment services in Bahrain. According to the deal, Etisalcom will offer a range of premium services during the lockdown period. Atyaf
Home Entertainment is the licensed partner in Bahrain for beIN Media Group, OSN, Humax, MyHD and Triax. CEO of Etisalcom Rashid Al Sinan, said: “As countries around the world implement measures to safeguard their people and communities, we want to do our part.”
Cannes Film Festival delayed indefinitely The Cannes film festival has been postponed indefinitely as France extended lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, festival organisers said in a statement. Earlier, the festival had been postponed to June/July this year owing to the lockdown and other preventive measures.
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 11
PRONEWS
Intigral to air exclusives on Jawwy TV Intigral has contracted regional production companies I See Media Services, GoldenLine and Protec for some of the new original drama productions that will be showcased on Jawwy TV this Ramadan. New productions such as Aldeirah, Yamam, Hawas, Itijah Khate’e, Ejaza, Bent w Walad will be shown on Jawwy TV platforms in addition to the recently produced drama se-ries Yana ya Gedo. Ramadan shows from production house Wide
Intigral aims to strengthen its position in the region by offering productions from the Arab world.
Khaliji which spans pan Arab, Khaleeji and Egyptian genres will also feature on Jawwy TV without commercial breaks. Those shows en-compass include Khaleeji dramas
WWE video streaming service launches in the Middle East WWE Network – WWE’s video streaming service – has been launched in the Middle East. Now, users can stream all WWE live pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania, on their TVs, game consoles, phones, and other connected devices. WWE Network costs $9.99 per month, and the first month is free for new subscribers. With WWE Network,
subscribers can stream every live or past WWE pay-per-view event including WrestleMania; live and on-demand inring shows every week, including NXT, NXT UK and 205 Live; ondemand programming, including original series and documentaries; and every episode of Raw and Smackdown, available on demand 30 days after the original airing.
Mohammed Ali Rod, Al December, and Fi Thakirat el Dhol, Khaleeji comedy Darwisheat, pan-Arab dramas Al Saheir and Al Nahhat, and Egyptian dra-ma Hob Omri.
Commenting on the development, Intigral’s CEO Hamoud Al-Rumayan highlighted the importance of this step in providing high-quality productions that satisfy Arab viewers’ tastes and enrich their culture. He extended his greetings to Jawwy TV subscribers on Ramadan, promising to present the best shows and dramas as well as an enjoyable experience during home-quarantine imposed due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
Image Nation releases History of the Emirates for free Image Nation Abu Dhabi has released the acclaimed documentary TV series History of the Emirates and a virtual reality educational app free of charge. The series, which premiered in November last year, has been made available for users to watch during the lockdown that was announced in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The History of the Emirates series
and the app are produced by Emmy and BAFTA award-winning Atlantic Productions, a factual and immersive production company. Accompanying the TV series, the 7 Mysteries of the UAE app is available for free download on App Stores. Using virtual reality and gaming techniques, the app shows the UAE history through selfguided discovery.
Radio veteran Cameron Plant dies Cameron Plant, a well-known radio professional, who served as Group MD of Dubaibased radio station Shock Middle East from December 31, 2018 to November 2019 and has previously worked with ARN, was found dead at a hotel room
in Melbourne on April 11. Plant was instrumental in launching ‘the two ads only per commercial break’ campaign at Shock ME. He also had plans to launch more radio stations at Shock ME to address different groups of listeners in the UAE.
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The series is available for free viewing on www.historyoftheemirates.com.
PRONEWS
Twitter announces six shows in partnership with media partners Twitter has announced the launch of six short weekly shows in Arabic in collaboration with CNBC Arabia, Harvard Business Review Arabia, Kooora, Sky News Arabia, Sayidaty and MBC Group. The shows have been created in response to feedback from Twitter users on what topics would interest them on the platform during the coronavirus outbreak. On Sundays, CNBC Arabia will wrap up regional and global market performances in its show Markets In A Week while Harvard Business Review Arabia will discuss on Mondays, the new business models that are emerging today because of the coronavirus as part of its show Adapt and Learn. Football specialist Kooora will bring on Tuesdays the latest football news regarding all leagues and championships, with information on the players’ status to show how they are spending their days during the lockdown. Wednesdays are dedicated for Sky News Arabia to focus on COVID-19 and the most trending topics while Sayidaty will come in on Thursdays with Saudi influencer and life coach Turki Qashlan to discuss the physical and mental challenges people face in a lockdown. On Fridays, Twitter has also collaborated with MBC1 to bring a show called Celebrities at Home that will shed light on how celebrities are spending
Kinda Ibrahim, Director of Media Partnerships at Twitter MENA.
their time in isolation and will highlight the lives of many heroes on the front lines like security guards. “Twitter has worked very closely with our content partners to bring these shows as these partnerships are the cornerstone of our business model,” commented Kinda Ibrahim, Director of Media Partnerships at Twitter MENA. “Our partners see this as an expansion of the business and this gives us the opportunity to collaborate with them and create compelling content on Twitter as the need changes. This is why we are launching a programming grid with topics that we
have learnt are relevant to our platform users based on research,” she pointed out. Hanaa Hamzeh, Director of Programming & News said CNBC Arabia was proud to partner with Twitter to provide audiences with a weekly market wrap show. Ali Jaber, Group TV Director of MBC Group, remarked that this joint initiative with Twitter “falls in line with our strategy of multi-platform, multi-touch points delivery, especially during these critical times of Coronavirus outbreak” Samah Safa, Business Development Director at Kooora.com noted this new programme on Twitter “will primarily help all football
fans to keep up with their favourite teams and players” and the developments of the current and upcoming football seasons. The survey conducted by Twitter in Saudi Arabia and the UAE on how people are coping with COVID-19 showed that 88% of Saudi participants and 93% of UAE respondents are witnessing change to their daily routine. Respondents from both countries said they spent most of their lockdown time on streaming services and social media. Both sets of respondents mentioned that they looked increasingly for news on the local and global economy and uplifting messages. In terms of topics of interest, while both Saudi and UAE participants expressed a common interest in entertainment, self-improvement, education and consumer technology, the former said they had an inclination for gaming while UAE respondents expressed a preference for e-commerce. “This research shed some light on changes in behaviour and shift in preference of content in light of the new situation. At this time, we wanted to be agile and work with partners to bring credible content from credible partners to the user and help our partners grow. Since they produce a lot of content, we worked with them to ensure that they are creating programmes that are relevant to users on our platform,” added Ibrahim.
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PRORAMADAN
RAMADAN NOTES
Ramadan has traditionally been the most important revenue-generating period of the year for the TV industry in the Middle East. This year, however, the lockdown has severely impacted productions leaving some incomplete. Despite this, will production houses and broadcasters be able to deliver on their promises this year? We ask Heba Korayem, content market specialist at Mena.tv, to shed light on the situation As someone who may mean that thousands engages closely with of viewers across the region Arabic TV channels and may have to settle for drama production houses, how re-runs, talk shows, or would you describe the imported content. However, general sentiment in we might be in for a pleasant the content market? surprise, as broadcasters The trend caused by the and streaming platforms pandemic is rather ironic. relax their conditions for There has been a global surge exclusivity, and collaborate to in demand for entertainment share what’s available, pulling content, fuelled by the off a beautifully balanced lockdown, but the existing Ramadan offering between supply has not been able to them in an effort to keep match it. In the space of four their audiences entertained. weeks, platforms like OSN reported a 35% increase in Do you foresee the consumption on its linear projections for Ramadan platform and a 900% increase changing this year in streaming consumption since considering the pandemic? March 1 while MBC 1 reported If we look at seasonal trends a 59% jump in audience around from previous years in terms that period. These figures of Arabic series, you’ll find match what’s happening on that in the past couple of a global scale, with Nielsen peak seasons, series from the reporting a 36% jump in TV Levant, particularly Lebanon, viewing minutes in the USA. have been on the rise in both This year has seen media companies share some of their shows owing to incomplete productions causing a On the supply side, numerous quality and quantity. In fact, dearth of supply in the market, says Heba Korayem. high-budget productions they surpassed Egyptian have either been postponed productions for the first or ceased. Blockbuster sequels like Minions 2 and James time last year, recording a 34% increase in the share of Bond will not be released this spring as scheduled. In the Ramadan drama since 2017. An ongoing political revolution MENA region, many of the film distribution companies in Lebanon and a pandemic will most likely cause a sharp have forgone the theatrical window in favour of SVOD. decline this year in terms of output, but on the bright side, During Ramadan, viewership numbers are expected an improvement in quality could be the positive outcome to double as it has in previous years, and most likely of a situation like this. Khaleeji productions have also quadruple as people stay quarantined at home. seen a 44% rise in supply over the last three Ramadan The ongoing speculation is that a struggle in filling seasons according to the mena.tv annual Ramadan report, grids and libraries due to a halt in Ramadan productions but supply is expected to slightly decline this year.
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PRORAMADAN
Watch It will stream 13 premium drama and TV shows exclusively on its platform this Ramadan.
Do you think production houses will be able to complete their productions owing to the lockdown? Up until a week before Ramadan, getting pandemic-related official information from production companies was close to impossible due to the sensitivity of the situation. Given that many of the free-to-air broadcasters in MENA generate more than 50% of their annual revenues from advertising during the 30 days of Ramadan, releasing any information prematurely can have dire consequences for all parties involved. Acquisition contracts worth millions were already signed and advertising spots on broadcaster grids have been reserved. Any speculations on the status of big-budget titles have often been leaked only during telephone interviews by selfisolating cast members, rather than officially from production companies - mainly because the big question to which no one has an answer is when shooting will resume. Everyone was hopeful that things will ease soon, but with Ramadan here and lockdowns only partially lifted, broadcasters have stopped promoting titles they previously advertised and
“Travel restrictions seem to have affected the pan Arab / Levant series the most primarily because the lead actors and actresses could no longer travel between Egypt and Lebanon” Heba Korayem, Client Director, Mena.tv we have seen some revised lineups. For production companies, this period has been the toughest. In terms of what to expect, we can break the Ramadan series down into four broad categories, based on dialect and audiences. Egyptian, Levant, Khaleeji (Gulf) and the Maghreb. Travel restrictions seem to have affected the pan Arab / Levant series the most primarily because the lead actors and actresses could no longer travel between Egypt and Lebanon. Will we see whole productions or semi-finished productions this Ramadan? It is not unusual for production companies to continue shooting Ramadan series well into the Holy Month and deliver episodes to broadcasters just a day or two before they’re scheduled to air. In fact, as of April 21, only four out of the 16 titles released from Egypt are complete, half
of which were already complete because they were postponed from last year’s Ramadan. The famous Adel Imam’s Valentino is one of them, which audiences were eagerly waiting for since last season. It is hard to predict, but assuming that the pandemic doesn’t cause further delays, production companies are expected to deliver episodes as and when they’re ready like they have always done. Should episodes not be delivered on time, broadcasters may have to issue an apology to viewers, possibly in the form of a rolling banner over an improvised filler during the day part. Can you name some of the completed titles and which programmes have people been waiting for? Many of the popular channels like MBC, Dubai TV and Abu Dhabi TV have already published their most recent Ramadan line-ups. Following previous year’s trends, it appears to be the same drama titles shared amongst many FTA and pay-TV channels, but with “exclusive” rights to different “regions”. For example, Cedar Art’s Disney format of Golden Girls dubbed Sokkar Ziyadah in Arabic, is airing exclusively on two FTA channels: MBC Masr for Egyptian audiences
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PRORAMADAN
Clockwise from bottom left: Hayat Al Fahd in Um Haroun, part of MBC's Ramadan special; a screenshot from Mohammad Ali Rod, now showing on Abu Dhabi TV; and suspense thriller El Prince, showing on MBC.
and Dubai TV for Gulf audiences. From Egypt, the Al Nihaya trailer has been trending heavily on social media. This will be airing on Egypt’s FTA channel ON Drama, and is promoted by its producer Synergy as the Arab world’s first-ever sci-fi series. In the shocking two-minute video, we see humans on the brink of extinction in the year 2120 as wars rage and Artificial Intelligence life takes over. Social media sentiment is that the apocalyptic context of the show is relevant to the current global crisis. Its YouTube video attracted 1.6m views in just one week. Even though introducing a new genre during Ramadan has always been viewed as a huge gamble, to Synergy’s benefit, the show is perfectly timed within this year's context. A closer look at some of the other region-specific channels shows some interesting adaptations that we haven’t seen in previous years.
“Now is the time to go after upcycled and imported content that broadcasters and streaming services will seek inorder to add some variety to their grids and platforms”
However, with the production house officially postponing these titles, Ro’ya TV has replaced these hit Lebanese titles with Egyptian dramas Sultanet al Moezz and Shahed Ayan as well as Syrian Drama Brokar in addition to its own popular comedy titles such as Jalta.
Heba Korayem, Client Director, Mena.tv
What are some of the productions that haven’t been completed or are half way there? Eagle Films has so far confirmed two Ramadan series – the Khaleeji programme A Million Riyals and Lebanese title Adam’s sons. Three others in the pipeline have been postponed. Governmentimposed restriction of movement in Lebanon compelled all shoots to be suspended for more than a week but it appears that the rules will be relaxed with special permits being granted for shooting. At this point, Eagle Films remains hopeful that it will be able to continue shooting during the month of Ramadan.
Sharjah TV, for instance, revealed that they have scaled down their drama acquisition budgets. Instead, they have prepared unique game/ trivia shows for which they’re able to offer winners higher cash prizes than previous years. Game shows promoted by Sharjah TV involve audience engagement via social media or call-ins. They have cancelled their show Iftar Cannon, which used to be shot live outside around Iftar time. Jordan’s Ro’ya TV had previously announced three hit titles from Cedars Art including Al Hayba, 2020, and Aswad Fateh by Haifa Wahbe.
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PRORAMADAN
Cedars Art has postponed some of its titles stating that five of its titles are more than 75% complete but still cannot be released on time. Two out of three of its Maghreb series will be released as planned, while four out of its five scheduled Pan-Arab dramas will be postponed, including Season 4 of its award-winning Al Hayba series. Cedars Art will also be releasing Disney’s hit format Golden Girls, starring Egyptian TV icons Nadya el Gendy, Nabila Obeid, Samiha Ayoub, and Hala Fakher. Also, a talk show-style programme hosted by Egyptian star Ahmed El Sakka will be released on MBC1. Ramadan productions in Egypt seem to be the least affected by the pandemic. Special permissions were granted to the country’s main production house, Synergy/ United Media Services (UMS) for shooting, although social distancing and sanitation guidelines had to
be followed strictly. Also, Egyptian series have, over the last two years, been operating on tighter budgets which means all scenes are shot locally. Airport closures, therefore, did not impact the production houses. So far, 13 of UMS’ Egyptian dramas have been confirmed, and around five have been postponed due to time restrictions. All UMS productions are exclusive to Egypt’s Watch It digital platform and are also shared amongst Egypt’s various FTA channels in a similar pattern to last year - leaving non-Egyptian digital platforms struggling to source Egyptian titles. A couple of Egyptian production companies have managed to release one or two titles to the regional market - for example, Stars Media’s El Kamar Akher El Donia, starring El Gouna Film Festival’s CEO star (Bushra) in a compelling family drama. The title is also listed on mena.tv and has attracted interest from international buyers from Africa and Asia.
Any concluding comments? I think the content creation industry is doing a fantastic job despite all the current challenges. Buyers continue to support their suppliers who have been unable to deliver on time, by promising to honour their deals and air the unfinished productions at a later time. The biggest concern right now across all industries is the economic impact on business continuity. But this also creates a new opportunity. There are thousands of hours of unseen library content around the world. Now is the time for upcycled and imported content that broadcasters and streaming services will seek in order to add some variety to their grids and platforms. This is a great opportunity for production companies to advertise their titles on virtual content markets to reach international buyers, regardless of where they are in the world.
Clockwise from left: Emirati chef Hayat Al Shaibani explores GCC flavours as part of the Bil Afya Maa Hayat show on Fatafeat; the famed Adel Imam in Valentino; and Viu Original Sultanet al Moezz.
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PROCOVER
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PROCOVER
BACK WITH
A BANG
Just 15 months after taking the helm at OSN, CEO Patrick Tillieux has not just steered the media company into a more positive direction, he has also helped renew market confidence in the pay-TV network through new initiatives and partnerships. In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Tillieux talks about how he helped move the company back on track OSN is on the rebound. Right in the middle of a global lockdown that has stumped broadcasters both regionally and worldwide, the pay-TV operator, which lay low in 2019 with several phases of mass redundancies, made a raft of new announcements last month that indicate it’s back in the game. Alongside a brand-new logo and a vastly revamped streaming platform, OSN played its trump card last month with the announcement that it has bagged the exclusive Middle East rights to all Disney+ Originals. With that, OSN’s CEO Patrick Tillieux, who had previously declined all press briefings since he took charge in November 2018, sat down for his first candid chat with BroadcastPro ME. Tillieux, who hails from Belgium, does not shy away from the question that is on everyone’s minds – the mass redundancies at OSN that saw the operator’s workforce shrink from 2500 odd people to its current strength of under 900. “The whole of 2019 was about transforming and rebuilding OSN. Part of that was reducing our headcount drastically. That was a very painful thing to do because we had to let go of a lot of good people, but we had no other option,” Tillieux explains. Interestingly, Tillieux has spent the last 25 years of his career within the broadcast industry where a number of his roles involved building and reshaping major TV operations although he has a Master’s in Civil Engineering and did a brief stint in construction in Saudi Arabia before moving into media. In recent times, Tillieux has been on the boards of several organisations and continues to be on the board of
PLAY, Poland’s largest telecom company. He was CEO of SBS Broadcasting Europe from 2001 to 2009, prior to which he held senior positions at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, CANAL+ Holland, CANAL+ Flandres among others. More recently, he was on the OSN board from 2016 before he was invited to lead the network as CEO when Martin Stewart exited the company. “We have been through a very difficult period and it felt like we were in hospital in intensive care,” recalls Tillieux. “Of course, at the time, we couldn’t talk, we couldn’t walk because we were in ICU and were working intensely on repairing and reinvigorating OSN. It was a radical evolution; radical because we had to go to the core of things and revisit all our strategies. We needed to evolve to keep up with what was happening in the current times. That included renegotiating all of our rights that were primarily designed for our linear platform to cover our streaming services as well. We also had to look at our cost structure all the way from the basement to the attic and that meant letting go of people as well. But the one thing that has stood OSN in good stead is the trust we have built over the years with studios, telcos and its customers. It was important to capitalise on that now and create a fundamental transformation within the company. On the customer front as well, there was a dire need to evolve. I believe that’s what we have done now,” he says. Within that context of transformation and evolution, OSN announced an expanded content offering last month that includes its DTH and streaming platforms. In fact, Tillieux admitted that OTT was previously neglected by the operator and that from now on, streaming would become an integral
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PROCOVER
part of the company’s DNA. That point was driven home last month when Tillieux announced OSN’s biggest coup ever in recent months – its rights to exclusively host all of the Disney+ Originals for the Middle East on its platforms. The pay-TV operator already has the exclusive first pay window rights to most of Disney’s content including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and Nat Geo. What was missing was the Disney+ Originals. What it offers now as part of its streaming service is an exclusive and comprehensive Disney package for the Middle East along with the entire HBO portfolio, kids’ channels, lifestyle programmes, reality shows and documentaries as well as a whole chunk of content for Arabic-speaking audiences at $9.5 per month. In fact, existing subscribers will be retained at $5, OSN’s previous OTT pricing before the revamp. As we were going to press, the pay-TV network also announced a partnership with Intigral as well as more new channels
“We have been through a very difficult period and it felt like we were in hospital in intensive care … We first needed to go to the core of things and revisit all our strategies. That included renegotiating all of our rights … We had to look at our cost structure all the way from the basement to the attic” Patrick Tillieux, CEO, OSN and curated content. There’s more on the way, we are told. “We have been doing business in just one way, which is linear and not taking care of our streaming business. So, we felt we had to shake things up dramatically especially in terms of rights with the dual approach of looking after our DTH and streaming viewers. This is what the deal with Disney was about,” explains Tillieux. “On top of that, we already have 100% of everything on HBO, whether they are
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the miniseries, the documentaries and again, this is exclusive and a dual carriage deal, meaning it is on our DTH platform and on streaming. We also have all the exclusive content from MGM, Universal, Paramount and most of the major Hollywood studios. You could argue that OSN was going through a difficult time but the fact that Disney still came back with us is testimony to the confidence they have in us that we will do a good job. We have also let go of the name Wavo for our streaming service. All our services will now come under the overarching OSN brand and any additional services will go under this name. Our new logo as well retains its red colour but it’s much lighter and more dynamic and reflects the evolution we have gone through,” he says. Tillieux is said to have started the conversation with Disney back in August 2019 and the deal was finalised at the Oscars. Due to technicalities and the time needed to load up the assets, the first raft of Disney+ Originals
PROCOVER OSN has renegotiated its deals to ensure it has rights to all content for both its DTH and streaming platforms, says Tillieux.
have arrived in batches on the OSN streaming platform but from the next season, they will be concurrent, the CEO confirms. When asked why it took so long for OSN to get its streaming platform on track, Tillieux says it’s not always good to be the first to market especially in this region. “Our first OTT endeavour was six years ago. It was a journey of too many tests and learning, and our platform and knowledge weren’t what they should have been. We had a lot of catching up to do and that’s what we have done in the past year where we changed our platform supplier and reinvented the rules of engagement with our subscribers. I think we now have a good service in place, but it will gradually become a great service as we have a good team working on it now.” Tillieux, however, is quick to point out that just because OTT has been embraced as part of the network’s mainstream entertainment now, it does not imply that DTH has been sidelined. “The linear experience has a different value to video-on-demand and some people enjoy this more. Linear TV via dish and satellite remain equally important in this region because there are many areas, where people can only access linear entertainment because they do not have a good broadband connection. Our DTH service has 150 channels in HD and more than 500 in SD. Our box still includes a PVR and we intend to upgrade our box starting from September with features that will offer services that are very close to what you see on streaming. It’s important to underscore that the experience you get with a box has a very different value to VOD and that experience is beyond comparison.” OSN’s DTH offering is priced at $40 for a basic package and $80 for the platinum bouquet and both include free streaming and comes with a host of premium and exclusive
“Our first OTT endeavour was six years ago. It was a journey of too many tests and learning, and our platform and knowledge weren’t what they should have been. We had a lot of catching up to do and that’s what we have done in the past year” Patrick Tillieux, CEO, OSN
content, to which only OSN has the rights. On linear, Tillieux points out that subscribers also have access to movies on a transactional basis on the OSN store and this service is not available on the streaming platform. Each of the Originals will also feature on OSN’s DTH platform on various channels based on their genre with Disney+ Original movies such as Lady and the Tramp, Togo and Star Girl coming up on OSN Movies First; The Mandalorian and High School Musical from Disney+ and Endeavor’s Killing Eve to be featured on OSN Series First and HBO comedies like Run, High Maintenance and Curb Your Enthusiasm to be broadcast on OSN Comedy. Besides renegotiating its rights to accommodate both its online and DTH platforms, OSN has also fortified its partnerships with telcos across the region and is now looking at reinvesting in Arabic productions. “There are almost 35 telcos from Mauritania to Muscat, and we have relationships with at least 30 of them,” explains Tillieux. “We have excellent relationships with our telco partners and again, this is based on the trust we have built with them over the years. They understand the power of content in driving their business forward and we are expanding on these relationships. At present, we only have monthly subscriptions, but we are exploring two-week payment options in Egypt and some other countries.” Under Tillieux’s leadership, content localisation has also become a key requirement at OSN again. Original productions and locally produced entertainment are currently in the pipeline. OSN is also digging deep into its extensive data resources to determine which content should be dubbed. In fact, since September 2019, OSN has been dubbing certain shows specifically in the Saudi dialect to better serve
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PROCOVER
Zahra Zayat was recently appointed Senior VP for OTT, Digital and Telco at OSN.
its subscribers in the Kingdom. “Saudi Arabia remains our biggest market and we are testing something special there. OSN Kids, for instance, has localised programming. We have now started dubbing some of that content in the Saudi dialect to make them more appealing to our audience in KSA. This is one of the ways in which we are getting closer to our customer. I agree we don’t do enough in Arabic content at the moment but will double our investment in local production. We will look to bring some really goodquality local dramas to our platform. We also recently secured the rights for seven years to The Perfect Candidate, a film by the famous Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour. We will also do general entertainment in Arabic as we used to do before.” One of the first decisions Tillieux made when he was appointed CEO of OSN was to axe sports and the Pehla bouquet, which targets South Asians. “For us, as a commercial operator, Pehla was mainly driven by cricket. When we decided to cut sports, cricket was no longer part of our strategy. There was then no sufficient basis to sustain Pehla primarily because piracy is very high there. I had to make choices but this year, we don’t see much sports around anywhere with the pandemic,” he points out. OSN has been one of the most active voices on piracy in the region. As the owner of a lot of premium
Peter Riz recently joined OSN as Chief Technology Officer.
content, OSN has two different teams working to keep pirates at bay. “There is a direct link between the excellence of our content and the degree of piracy we experience so we have two different teams working on this. One does the policing with the authorities in different countries and helps with the raids on shops. On the digital side, we have means to identify and trace pirates and take measures there. We also do digital watermarking to track piracy across different screens.” But no company can truly be reenergised without sufficient capital injection and this is where Kuwait Projects Holding (KIPCO), one of OSN’s two shareholders, stepped up its efforts last year. With the additional investment, KIPCO’s stake in OSN has gone up from 60.5% to 87.6%, according to March 2020 reports. No doubt, OSN is well on the road to recovery and although there’s much left to do, Tillieux is confident that OSN will regain its position as the best entertainment provider in the region. He believes he now has a strong and dynamic leadership team in place to support that vision. “When I came into OSN, it was almost like it was frozen in time with
“OSN has been the lighthouse of great entertainment in the past and we will be the same going forward” Patrick Tillieux, CEO, OSN
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Sonia Kalfon Lekhal joined OSN as Chief Marketing Officer in November 2019.
ingrained habits. People were used to doing things in a certain way. Sometimes we need to take a different approach, and this is why it was important to have a new team in place. It was key for OSN to have people that would step out of their traditional ways of doing things. OSN has that brand equity and I believe I can capture that again with a new circle of dynamic people. Peter Riz, our new CTO is ex-CTO of HBO; our new CMO worked with Emirates and Souq. com; Zahra Zayat, who heads the digital team is ex-OSN and she has accumulated, in a very short period of time, a wealth of experience and so I am happy that she is back here to lead our digital platform.” In fact, Tillieux says OSN is now ready to hire again. “We are close to 850 to 900 people now after the whole transformation. We went through a massive reduction. But now, we are hiring. We are looking for specialists in online media, be it Snapchat or Instagram, as well as people on the technology side such as software experts. It almost feels like a new company has emerged out of the dark period of 2018/2019. I believe 2021 will be the year we will enjoy the rewards of all the hard work we have put in this year and the last. “OSN has been the lighthouse of great entertainment in the past and we will be the same going forward.”
Broadcast Solutions Middle East – Your Partner for Broadcast and Media Solutions Broadcast Solutions ME is the regional office of one of Europe’s biggest System Integrators. With a dedicated team of specialists on site we are your valued partner for developing OB Vans, complex fixed broadcast facilities, playouts and postproduction solutions. One of our latest projects: We implemented a modern and innovative broadcast control infrastructure to broadcast all sermons of the new Sharjah Grand Mosque. Do you want to know more? Contact us!
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PROVOXPOP
ITS IMPACT ON THE MEDIA WORLD Does the coronavirus pandemic paint a completely bleak economic picture or have new strategies and business models emerged from the situation? How have media companies benefitted from or been impacted by the lockdown, and how have industry leaders responded to it? Senior market executives and analysts from various facets of the media industry share their insights with BroadcastPro ME
Constantinos Papavassilopoulos Associate Director\Media, Consumer at OMDIA 24 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
The crisis associated with the coronavirus outbreak will have a profound impact on our lives, our economies and our societies even after it dies down. Within the TV & Online Video business, it might appear that TV (FTA & pay) will benefit from the lockdown. The reality is different. The postponement or cancellation of all major sports programming will deliver a heavy blow to pay-TV as the whole edifice of pay in many countries is constructed (not exclusively but primarily) on the back of premium sports rights. BeIN Media Group in the MENA region, Multichoice in Sub-Saharan Africa and Sky in the UK are easily recognisable examples of this reality. But it will not be just sports broadcasters who will suffer; entertainment operators will bear the burden too. If the astute financial crisis of 2008-09 can teach us anything, it is that pay-TV business revenues had taken a plunge
in most of the affected countries. During this time, consumers will be reluctant to upscale their investment in entertainment, giving priority to the fulfilment of more basic needs. The data we have from the first weeks of the lockdown all indicate a substantial growth in TV and online video consumption. In China, the average daily number of cable TV and IPTV viewers nationwide increased by 23.5% from December 2019 to mid-March 2020, with total viewing time rising by 41.7%. In the US, pay
“News and information programming is heavily on the rise, while other content genres experiencing an upsurge are: kids content, family and general entertainment�
PROVOXPOP
TV operators such as AT&T TV and DIRECTV have experienced live viewing to be up 15% and free VOD up nearly 25% comparing the third week of March with the same week in February. VoD services have steadily increased their viewing time shares on televisions over the past four weeks. Similar trends are emerging from some major WestEuropean markets like Spain, Italy and France. News and information programming is heavily on the rise, while other content genres experiencing an upsurge are: kids content, family and general entertainment, as well as TV series and films. Consumption in online video (OTT) platforms is booming (both AVoD & SVoD) as well as video traffic over broadband networks (fixed & mobile), although a part of the traffic growth is attributed to educational and e-learning platforms and in business videoconferencing. Pay-TV operators have implemented a wide range of tactical moves, which OMDIA has started tracking since the outbreak of the pandemic and here’s a list of them: • Offering extra entertainment content for free to sports-package or premium package subscribers. • Giving financial incentives such as credit in dollars or local currencies to subscribers for purchasing films on the pay-TV operator’s TVoD platform. • Offering content from hightier (premium) packages to medium-tier subscribers. • Offering discounts or giving one or two months of subscription for free. • Launching flexible tariffs such as monthly passes. • Creating tailor-made packages with kids and family content. • Offering new clients the option to subscribe to your OTT service instead of satellite or cable, due to the inability of technical personnel to access households for installing equipment. • Bundling one service with other premium services or offering a bundle (3-play, 4-play) at discounted prices to retain or attract new subscribers.
Marc Antoine d’Halluin CEO, MBC Group In these uncertain times, it has become clear that we have to find ways to adapt to the “new norm” and it has become more important than ever to provide an outlet for our viewers, be it the latest news, or entertainment whether via our linear TV channels or through our Shahid VIP OTT platform. Therefore, MBC Group continued to engage its key business objectives, out of which talent remains our number one priority. I am impressed by our talent’s ability to take on the many challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created and operate flawlessly despite having to do it remotely, in many cases. This demonstrates
“We’re being cautiously optimistic; we believe that the markets of Saudi Arabia (and the rest of the GCC) and Egypt will inevitably regain their momentum and upward trends”
how important it is to have the right people for your organisation. Having the right talent also results in the production of compelling and culturally relevant content for linear TV, OTT, digital and other platforms. This content captures the lion’s share of the MENA audience, a trend MBC has been witnessing this month, as the majority of productions for Ramadan have been nearly completed ahead of the lockdown. Our content during this top viewing season is extremely compelling. Amongst our other key objectives is producing more premium local content – ranging from short to long-form – that’s up to international standards and is able to travel across geographies and platforms. Shahid and Shahid VIP have seen significant spikes in viewership. In fact, their cumulative OTT audiences were multiplied by three over the last two months, with the Shahid VIP segment experiencing a phenomenal 10x audience growth. Premium, exclusive and original Arabic content attracted big audiences but this time, with the quality of our relaunched digital app, they became loyal. This year’s Ramadan is one we have never encountered in current times, and so despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, we still have to operate as normal. It is unsurprising that this current period has been challenging in terms of advertising – whether in the region or beyond. We’re being cautiously optimistic; we believe that the markets of Saudi Arabia (and the rest of the GCC) and Egypt will inevitably regain their momentum and upward trends. During these times, and after, MBC Group will continue to deliver the best content for the region’s trailblazing brands, across multi-platforms. There is a downside to having more content however, and that is the increased likelihood of it being pirated. It is very tempting to share our Ramadan content. Therefore, it will be our priority to support the intellectual property rights (IPR)
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PROVOXPOP
of content creators and production companies, because IP is the core of what we are about at MBC. We continue to be fully behind the antipiracy drive led by the authorities in Saudi Arabia and beyond. We are navigating strange times, with adversity and uncertainty creating not the most pleasant of challenges. But our strength has been in being able to adjust and recognise the opportunities that we can work with at present. It’s important for us not to compromise on quality. It’s equally important for us to continue delivering the best media and entertainment experience in MENA, bar none.
Manoj Mathew Territory Head MENAPT, ZEE Entertainment This is a very challenging time for all of us. I cannot think of a time in my lifetime when so many people have been impacted in such a dramatic way over such a short period. Our own businesses have been hit very hard and it’s proved to be a challenge as many projects are on hold for the moment. So, we are holding our breath like everyone else.
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“What concerns us is that there is no valuation to this surge in viewership as ad spends have dropped drastically. Radio, outdoor and print advertising may have dropped by more than 50% to 80%. Cinema advertising and event sponsorships are down by 100%. Did all this move to TV, OTT and Digital? The answer is no” Mid-March, when most organisations started ‘work from home’, we saw an upswing in content consumption. Initially, it was witnessed over news channels, then movie channels and general entertainment; unfortunately, sports content took a massive fall. Kids’ entertainment grew exponentially while infotainment grew by a small percentage. The average time spent on news and movie channels has gone up by over 30%. Entertainment channels have seen an increase of 20% to 30%. We have seen more viewers coming in and more viewing in what was previously non-prime time. We have also seen a surge in male viewership in general entertainment channels, previously the domain of women. Prime Time suddenly has a new field to operate in because it is spread almost across the whole day. Most entertainment channels brought out some classics from their archives to create afternoon and morning bands, and most networks had new programming grids. There has been a surge in OTT viewing too, with both Weyyak and Zee5 seeing more than 50% growth in viewing and Zee5 witnessing a spike in subscriptions. Viewing across both South Asian and Arabic linear
or OTT platforms saw growth in both viewership and subscriptions. Did this viewership bring about a cheer within the content industry? Unfortunately, no as many of the grassroots workers in content production are daily wage or projectbased earners especially within the South Asian content market. Zee and other broadcasters as well as content production houses in India have set up special cells and funds to help workers in India. The same holds true for the Arabic content production market. Our Arabic co-productions are slated to commence mid-June if the lockdown is lifted. What concerns us is that there is no valuation to this surge in viewership as ad spends have dropped drastically. Radio, outdoor and print advertising may have dropped by more than 50% to 80%. Cinema advertising and event sponsorships are down by 100%. Did all this move to TV, OTT and Digital? The answer is no. Linear and digital have also witnessed a drop of more than 30%, in some cases 50% in revenue, compared to the same time in previous years. Certain industries such as travel, automobile and services have stopped communicating. This, however, does build the case for subscriptiondriven models of content consumption and this will take place in the MENA region as well. Content planning and mobilisation will change after these times. Content banking will become key. I expect to see a surge in content production in order to bank five to six months from now. Content acquisition methodologies will change. There will be a newfound respect for content teams and their forward-looking strategies. The industry will bounce back soon with some new methods of engagement. Technology will be the focal point in content development, distribution, monetisation, protection, storage, compression and platforms.
PROVOXPOP
Debbie StanfordKristiansen CEO, The Novo Cinemas The global closure of cinemas has led to an enormous uptake of streaming services. Many are wondering how this will affect exhibitors when they reopen. At Novo Cinemas, we emphatically believe customers will flock to cinemas once again. Cinemas have proven over the years to be extremely resilient. From TV to DVD, there have been several shifts in opportunities to view film content, but exhibitors have paid careful attention to these shifts and looked to solutions, which cannot be replicated at home. Luxurious seating, enhanced food and beverage options, screen size and sound
“Today, people are questioning the impact of streaming services on this century-old industry. Streaming popularity does not mean that people will be less inclined to go to cinemas once the crisis is over”
are examples of the cinema experience. Today, people are questioning the impact of streaming services on this century-old industry. Streaming popularity does not mean that people will be less inclined to go to cinemas once the crisis is over. In fact, a recent study from EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics Group (QUEST) found that people who go to the movies also watch streaming content more frequently than those who go to the cinemas less often. The study also found that those who saw nine or more movies at the cinema averaged 11 hours of weekly streaming compared to seven hours of streaming reported on average by those who went to the movies just once or twice. This leads us to think that the two entertainment forms are complementary, rather than competitive. Post crisis, much-anticipated movie releases will flood into cinemas creating a worldwide rebound film fest. The Bond movie, No Time to Die will be released in November; the animated comedy Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, initially planned for a Spring release will now hit our screens at the end of August and the ninth instalment of the Fast and Furious is due for release in April 2021. The cinema-going experience is also evolving in the meantime with technological developments such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and 4D theatres. I’m sure E-Sports and gaming will become complimentary attractions. During this time, the Novo team are either working from home or on paid leave and we have initiated a series of team building activities. We share images and videos of our pets, family, food, hometown, best movies and more on a WhatsApp group but rely on Microsoft Teams for daily meetings with the leadership team. The HR team has sent a series of links for online learning to help colleagues adjust to remote working and grow their skill set. Every month, we send out a staff newsletter called The Novo Times. In the newsletter, we include
personal milestones such as new family members or achievements; puzzles and photographs of the team having fun. I have also launched an initiative called Talk to Debbie, which allows every team member to share their thoughts with me directly. Our team's well-being is our priority, so we ensure they are fully aware of the current situation and I want to ensure their minds are at ease during this period.
David Clark CTO, Sky News Arabia As professionals in the media field, we have a fundamental and powerful responsibility to deliver the right information to inform people and save lives. Early indicators show that our viewers are interested in COVID-19 specific programmes as they look for credible, timely and accurate news resources. Among the virus-related programming we’ve launched in the last period is an interactive Facebook Live Show that allows people to ask questions and hear from our guest experts. Innovation in how we engage with our viewers and deliver the news across all platforms has been key to increasing engagement.
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 27
PROVOXPOP
Furthermore, as a leading news organisation, we were well equipped to deal with the requirements for remote working. Over the past few years, we have invested heavily in cutting-edge technology and mobile journalism training. This gave us an advantage in dealing with these unprecedented circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and made it relatively easier for us to adapt to remote working. We had been fortunate enough to be trialling several products to enable our bureaus to further contribute without massively increasing our infrastructure footprint. In the weeks leading up to the lockdown, we were trialling many cloud-edit solutions and ultimately decided to go into a full POC with Blackbird. This workflow enabled our teams to cut live feeds remotely for repackaging and increase our digital content output and we have so far seen a significant increase in our digital content. The growth of Sky News Arabia on digital and social engagement has been substantial. We had also been trialling HP RGS (remote graphics software). While our initial trials of RGS were to utilise the technology to continue using
“In the weeks leading up to the lockdown, we were trialling many cloud-edit solutions and ultimately decided to go into a full POC with Blackbird. This workflow enabled our teams to cut live feeds remotely for repackaging and increase our digital content output and we have ... seen a significant increase in our digital content” 28 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
our on-premise infrastructure and workflow for editing, we also identified another useful way of utilising the software to allow our creative teams to work remotely. HP RGS allowed the team to work remotely, while our VIZRT infrastructure and license remained on-premise. Sky News Arabia also utilises several cutting-edge Video over IP technologies including LiveU, Djero and TVU and we have been actively working between technology and editorial teams to increase our utilisation of IP news gathering versus satellite. The main objective was for ease of use and deployment; however, as we actively worked with the software, it also allowed us to react quickly with live talent and live locations during these times of lockdown. As a result, in the weeks after lockdown, Sky News Arabia doubled its contribution over IP and significantly increased the use of Skype and Zoom to connect to live talent in the region and across the globe. Our number one priority has always been the health and safety of our employees and we have put business continuity plans in place that safeguard the well-being of our people and allow us to continue bringing credible, timely and accurate news to our audiences worldwide across all platforms. Our technical teams responded incredibly well and supported our business continuity efforts to keep our staff safe and our organisation running effectively. We reduced our on-site presence in Abu Dhabi, and both technical teams and the wider Sky News Arabia community adapted very quickly. This response was to both the demands of remote work as well as a reduced on-site operational and editorial presence. The teams have all done an incredible job and have demonstrated their commitment to Sky News Arabia and its audience, their ability to cope and adapt well and demonstrated just how adaptable news production is.
Moon Baz Strategic Partner Manager for Media Publishers in MENA, Facebook During these unprecedented times, Facebook is helping people stay connected to their family and friends and find new ways to take part in unique experiences. Live, in particular, is enabling content creators to support one another and share important moments in real time. Since its development, we have seen over 8.5bn broadcasts on Facebook to date. In light of the current pandemic, we’re seeing a significant increase in both Instagram Live and Facebook Live usage. With cancelled shows and social distancing, artists, public figures, broadcasters and publishers are connecting with their communities on Facebook. People are also finding creative ways to connect – from virtual concerts to live museum tours, cooking demonstrations, live zoo safaris, and fitness sessions. Facebook Live is being used to celebrate and commemorate key moments in peoples’ lives. Couples are using it to exchange vows, while families are using it to celebrate graduation ceremonies and other milestones.
PROVOXPOP
“Spiritual broadcasts have experienced a significant increase, with many local churches and mosques using Live to connect with their religious communities remotely” Spiritual broadcasts have experienced a significant increase, with many local churches and mosques using Live to connect with their religious communities remotely. The week of April 6 was the biggest week for live broadcasts from spiritual pages since the launch of Facebook Live, and the number of people tuning into these spiritual live broadcasts increased by more than 3.5x since the same time in March. The number of people in EMEA tuning into these spiritual live broadcasts increased by more than 2x (i.e. doubled) since the same time in March. As we approach the holy month of Ramadan, we are also starting to see that people have turned to Live as a way to come together for iftars and suhoors with their loved ones. We’ve also seen uplifting videos, like live concerts featuring A-list artists from across the MENA region hosted by Rotana Music, as well as educational content by Layalina (7awi) and MTV Lebanon. The viral trend, brought on by the #TogetherAtHome hashtag, has so far generated over 6,000 videos and 16m interactions on Facebook’s platforms. Over the course of the coming weeks, we will also see the release of new video content through our partnerships with publishers and content creators for Ramadan. This includes the development of over 3,000 videos, with 850 videos exclusive to Facebook as part of #RamadanTogetherApart. Among others, 7awi will be launching seven original shows on Facebook Watch across their lifestyle pages including Layalina, Sa2eh and Alqiyady. Following their on-demand premieres on Shoof, four new Shoof
drama episodes will be aired on Facebook as part of their Ramadan programming. We’ll also see exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews and after shows aired on Facebook Watch by Charisma Group as part of Entertainment Tonight Bil Arabi televised Ramadan content, alongside clips and highlights from original broadcasts.
Christopher Elkins CEO, MUSO For audiences, disruption brings new opportunities for discovery. Now, as lockdown becomes the new normal, this seems to be the moment to press reset, seek out new shows and films and dive into older content missed the first time around. All of this is playing out right now in the trends across tens of thousands of TV shows and films we’re tracking. Demand for all forms of content across the free, unlicensed global ecosystem MUSO measures has massively increased in dramatic and significant ways. We reported the initial COVID-19 impact in February, as demand in China upped by more than 30% across just a few days. Data for March is now illuminating those trends globally, and specifically, ways in which they
are changing. By genre, for instance, demand for family-oriented content initially rose - but what next? 2011's Contagion and this year's best-picture Oscar winner, Parasite, both saw huge rises in demand - 151.97% increase in piracy streaming visits from January to February and the latter saw a 240.04% rise during the start of the pandemic. Viewing habits have time-shifted traditional weekend demand spikes now flattening through the working week for many regions. This is a trend we’ve already seen in MENA for March. Different genres are trending across different regions and with Ramadan, the world is looking to see how viewing habits of MENA audiences will evolve. Broadcast and film businesses are responding and reacting in different ways internally to the data. Content acquisitions and commissioning teams are gearing around resources - initially the short term need to optimise scheduling. But now, these teams seem to be transitioning internal thinking towards recovery steps - production development and delivery postCOVID, and new content development opportunities emerging from its disruption. Data and the trends that are surfacing from it are crucially important in helping the industry to leverage short-term buying needs. But, more than that, it is the R&D and development work that will go some way to defining how quickly, and successfully, media businesses come out the other side.
“Demand for all forms of content across the free, unlicensed global ecosystem MUSO measures has increased, often dramatically. We reported the initial COVID-19 impact in February, as demand in China upped by more than 30% across just a few days” May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 29
PROPRODUCTION
SPOTLIGHTING WOMEN WORLDWIDE They say that the progress of a country is measured by the way its women are treated. Woman, a documentary that premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, powerfully captures the personal stories of 2,000 women across the globe. Anastasia Mikova, one of the film's directors, and colourist Stéphane Azouze share some behindthe-scenes stories on what went into the making of this film
Women from 50 different countries participated in this documentary to share their personal stories.
Woman, a large-scale film project that gave voice to 2,000 women across 50 different countries, has made waves globally. Directed by Ukrainian-born film director and journalist, Anastasia Mikova and French film director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, this documentary looks at women across the world and their personal stories. Woman beautifully lays bare the various physical, mental, emotional and psychological nuances of women across the world and looks at various topics that impact them. Freelance colourist, Stéphane Azouze, who has previously worked with Mikova and Arthus-Bertrand as DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) on an earlier project titled Human graded this film on Baselight. Human saw Mikova and Arthus-Bertrand interview
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men, women and children all over the world. “Men were really happy to share their story,” Mikova, who was then the first assistant to the director, recalls. “They were proud and quite at ease talking in front of the camera. But the women at first would be quite suspicious – why were we asking all these questions? “However, once in front of the camera, it was like they had been waiting for this moment their whole lives – things that they had kept inside for many years could finally be released. It was so powerful and so incredible.” The two directors began working on the project four years ago, before the #metoo movement and the Weinstein affair and were not surprised by the events that unfolded. “I have been doing documentaries for many years and
PROPRODUCTION
in some countries, 10 or 15 years ago, it would have been almost impossible to find a woman who would be able to share her story and intimate experience in front of a camera,” explains Mikova. “So, seeing more women ready to be heard, made a big difference and we thought the time has come to create a window for them. And that’s where this project began.” Mikova and Arthus-Bertrand have worked together for 12 years. “A project like this takes three or four years,” Mikova says. “It’s a very long time, so it creates quite a strong relationship across the team.” Having spent the first year in planning and preparation, over the next two years they shot almost 2,000 interviews, in 80 sessions and 50 countries. Mikova did as many of the interviews as she could, but had a trusted team of five journalists, only women, to support her as well as several camerawomen and cameramen – one of which was Mikova’s husband, Dimitri Vershinin, who worked on Human and Woman and was already comfortable with the interview format the two directors wanted. They also worked with local female journalists in every country to find the women to interview and prepare each shoot in advance. “Once you have 2,000 interviews with women, many of whom have opened up for the first time in their lives, the challenge is to go deep into yourself to determine which ones you should use,” she says. “We would gather topics – like sexuality, motherhood, empowerment, education or work – then we would listen for hours and hours to make a selection on which we all agreed. “That first version was maybe eight or nine hours long. Starting from there, to get it down to one hour 45 minutes was really difficult, because we had to lose so many interviews that we really
“It was like they had been waiting for this moment their whole lives – things that they had kept inside for many years could finally be released. It was so powerful and so incredible” Anastasia Mikova, director and journalist wanted to keep. It took us almost a year to come up with the final editing, which is long for a documentary. Thankfully, we were chosen to premiere the film at The Venice Film Festival, which gave us a deadline to work towards. If not, I’m afraid we’d still be editing the film today!” The nature of the content means that the filming style is extremely simple and intimate. “We set up simple studios, sometimes in incredible locations like in the middle of the desert,” Mikova explains. “It was always the same thing: you see just a face, on a neutral background, with one light, all very minimalistic.” Armed with this material, the directors turned to freelance colourist Stéphane Azouze, who came to the Baselight seat via a very unusual route: as a camera operator and shading supervisor, also specialised in aerial photography. He first met Arthus-Bertrand when Yann needed helicopter shots for a feature project he was creating in 2006. For Human, Azouze was colour
and workflows supervisor, ensuring every operator stuck to the defined set-ups and protocols. He also worked on the dailies with colourist Gilles Granier at Technicolor. “Gilles is fascinating by his ability to artistically respond to creators demands, with great teaching skills,” Azouze says. “He gave me the bug. With my experimented shading operator’s eye, I understand colour and contrast, so I had a great foundation to work on.” Azouze then went on to establish himself as a colourist, not least on television projects for Arthus- Bertrand. Woman was shot on a mixture of cameras: The Canon C300 was largely used for the interviews, with the RED Dragon and Helium, Sony F55-F65, and drone cameras when needed, for beauty shots. For the interviews, the directors and Azouze set a clearly defined format, with a standard studio portrait background, the same light, and laser-measured distances between the lens and the subject. “But the results are uneven,” explains Azouze. “And that’s normal because each of the operators has a different eye, and with only one source of light it was sometimes hard to take the person off the black backdrop.” To put the interviews in context there were also sequences of the home and work environments of the women, but also more artistic sequences of women’s lives. They are seen working in hundreds at a clothing factory (DOP Daniel Meyer); dancing on a skyscraper by the vertical performers troop Bandaloop, filmed by James Adamson; scenes of joy among groups of young girls attending a music festival (DOP Bruno Cusa); and even underwater shots (DOP Denis Lagrange) with a Japanese free diver Sachiko Fukumoto. And there is also a sequence led by photographer
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 31
PROPRODUCTION
Peter Lindbergh and filmed by French cinematographer Caroline Champetier, which featured women of all ages undressing in front of the camera, confronting us to real women’s bodies: young, old and some of whose bodies show the serious effects of illness. These intimate images were shot in the studio set-up: very bright and close to the backdrop. “There was no question of using make-up: we wanted the women to be as natural and realistic as possible,” says Azouze, “But, on the other hand, if they came to the interview with make-up on, we let them be.” “We wanted the colourist to see the natural beauty of all these women, and the natural aspect of who they are. We really wanted to portray the feeling that these were real women,” explains Mikova. The first challenge for the grade was to bring all the content together and to accommodate some difficulties of the C300 on wide shots. “Some shots did not correspond to the pre-set we
“The look overall is quite desaturated because Anastasia wanted something subtle ... The stories are not always cheerful, so we tried to remain discreet and true” Stéphane Azouze, colourist had agreed, which in turn meant that working in the specified Canon log colour space did not work and I had to choose another starting base by hand,” Azouze recalls. One thing that did please Azouze was the ability to compensate for the C300 without generating a lot of noise. “It works very well on Baselight. I was amazed: on some shots, I usually have to do a noise reduction pass, I didn’t have to with Baselight,” he says. The nature of the documentary meant that there were few grading ‘tricks’, but it was necessary to add some interpretations into the grade. “Champetier / Lindbergh’s sequence is almost black and white. The woman who testifies immediately before it
The documentary beautifully captures the stories of women in different parts of the world. Shown above left is a lady from the Middle East and right, an Indian woman.
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cries and turns red during the interview; she was very emotional. So, I animated with several keyframes to desaturate gradually to arrive on something that moved naturally into this black and white sequence, so there is not too much of a break,” says Azouze. “Then I noticed that this black and white sequence came out looking green, despite there being no green in the image. This is a well-known problem of persistence of vision. You have a succession of coloured images (mainly faces in close-ups) so your eyes accommodate to it. When you switch to black and white, it comes out green – it’s crazy!” Azouze completed the grade in one of the Baselight suites at Mikros Image in Paris. “We wanted a master for theatre, which led us to projection and Mikros.” The grade took 25 days in the summer of 2019, plus an extra block of five days to cover a complex end credits sequence with a montage of all 2,000 faces. “I used Film Grade and Base Grade a lot, along with Texture Highlight and Texture Equaliser. I love the tracking, and on the creativity and finesse level, I feel I can go further with Baselight.” Mikova supervised the finish. They agreed on the look together. “It came with the flow,” according to Azouze. “I made proposals at the very beginning, and she guided me on colours and on renderings of certain people. We ended up together for the final grade, but the base was largely there. I feel like I’m going further on Woman with Baselight,” he adds. “The look overall is quite desaturated, because Anastasia wanted something subtle – that we do not focus too much on the clothes, that the skins do not catch the eye too much. The stories are not always cheerful, so we tried to remain discreet and true.”
PROPRODUCTS
Broadcast from home with Blackmagic Design's new ATEM Mini Pro Blackmagic Design has announced the launch of the ATEM Mini Pro, a new low-cost live production switcher designed for broadcasting from home. This switcher has all the features of the ATEM Mini but comes with extra features for recording, streaming and monitoring. It includes a new hardware streaming engine to allow direct streaming via its Ethernet connection to YouTube Live, Facebook and Twitch. Support is included for recording the stream directly to USB flash disks in H.264 in addition to support for recording to multiple disks for continuous recording. The new $595 model also includes a multiviewer on its HDMI video output that allows all inputs to be viewed on a single monitor, as well as live status of recording, streaming and the audio mixer.
The Atem Mini switchers simplify multi-camera production for live streaming to YouTube, Skype or Zoom, with switching between four high-quality video inputs. They can also connect a computer for PowerPoint slides or gaming consoles and feature a built-in DVE for picture-in-picture and other effects. The switchers also have a USB that works like a webcam for use with any streaming software, plus HDMI out for projectors. The large source buttons ensure that they offer a presenter the ease to operate the switching. Buttons are included for audio mixing and,
on the ATEM Mini Pro. There are also buttons for recording and streaming control and output selection. Also included is a still store for titles and graphics that is accessible via external software control. Each of the four HDMI inputs have their own dedicated standards converter, so that 1080p, 1080i or 720p sources will automatically convert to the video standard of the switcher, for use with a wide variety of cameras. For a more broadcast-style workflow, customers can remote control their cameras from the ATEM Mini. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
and 6K models can now work as studio cameras with control sent via the HDMI connection. This allows users to control camera settings and the camera’s colour corrector from the Atem Software Control (for Mac and Windows). It also has chroma key for green/blue screen work. “What’s been surprising is the types of work customers have used the Atem Mini model for; we never expected it to be used for such large events,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “So now with this new Atem Mini Pro model, we are making this easier because customers can stream via the Ethernet, while at the same time record to files on a USB disk, all while monitoring all cameras, media and status on a single HDMI video monitor.” www.blackmagicdesign.com
Stellar lighting from ARRI ARRI has announced an
storing it as a favourite in the
updated version of its Stellar
app settings. The intensity will
lighting control app, allowing
also remain at the same level
users to control third-party
throughout all modes. If a
products. Stellar 2 is designed
fixture can provide these RDM
to control luminaires from
functionalities, temperature
other manufacturers including
and mode information will
Litegear, Astera, and Kino Flo.
be displayed in the fixture
With Stellar 2, the correct
setups. Other enhancements
DMX addresses can be
include improved connectivity
assigned to the luminaires
handling, presets that apply
in only a couple of steps.
on different fixtures, and
If any fixture needs to be
the setup. A re-scan will
group fixtures with different
minor usability, layout, and
swapped out, possibly due to
detect it if the fixture has not
CCT ranges. Users may apply
stability improvements.
malfunction, it can be easily
been in your setup before.
their personal value as the
exchanged without affecting
With Stellar 2, users can now
default intensity by simply
34 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
www.arri.com
PROPRODUCTS
Brainstorm announces Suite 4 Brainstorm Suite 4 is a major upgrade to Brainstorm’s InfinitySet, Aston and eStudio solutions that includes a number of features designed to enhance content creation and output. Besides tighter integration and control of Unreal Engine, Suite 4 includes features like simultaneous renders, multiple outputs and additional hardware support. Suite 4 gives InfinitySet and Aston greater capabilities to create high-quality photorealistic content, irrespective of whether they are real-time graphics, virtual sets, augmented reality or broadcast workflows. Suite 4’s key feature is Layers which changes how Aston and InfinitySet deal with broadcast workflows, while providing additional playout possibilities. With Layers, Brainstorm Suite 4 can now deliver several outputs from a single instance, in both Aston and InfinitySet, or combine several outputs in a single one as required. InfinitySet 4 also comes with major updates to its rendering features as well as the management and compatibility with Unreal Engine. InfinitySet now features an Unreal-native behaviour, so InfinitySet users
can achieve anything Unreal Engine provides in a workflow fully integrated into Unreal. Also new is the InfinitySet Unreal Engine Controller, a new module that directly controls Unreal Engine from InfinitySet’s own interface, adding a user-friendly, live productionoriented control interface. This controller provides additional compatibility for video hardware devices not available in Unreal Engine, including support and driver updates for video IO boards and virtually any tracking device. Aston 4, Brainstorm’s 2D/3D motion graphics creation, CG and playout solution, also comes with a number of enhancements like shaderbased 2D fonts and the ability to open multiple projects simultaneously for playout. The Aston family of applications is also enhanced with the addition of Aston Multichannel, which allows Aston to provide extended workflow possibilities, including playout of multiple channels from a single workstation or from different workstations, which can also be combined with multiple simultaneous projects. www.brainstorm3d.com
Fujifilm brings focus with two new Fujinon 8K broadcast lenses
which boosts the rate of light transmittance, making it possible to deliver vivid colour reproduction, as well Fujifilm
as high dynamic range (HDR)-
has announced
based rich tonal gradation. In
the development of two new
addition to using aspherical
8K broadcast zoom lenses,
and fluorite elements to
both capable of producing
effectively control various
dynamic 8K ultra-high-
types of aberration, both
definition images. The
lenses have a nine-blade
Fujinon HP66X15.2ESM
aperture for natural bokeh
(HP66X15.2) box lens reaches
and are equipped with 16-bit
the world’s longest 8K focal
encoders. The HP66X15.2
length of 1,000mm while
also features the latest high-
also reportedly featuring
performance optical image
the world’s highest zoom
stabilisation mechanism to
magnification of 66x.
make 8K production at long
The Fujinon HP12X7.6ERD
focal lengths rock steady.
(HP12X7.6) is a portable lens
Both lenses can be used with
covering a range of 7.6mm
the latest generation of focus
to 91mm, again reportedly
accessories to achieve the
the world’s widest 8K angle
advanced level of focussing
of view at 93.3 degrees.
precision that 8K demands.
The lenses are due to be
The 8K series from Fujinon
released in the summer of
now comprises seven lenses
2020 and the fall of 2020,
designed for two camera
respectively. The details of
formats. The 8K 1.25” Three
this announcement were
Sensor Bayonet-Mount Series
revealed during a virtual press
includes the HP66x15.2ESM
conference on April 16, 2020.
box lens, the HP12x7.6ERD
The HP66X15.2 and
portable lens, the
HP12X7.6 ultra-high-definition
HP7.5x8.5SM box lens, and the
(UHD) lenses feature bayonet
HP11x22.5SM box lens. The 8K
mounts targeting three 1.25”
PL Mount Series includes the
sensors for ultra-high 8K
SK3x12SM portable lens, the
resolution. This is bolstered
SK7.5x19.7SM portable lens,
by Fujifilm’s multi-layer
and the SK20x35ESM box lens.
coating (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating),
www.fujifilm.com
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 35
PROPRODUCTS
Calrec launches IP-based virtual mixing console
Calrec has launched Type R for TV, a virtual mixing console that integrates with station automation systems for virtual working practices. The console is compatible with station automation systems including Ross Overdrive, Sony ELC and Grass Valley Ignite. It offers fully automated programming with real-time adjustment of unpredictable external factors via a standard web browser. Powered by standard POE switches, Type R has three different panel options. If broadcasters prefer a physical surface then banks of 6x faders
can be added, or adaptable soft panels like Calrec’s Large Soft Panel (LSP) and Small Soft Panel (SSP) may be used. Calrec’s Assist web UI offers easy access to the virtual desk on almost any device. Assist works over TCP/IP and has minimal control lag, which makes minor adjustments easy and quick to do. Type R for TV aims to fulfil the rising demand for automated audio consoles in smaller news operations, according to Calrec’s Director of Product Management, Henry Goodman.
NewTek brings spark to IP with new converters IP-based video technology provider NewTek has announced two new Spark Plus IO converters. Priced at $895, the new Spark Plus IO 4K aims to deliver high bandwidth NDI at full 60p for low latency and high quality in and out over IP. Priced at $995, the Spark Plus IO SDI encodes or decodes at rates up to 1080p 60 NDI for 3G-SDI environments without disrupting the existing traditional SDI video infrastructure. Both Sparks come with PoE, simple autodiscovery, and tally light with
NDI support. Spark Plus IO converters are designed to be in service quickly with the entire setup over one Ethernet cable. A web-based interface allows easy configuration and monitoring from a desktop or mobile browser. The Spark family of converters are compatible with systems, devices, and applications that support NDI technology. Sparks pair with the TriCaster Mini 4K and TriCaster TC1 for a configurationfree NDI experience. www.newtek.com
www.calrec.com
Mirada promises to make better recommendations with Iris multiscreen technology Digital TV technology
in the MENA region.
provider Mirada
We’ve previously
is promoting its
worked in this region
Iris multiscreen
with clients such as
technology and
Etisalat, and we are
custom launcher
currently following
for Android TV
up on a number of
Operator Tier. The
opportunities with
technology solution
pay TV operators in
is an end-to-end
MENA. We will also
ecosystem of products
be looking to attract
enabling pay-TV operators to
interest from other
provide an engaging viewing
tablets, web, game consoles,
including access to third-
operators within the region,
experience across all devices.
smart TVs and media
party apps like Netflix.
in addition to distributors and
It aims to help audiences find
streaming devices. With
“With 20 years of experience
System Integrators to create
and consume content through
Mirada’s custom launcher,
empowering all types of pay TV
new business opportunities
the use of advanced content
the company says operators
operators with our advanced
together,” commented Antonio
discovery tools, personalised
can offer the same quality
and competitive multiscreen
Rodríguez, VP Business
and consumption-based
user experience powered by
products, we’re now looking
Development at Mirada.
recommendations, across
Iris along with all the benefits
to explore new business
set-top boxes, smartphones,
of the Android environment,
opportunities and partnerships
36 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
www.mirada.tv
PROPRODUCTS
Telestream releases OptiQ Monitor cloud service for live ABR quality monitoring Telestream’s new OptiQ
automatically starts monitoring
Monitor is a multi-cloud
live streaming channels. OptiQ
monitoring service. It enables
Monitor enables users to
real-time deployment of live
integrate video monitoring without
ABR quality monitoring at
needing to modify anything in
scale in over 70 geographic
their existing delivery chain.
regions, designed to give broad
OptiQ Monitor allows
visibility into the performance
customers to measure the
of live OTT channels delivered
real-time performance of their
through CDN partners.
OTT channels at the CDN edge
OptiQ Monitor is for content
for every variant concurrently
owners, broadcasters, event
across disparate regions. The
operators, and sports leagues
service features a REST API for
that have already put in place the
monitoring & analytics,
infrastructure required to support
delivering real-time performance
their live streaming channels but
and quality insights of OTT
Cloud that customers can
to network performance and
have no monitoring infrastructure,
channels. Now, customers can
leverage to manage provisioning,
analysis data that can be
especially post-CDN.
spin up a multi-cloud hosted
configuration and data collection
combined with other performance
“OptiQ Monitor is a cloud
service in an automated and
of monitoring products deployed
metrics in a comprehensive view.
service that radically changes
orchestrated fashion,” said
globally. When a user hits
the approach for on-demand
Kenneth Haren, OptiQ Product
‘go’ the OptiQ Monitor service
GV ups the game with GV STRATUS One Pro
Grass Valley has launched GV STRATUS One Pro, a production suite for content creators, that is designed to enhance the production workflow. The new platform is one of two new additions to the GV STRATUS One product family, alongside the new GV STRATUS One Express. Production teams can now harness more storage, processing power and rendering abilities to deliver compelling content to multiple linear and digital delivery platforms. It features automated rules engine and social media management tools to manage, organise and
distribute content to a variety of platforms. GV STRATUS One is easy to deploy and includes more than 500 hours of 100Mbit storage, eliminating the need for additional equipment. Some of the key features of the new GV STRATUS solution include four channels of playout and record, SDI ingest and playout (720P & 1080i), editing licenses included (EDIUS or Adobe), automated rules engine, multiple simultaneous users, RMI and archive support, social media and CMA management.
Manager at Telestream. OptiQ Monitor is a Telestream
automation and integration, unlocking on-demand access
www.telestream.net
Broadcast Pix goes live with StreamingPix StreamingPix is a live production and streaming solution designed to produce professional content. It leverages some of the same tried and tested acquisition, production, automation and streaming tools as Broadcast Pix’s products, but with easy-to-use control interfaces and a library of clips and graphics. StreamingPix includes a RoboPix PTZ camera with integrated remote control, high-quality audio capture using
a LAV microphone, SDI, HDMI, IP and NDI inputs for the ability to input PowerPoint, social media, and “ready-to-use” clips and graphics. It features media-aware macros to make the content visually interesting, streaming to services like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Vimeo, Zoom and Skype. StreamingPix was due to start shipping in April at $6,495. www.broadcastpix.com
www.grassvalley.com
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 37
PROPRODUCTS
Primestream launches Xchange Media Cloud for remote video production workflows Netherlands-based
including Premiere, After
Primestream, a provider
Effects, and Photoshop, with
of automation software
Xchange Media Cloud promising
solutions for media
to allow teams to browse,
production, has introduced
search, edit, and organise
Xchange Media Cloud, a 100%
content from any location.
cloud-based version of the
When combined with the
company’s Xchange media
Primestream Workflow Server
asset management (MAM)
and ingest modules in the
platform for remote video
cloud, the solution aims to
production workflows. Xchange Media Cloud can
provide the ability to record graphics, creative, and visual
to enable cloud production
and monitor incoming live
be set up within hours to store,
effects teams in broadcast
workflows from start to finish.
cloud streams including
access, produce, and manage
news, enterprise video, and
The cloud-based solution offers
HLS, NDI, or RTSP.
media assets remotely.
other media operations,
integration with Adobe Creative
Xchange Media Cloud looks
Cloud software applications
Targetted for video, sound,
Leader makes waves with enhanced IP measurement Leader Electronics has introduced enhanced IP measurement for the LV5600 waveform monitor and its LV7600 equivalent rasteriser. The video over IP measurement function specified in SMPTE ST 2110 and SMPTE ST 2022-6 now provides nine extra tools including buffer measurement based on SMPTE ST 2110-21.2, packet error and packet jitter insertion to the IP test signal generator and addition of lip-sync test pattern to the SER32 option. It also provides IP to SDI conversion insertion of payload
ID, simultaneous display of ports 1 and 2 packet jitter and PTP measurement, event log displayed in PTP time, and PTP grandmaster clock information displayed from the PTP announcement message. Also new is the plug-in module SER31 for the LV5600 and LV7600, providing an enhanced measurement of 12G/6G/3G/ HD-SDI. This allows operators to check chroma levels beyond the BT.709 or DCI-P3 gamut. The toolset is now available as a freely downloadable upgrade. www.leader.co.jp
38 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
www.primestream.com
IPV announces remote cloud editing studio
Video content management platform IPV has launched CuratorNow, a cloud-based remote editing studio for professional video editors and producers. CuratorNow, which is hosted in AWS, can be deployed in two days and scaled at any point to a full Curator system. It promises to fast-track the ability to work from any location with basic Wi-Fi for project collaboration using the core tools of Curator, IPV’s flagship Media Asset Management platform. CuratorNow
benefits from both its UI and media workflows. It enables media managers to ingest hi-res video and log crucial technical metadata, offers the ability to search and find assets remotely, to edit with frame-accurate proxies using 98% less bandwidth than the hi-res files, to collaborate seamlessly on Adobe Premiere Pro projects and to conform completed content back to hi-res, all delivered through a highly secure private cloud. www.ipv.com
PROPRODUCTS
Robe in the spotlight with new Hot-Spot Lens System for ESPRITE LED profiles Robe Lighting has created a patented 6:1 Hot-Spot Lens System for the new ESPRITE and T1 Series of LED profiles. The new lens system accessory was created in response to feedback from Robe’s customers including Lightswitch, a company that provides creative lighting solutions for live events. The Hot-Spot optical device fits perfectly into one of the rotating gobo wheel slots of the new ESPRITE and offers designers the option to literally have a drop-in peak field reflector. What makes this product special is that it now provides the flexibility to have both a peak field distribution or a flat field beam distribution depending on the application at hand. The new Robe Lighting ESPRITE LED is a fully featured automated luminaire that has a fast-change, low-cost, transferable light engine which ingeniously solves the problem of performance longevity for white source LED luminaires. The TE 650W white LED source produces 27,000 lumens and a piercing 85,000 lux at 5 meters, and the Hot-Spot Lens
system allows designers to move from a flat field beam to a 6:1 ratio hot-spot beam giving uniform intensity when overlaying beam edges. Speaking about how the design of the product came about, John Featherstone, Lightswitch Partner and Principal said: “Looking at the various lighting designs which a designer may be asked to create, in 90% of cases, a nice flat field is exactly what we want as it’s sort of the gold standard for optical distribution. However, when we are using automated fixtures to do a stage wash, we really want a peak field so that we don’t get any light doubling. This is something that has been the Achilles heel of any kind of moving light, especially for theatrical and television lighting. On a concert tour where you have artists moving about the stage, it’s not a necessity, but if you are doing a TV shoot, theatrical production or a corporate event, it is absolutely critical to achieve an even stage wash.
“Traditionally with moving lights, an even stage wash has been accomplished by using a fixture model that only does a peak beam field or one which offers an interchangeable peak beam reflector for arc sources. The challenge with this is the amount of work behind it as you have to dissemble the light in the shop creating inventory management challenges, and anything that
costs money to the shop, costs money to the show.” Seeing the need for fixtures that could provide designers with both the peak beam field and the flat beam field desired, automated lighting manufacturers have struggled to develop an ideal solution. Wanting a better option in lighting technology, he turned to Czech Republicbased Robe Lighting who catered to this need as they released their latest automated LED luminaire. “To the best of my knowledge, the ESPRITE LED now is the only fixture on the market which offers this type of functionality and doesn’t make the peak beam reflector an after-market decision. From a designer’s perspective, having the opportunity for the ESPRITE to come with this device gives us the ability to pick and choose the type of beam field distribution ideal for the lighting design and for any type of utilisation and maximum flexibility,” added Featherstone. www.robe.cz
Ncam augments reality with new Mk2 product suite Ncam Technologies, a
RF camera link to enable
developer of real-time
remote production of AR
augmented reality
graphics. The new Ncam
technology for the
Reality 2020 software
media industries, has
offers simplified operation,
announced the availability
hybrid feature extraction,
of its Mk2 product suite
wireless-ready functionality
which includes Mk2 Camera
now smaller, lighter, and can
now runs on the Mk2 Server
with Mk2 hardware and
Bar, Mk2 Server and Ncam
be used with a jib, Steadicam,
and can be mounted on the
stability enhancements.
Reality 2020 software.
wire cam, and drones. The
camera or rig itself, offering
next-generation software
wireless tracking on a standard
The Mk2 Camera Bar is
www.ncam-tech.com
May 2020 | www.broadcastprome.com | 39
PROGUEST
“To successfully own a share of the OTT pie today, companies need to deliver consumers the content they want, on their preferred device”
Staying ahead of the competition with an effective OTT strategy Subscriptions to VOD services globally are expected to top 947m by 2024, leaving content owners and licensors considering the many paths to executing their OTT experiences. This can be leveraging massive content libraries, creating direct-toconsumer (D2C) offerings, or using VOD content to create more targetted linear channels. Today, broadcasters must meet viewers’ changing appetites, as competition is growing with higher viewership numbers. To stay competitive, companies need to organise their strategy into five parts: content, technology, monetisation, marketing and operations. With content, there are four main consumption screens: connected/smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. While all content types can be watched on every device, each has unique qualities that consumers prefer, so all screens should be accounted for in a strategy to optimise viewing experiences and engagement. There are four factors to consider. One is the audience's media preference. We need to understand which devices and apps target audiences are using to stream content: iOS vs. web, native vs. web apps, or smart TVs. Consumers also watch different types of content, e.g. short- or long-form content. For example, in 2019, Middle East consumers claimed mobiles were their device of choice for long-form content. Secondly, we need to gauge how and when target viewers prefer
40 | www.broadcastprome.com | May 2020
to consume video. Are they bingewatchers, or do they consume content in the morning versus the evening? Thirdly, we need to understand their content preferences. Understanding whether consumers watch live and/ or VOD helps firms gauge how they should tailor content for each platform. Audience location is also important. Preferences vary based on factors like regional market maturation, internet and device trends, and more. To scale globally, companies must cater to their entire audience base, and know how to deliver content to mobile-first/mobileonly users in developing countries. Establishing a reliable, scalable tech strategy that reaches audiences widely is essential. Companies need to understand what devices consumers are watching content on. In late 2019, the Middle East saw video views increase 138% for smartphones while the global smart TV market will be valued at $253bn by 2023. Last year, the Middle East also saw a double-digit growth in video views on connected TVs. OTT platforms and services need to be adaptable and safe. News-based broadcasters need to push content out at scale, at peak times, while also securely and confidently protecting content. This means using platforms that have advanced security features like DRM, watermarking, domain and IP restrictions, and geo-restriction. A number of factors also go into successful monetisation models. With a strong existing audience, SVOD is
a safe option, while for a region where content piracy is rampant, AVOD is better. The budget also matters as SVOD traditionally survives by unique, often original, content, so they have a high cost of customer acquisition and retention. Most also require a large marketing budget to engage customers in new content. Other models to consider include hybrid (both a freemium ad-supported service and subscription offering), transactional VOD and TV Everywhere. Once a marketing strategy is achieved, retaining a loyal audience is important. As online marketing strategist David Meerman Scott said, “fanocracy” is key, referring to “turning fans into customers and customers into fans.” As Scott points out, organisations must cultivate true fans and this involves going beyond superficial online communications and becoming more than your product or offerings. The final bit is operations. For example, who is going to run the platform – an insourced or outsourced team? If outsourced, firms need to establish the support protocols between multiple vendors and determine whether it’s better to go with less vendors to minimise complexities. To successfully own a share of the OTT pie today, companies must deliver the content consumers want, on their preferred device. While content and technology play big roles in achieving this, monetisation, marketing and operations will help get a company across the OTT finish line. Rick Cordeiro is Director of MEA, Brightcove
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